Delonjay, Thrasher and Stephens Take First Wins at Osky on Season Championship Night

Delonjay, Thrasher and Stephens Take First Wins at Osky on Season Championship Night
by Jeremy Fox

Oskaloosa, Iowa (August 23rd, 2017) - Weekly Racing came to a close at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Season Championship Night sponsored by KBOE 104.9 FM "Your Station for Local Racing" and Mahaska Bottling. 51 cars signed in to put the regular season to a close at the monster half mile.

Jeffrey Delonjay (Sport Compacts), Danny Thrasher (Stock Cars) and Brad Stephens (Hobby Stocks) all take first wins of the season at Osky meanwhile Scott Dickey (Modifieds) and Curtis VanDerWal (Sport Mods) make a return visit to victory lane.

Levi Heath and Nathan Moody led the field to the green in the Kelli Steil State Farm IMCA Sport Compacts feature but by the end of lap one, it was Brandon Housley jumping out to the early lead. Housley looked comfortable out front meanwhile Heath exited pit side early after some expired on his hot rod and Moody slipped back to about fifth. Jeffrey Delonjay, making his first visit to Osky, took the lead over when Housley experience issues forcing him to his night. Shortly after the only caution came on lap nine when Moody hit the tires on the bottom side of turn four knocking it out on the track. That forced a green-white-checkered finish but Delonjay was not fazed as he went on to take his first win at Osky ahead of "Happy Feet" Bill Whalen Jr., John Gill and Dalton Winkleman. Levi Heath was the 2017 Track Champion.

Next up on the speedway was the 14 lap Musco Lighting IMCA Modified feature event. Brandon Banks started outside the front row and he took advantage of that by grabbing the early lead however Banks exited pit side on lap four when experienced mechanical issues. That gave the lead to Scott Dickey after Andrew Schroeder also exited pit side. Dickey cruised on to take his third win of the season in Osky ahead of Carlisle's Garrett Wilson. Andrew Schroder was third, Gordon Head was fourth and Banks was fifth. Cayden Carter, not in attendance last night was the 2017 Track Champion.

In the Budweiser IMCA Stock Cars feature, it was Michael Peterson taking the early lead but on lap four Peterson experienced issues and headed pit side that gave the lead over to Dustin Griffiths. The caution came out on lap six when Cody McClure spun in turn two. Griffiths knew it was not going to be easy as he had Danny Thrasher and Nathan Wood on his back bumper on the restart, those three would battle it out for the race lead with Griffiths holding on it until the final lap. Thrasher made the right move and edged out Wood and Griffiths at the line to take his first win in the Stock Cars. Wood was second, Griffiths was third, Mike Brown was fourth and McClure was fifth. Wood by simply starting the feature event clinched the 2017 Track Championship.

Danny Brau and Trent Brink battled for the top spot in the 14 lap Oskaloosa True Value IMCA Sport Mods feature. Brink would officially be scored the leader at the line and led the first three laps before Logan Anderson took the top spot away on lap four. Anderson as the leader was short as Curtis VanDerWal took the lead away on lap five. VanDerWal cruised on to take his 11th win of the season in Osky. Anderson, Brink, Tony Johnson and Danny Brau rounded out the top five. VanDerWal also claimed the 2017 Track Championship.

Final feature of the night was the 15 lap KBOE Radio / Mahaska IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Brad Stephens wrestled the lead away from fellow front starter Ryan Wells. Stephens slipped up just a bit allowing Jeff Anderson to take the top spot away on lap four. Shortly after the caution came out for Riley Meinders in turn one. Anderson and the field saw the caution again just after lap five scored when his son Shannon Anderson spun on the back stretch. Jeff Anderson had Brad and Jared Stephens on his back bumper but neither of them could by Anderson for the lead. The caution came out again on lap 10 for Meinders in turn two, on the restart Anderson had Brad Stephens and Aaron Martin behind him but again neither could take the lead. Anderson continued to lead until lap 13 when Mike Hughes made contact with Anderson in turn four sending Anderson spinning in front of the field. The caution came out immediately. Anderson would be able to continue and go to the tail, Hughes penalized for questionable driving. However under the caution, Shannon Anderson did not like what happened to his dad so he spun Hughes, Hughes then flipped upside down in turn two. As a result, Hughes and Shannon Anderson, both disqualified and received no points and no pay. Aaron Martin was to inherit the lead as he was running third at the time but he made contact in turn four and that gave the lead over to Stephens. Brad Stephens led the final two laps to take his first win ahead of Christian Huffman, Jared Stephens, Thomas Stevens and Ryan Wells. Shannon Anderson still went on to claim the 2017 Track Championship.

Weekly Racing has come to a close at the Southern Iowa Speedway but racing action has not as the Musco Lighting Fall Challenge takes place in October. Details will be on the website and Facebook in the next few weeks.

For more information check out oskyspeedway.com or Like Southern Iowa Speedway Every Wednesday Night on Facebook.

Southern Iowa Speedway
Season Championships sponsored by KBOE Radio / Mahaska
August 23rd, 2017

Musco Lighting IMCA Modifieds

Feature - 1. 40 Scott Dickey, Packwood; 2. 3W Garrett Wilson, Carlisle; 3. 02 Andrew Schroeder, Keswick; 4. 66 Gordon Head, Des Moines; 5. 22 Brandon Banks, Washington; 6. D27 Dave Pries, Medaryville, Ind.

Heat - 1. Dickey; 2. Schroeder; 3. Wilson; 4. Banks; 5. Pries; 6. Head.

2017 Track Champion - 10C Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa.

Budweiser IMCA Stock Cars

Feature - 1. 84 Danny Thrasher, Agency; 2. 52 Nathan Wood, Sigourney; 3. 10G Dustin Griffiths, Hedrick; 4. 54 Mike Brown, New Sharon; 5. 5M Cody McClure, Bloomfield; 6. 1X Michael Peterson, Montezuma.

Heat - 1. Thrasher; 2. Griffiths; 3. Peterson; 4. Wood; 5. Brown; 6. McClure.

2017 Track Champion - 52 Nathan Wood, Sigourney.

Oskaloosa True Value IMCA Sport Mods

Feature - 1. 1V Curtis VanDerWal, Oskaloosa; 2. 9A Logan Anderson, Eddyville; 3. 84B Trent Brink, Bussey; 4. 8T Tony Johnson, Oskalosoa; 5. 20 Danny Brau, Brooklyn; 6. A5 Austin Paul, Monroe; 7. 10H Jack Housley, Runnells; 8. 26 Scott Brau, Brooklyn; 9. 55R Steven Berry, Ottumwa; 10. 49g Cole Pettyjohn, Leighton.

Heat - 1. Brink; 2. VanDerWal; 3. Danny Brau; 4. Anderson; 5. Johnson; 6. Paul; 7. Berry; 8. Housley; 9. Scott Brau; 10. Pettyjohn.

2017 Track Champion - 1V Curtis VanDerWal, Oskaloosa.

KBOE Radio / Mahaska Bottling IMCA Hobby Stocks

Feature - 1. 55 Brad Stephens, Bussey; 2. 14 Christian Huffman, New Sharon; 3. 9 Jared Stephens, Bussey; 4. 4 Bradley Graham, Brooklyn; 5. 81B Thomas Stevens, Guernsey; 6. 89R Ryan Wells, Runnells; 7. 3S Steve Allen, Oskaloosa; 8. 3T Tonia Stevens, Guernsey; 9. 8R Jeff Anderson, Atlantic; 10. 12 Mike Kincaid, Cincinnati; 11. 54 Mike Brown, New Sharon; 12. 7K Kelsie Spilman, Hedrick; 13. 73 Aaron Martin, Richland; 14. 3 Travis Bunnell, Hedrick; 15. 71S Dave Seddon, Knoxville; 16. 13M Riley Meinders, Oskaloosa; 17. 65 Saif Grafke, Oskaloosa; DQ 11 Mike Hughes, Oskaloosa; DQ 78 Shannon Anderson, Des Moines; DNS 96R Jamie Songer, Ankeny.

Heat 1 - 1. Huffman; 2. Shannon Anderson; 3. Kincaid; 4. Jared Stephens; 5. Bunnell; 6. Tonia Stevens; 7. Seddon.

Heat 2 - 1. Hughes; 2. Graham; 3. Allen; 4. Wells; 5. Brown; 6. Meinders; DNS Songer.

Heat 3 - 1. Jeff Anderson; 2. Martin; 3. Brad Stephens; 4. Thomas Stevens; 5. Spilman; 6. Grafke.

2017 Track Champion - 78 Shannon Anderson, Des Moines.

Kelli Steil State Farm IMCA Sport Compacts

Feature - 1. 32 Jeffrey Delonjay, Quincy, Ill.; 2. 00W Bill Whalen Jr, Riverside; 3. 02 John Gill, Marshalltown; 4. 62 Dalton Winkleman, Beacon; 5. 41 Nathan Moody, Oskaloosa; 6. 42 Brandon Housley, Ottumwa; 7. 9H Levi Heath, Wilton; DNS/8. 04 Trent Orwig, Ottumwa; DNS 01C Bryan Claussen, Eddyville.

Heat - 1. Housley; 2. Delonjay; 3. Heath; 4. Moody; 5. Gill; 6. Whalen; 7.Winkleman; 8. Orwig; DNS Claussen.

2017 Track Champion - 9H Levi Heath, Wilton.