2012 was some of the better racing I have seen at Osky since I started covering weekly races there five years ago. With a change in promoters, Mike Van Genderen is turning things around for the fans, teams, the facility, and the fairboard. Car counts were up, racing was great, there was some fun entertainment at intermission, the races were over at 10:00 most nights, and the deal that Van Genderen had by working on a percentage of the gate, it allowed the fairboard to make a little more money than in past seasons. I just hope it was worth the blood and sweat Van Genderen put into it. Mike has signed a contract for 2013 and that is a good thing for everyone.
Breaking down the racing class by class…
Modifieds: Car counts were six or less most nights the prior years and this year they started around 10-12 and ended with 7-8 cars at the end of the season. The big half mile is hard on Modifieds under the hood, drive lines, we just won’t ever see 18-20 cars in this class on a weekly basis without some rule changes and higher purses. I’m still thankful to have the cars we did though. Cayden Carter moved up from SportMod to Modifieds this season and his four feature wins were enough to give him the rookie of the year and track championship. Jacob Murray won five features. Other winners in this class were Richie Gustin with two, Scott Dickey, Bill Davis Jr., Michael Long, Kyle Strickler, Todd Shute, Andrew Schroeder, and Dakota Hayden.
SportMods: Car counts in this class stayed in the 16-22 range all season. Jess Sobbing dominated winning 10 of 19 features and captured the point title. Curtis Van Der Wal was able to hold the point lead through mid season and stay close after Sobbing had a DNF in May, but Sobbing was just too good. He is a talented racer and has the best equipment. I hope he can win the Super Nationals to cap off a good year with over 50 wins over all across Iowa and Nebraska. But hope the guy moves up to Modifieds next year. Van Der Wal was able to get two wins on the season and seemed to get faster as the season went. Other drivers winning features were Jason McDaniel with two, Bryan Weyer won two, Bill Gibson, Bryan Lariviere won the Frostbuster. Carter VanDenBerg was third in points.
Stock Cars: This class by far stood out as the most competitive and best racing all season. Zack VanderBeek won five features but missed a few nights due to his USMTS schedule. It was good to see Zack, Colt Mather, and Brad Pinkerton compete in the Stock Car class most of the season since none of them had an IMCA Modified to race. (Maybe next year?) Matt Greiner took his two wins and consistent performance to the track championship. Nathan Wood also had two wins and finished second in points. Corey Stout was third in points. Other drivers getting wins were John Heinz, Damon Murty with four, Kyle Harwood, Brad Pinkerton, and Todd Reitzler.
Hobby Stock: Shannon Anderson dominated this class winning the track championship easily with eight wins. This class also had some good races and as long as Anderson started in the fifth or sixth or row it was a good show. Kevin Fee was second in points with one win, Donavan Nunnikhoven third with one win, Distin Griffiths was fourth with five wins. Other drivers winning features were Bobby Greene, Jamie Songer, and Mike Hughes. Hughes may have had the faster car at the end of the season but didn’t compete the first half at all as Ryan Humphrey didn’t get the car ready until mid season.
Sport Compact: This class only had 5-8 cars all season and it wasn’t really that much fun to watch for me. They might be faster than the eye gives you credit for when you look at lap times, but there just isn’t enough cars to make it interesting for me. We will see if this class grows next year. Merv Chandler won nine features and the track championship. There were a few good races with some side by side racing. The jury is still out on this class, but if it doesn’t grow in year two, I hope it’s gone and replaced with maybe a rotating schedule of 305 sprint cars, Mod Lites, Sportman Series, Compacts, Trucks… something anyway.
One of the nice tricks this year was the painting of the front stretch catch fence black. I can’t believe how much of a difference that made in how well you could see the cars. Hopefully they finish the job and paint it all the way down into turn four next year. Also on my wish list is a new sound system. That would be a huge upgrade to the facility. Tony Paris does a good job announcing, but it’s hard to hear most of the time. It’s loud enough, too loud, but not clear and sharp and I think that would be a huge upgrade so that the track can communicate better with the fans. I love how there is a points sheet available when you walk through the gate. That really helps fans be able to identify names with car numbers, and it’s cheap. I also like there is a spot right there available to the fans to donate money to a driver for pit passes. It allows the fans to give back, and it helps the driver. Great idea and I wish more tracks would do that.
It was a great season and I’m pumped for season number two of the Van Genderen era. Congratulations to all the track champions, Mike Van Genderern and his staff of officials, and the Southern Iowa Fair on a great season.
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