Green flag waves on SIS season
Apr. 20—OSKALOOSA — Eric Stanton knows how tough it is to win in Oskaloosa.
"We used to come down here when we kids to watch the action," the Carlisle native said. "It's always a lot of fun when we come down here."
Stanton took the tough road to a win on Wednesday night to close out the opening night of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Starting from the third row in the 14-lap feature Hobby Stock race, Stanton worked his way through the field avoiding danger including a spin on the backstretch that forced 20 of the 21 drivers to avoid being caught up in the accident.
Ultimately, Stanton took the lead with four laps left and never looked back beating New Sharon native Christian Huffman to claim fifth and final checkered flag of the first night for racing on the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds.
"You know going into the first night that everyone got to get calmed down a little bit," Stanton said. "It's our third overall night running a brand new car. It's close. I wouldn't say it's quite there yet, but it's not bad."
Stanton joined Newton native Ben Woods, Washington native Shane Barnes, Grinnell native Todd Reitzler and Montezuma native Maguire DeJong securing the first wins of the season at SIS. Reitzler overtook defending track champion Nathan Wood late in the 16-lap stock car feature while DeJong, a familiar face at the Oskaloosa dirt track, passed Brayton Carter in turn two with three laps left to win the sportmods feature.
Huffman was one of seven drivers from Mahaska County to finish among the top five in the five divisions, including one of three drives from neighboring New Sharon. Wednesday's runner-up finish among hobby stocks kicks off a season in which Huffman hopes will end as the season champion at SIS.
"The plan is to run a full season this year. We ran an abbreviated one last year," Huffman said. "The plan is to run every race here at SIS and run down at the Eldon Raceway. We won a track title at Eldon, but it would be great to win one here at this track."
Woods, the defending SIS track champion, took the feature win in the non-wing sprint car feature beating Ottumwa native Doug Sylvester and Russell native Nathan James on Wednesday. Shane Barnes made the most of a rare appearance at the Oskaloosa track taking the lead early from James Haring and holding on for the win in the sport compacts feature with Libertyville native Garrett Porter finishing third ahead of Ottumwa natives Matt Moore and Brandon Pickney.
Racing action at Southern Iowa Speedway continues next Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
