It looked like the Jonathan Cornell show Wednesday night at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. After winning his heat and the shake up dash, Cornell was the first across the finish line in the Brockway Mechanical & Roofing Sprint Invaders feature following an entertaining battle with Carson McCarl.
McCarl started the 20-car, 20-lap main event on the pole and took command early. Cornell, who started fourth on the grid after drawing the #4 pill following his dash victory, quickly moved into second. Slower traffic in front of the leader allowed Cornell to keep pace with McCarl, who struggled navigating the backmarkers.
Cornell took the lead just prior to the midway point and looked like he was going to run away and hide before McCarl regrouped. McCarl reeled in the leader with a handful of laps to go to regain the lead until lapped traffic again posed problems. Cornell took advantage of the slower traffic to sweep past McCarl on his way to the apparent victory.
Cornell's perfect night ended in post-race inspection when his wing failed to pass tech. The DQ handed the win to McCarl, the son of sprint car ace Terry McCarl, his first in series history during the tour's first-ever event on the Osky half-mile.
Todd Shute dominated the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. From a fourth row start, Shute quickly raced his way into the top three and challenged Scott Dickey for the runner-up spot a few laps into the event while Cayden Carter held the point.
Shute and Dickey made contact entering turn one as they battled for position. While it looked like the contact may have led to an early exit for one, if not both of the drivers, they powered on. If you read Jeff Broeg's recap from last night, the one-liner to which he referred was me saying, "Shute almost stepped on his Dickey." (Insert collective groans and eye-rolls here.) Shute powered past Carter a short time later to drive to the dominant win.
Zack VanderBeek took top honors in the IMCA Stock Car feature. Cayden Carter led for much of that event despite being constantly pestered by VanderBeek. Carter gave way to VanderBeek with a few laps remaining in that 18-lapper.
Brett Lowry took the lead at the drop of the green and was never seriously challenged in the IMCA Northern SportMod feature as he drove to the win. Mike Hughes ran in a tight five-car battle at the front of the pack in an exciting IMCA Hobby Stock feature before breaking free late to take the victory.
It was the first night of points racing in Osky and, despite strong winds and chilly temperatures, a good crowd came out for the show. The car count was a little low, but I'm sure the weather had a lot to do with that. While making my way through the pits prior to race time, I couldn't wait to get to the grandstand and out of the breeze. Thanks to Warren and Carol Busse for letting me sit near their tarped-off/wind-resistant area at the top of the grandstand. As always, it was nice to hang out with fellow bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele of the 4dfan Report. Sprint car aficionado Morgan Broeg was also in attendance. Thanks to Morgan for his knowledge on the Sprint Invaders!
Dick, Joyce, Morgan and I picked winners in each of the five features and, while some of us had bad luck (thanks for ruining my chance at the overall win, Damon Murty!), our drivers were all running in the top four at the same time in each of the five features at one time or another.
When we left, we were under the impression Joyce had won overall, but she picked Cornell in the Sprint Invaders feature. After recalculating the math, Dick was the overall winner. I hope that softens the blow of the 55,000 points you mysteriously lost on Words with Friends, Dick!
Promoter Mike Van Genderen did a terrific job with track prep Wednesday night. Although there was a slight delay getting the moisture packed in, the track was fantastic all night and the final feature saw the checkers a few minutes before 10 p.m. Mike's excellent track led to a total of only a pair of cautions in the five features. Look for car counts to pick up in the very near future!
One more note on the Cornell DQ. A lot of race fans have already taken to social media to voice their displeasure on the situation, claiming the wing infraction had nothing to do with the performance of Cornell's ride. It amazes me (not really), how racers and fans wish rules were enforced equally and fairly across the board... until they're enforced equally and fairly across the board. Regardless if you like or dislike a rule, you know them going into an event and it's a driver's responsibility to make sure they adhere to them. Kudos to the Sprint Invaders crew for sticking to the rules and appropriately enforcing them.
With tomorrow night's Sprint Invaders stop in Independence postponed until May 30, my weekend plans now consist of visiting an old friend in Illinois tomorrow. As for Saturday, my plans are still up in the air. I was originally going to make my first trip to 141 Speedway in Wisconsin to visit friend and colleague Chet Christner's first night in charge up there. A long drive to spend the night in cold temps, however, may change. Although I guarantee a visit to 141 this year, it may not be this weekend. Instead, I may (notice I said may, Jerry Vansickel), return to Boone Speedway for the conclusion of last week's rain-shortened Frostbuster program and their first night of weekly points racing. It's going to be a busy, fun, full night in Boone, so I hope to be able to make it back there from Illinois in time.
Hopefully, the fourth time will be a charm at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. After the Spring Shakedown and Frostbuster events fell to weather numerous times over the last three weeks, the weekly points opener is slated for this weekend. If they're racing, I'll be there and provide a full report here at Positively Racing.
Have a great weekend!
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