View From the Stands: A week of speed at Boone’s Super Nationals

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I grew up as a Sprint car fan, but over the last few years, the cars of the fender genre have pulled me into being a fan. This will be my first ever trip to the 26th annual IMCA-Speedway Motors Super Nationals next Monday through Saturday at Iowa’s Action Track, otherwise known as Boone Speedway. After hearing several drivers, mechanics and fans talk about this event all summer, I have found out that this event is the Daytona 500 of Modified and Stock car racing of the IMCA variety. There are close to 700 cars from at least 20 states expected to compete in six different classes in the six-day event. For some further assistance, I called Boone Speedway announcer and recent Newton High School graduate Blake Anderson to give me the “Super Nationals for Dummies” guide. Blake has been going to Boone, Marshalltown, Des Moines and many other tracks to see racing with his parents, Steve and Shelley, since he was in diapers. The Daily News profiled Blake last fall, and it was good to follow up with his future plans now that he is headed to DMACC in Boone this fall. Blake plans to transfer to Iowa or Northern Iowa in a couple of years to pursue a career in broadcasting with the goal of making it to SPEED TV. Lofty goal, but he’s well on his way. I want to thank Blake for all of his help. The Late Model and Sprint car divisions only compete one night each, Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The other four divisions, however, have a much harder road. The Hobby Stock division has qualifying on Monday and Tuesday where only 27 cars will advance to the championship Saturday. Sport Mods compete Thursday and Friday with 27 cars also advancing to Saturday. Stock Cars qualify Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with 10 cars each night earning spots for Saturday. Modified qualifying is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Forty heat races are run each of the first three nights, where you must win your heat to advance to one of the two A-Mains each night. The top four cars from each of those A-Mains are locked into the Saturday championship main. Saturday also is an opportunity for Modifieds to qualify through a last chance program that will transfer nine more cars for a total of 33 Modifieds that will start 11 rows by three wide. The championship feature on Saturday is 40 laps for Modifieds. Drivers that do not advance on their first qualifying night start all over the next night. But if you do qualify for the A-Main Saturday night in your class, it’s a career highlight for most drivers because it’s so tough. If anyone thought that the Knoxville Nationals was a tough format, this has it beat by a long way. In 26 years, there have been a few lucky drivers to win the event multiple times, headed up by a couple of five-time champions, John Logue of Boone in Modifieds and Steve Jackson of Des Moines in Stock Cars. The 2007 champions defending their titles this year are Todd Shute “Toddzilla” of Des Moines in Modifieds, Kevin Opheim of Mason City in Stock Car, Boone McLaughlin of Mediapolis in Late Models, Curt Lund of Morton, Minn., in Sprints, Andy Boeckman of Wall Lake in Hobby Stocks and Tracy Wassenburg of Shawano, Wis., in Sport Mod. The IMCA Sprint car division is nothing like the cars of Knoxville, other than they look similar. However, a few drivers you may recognize from Knoxville that have won this event are Bob Thompson, Gregg Bakker, Curt Lund and the late Mark Wilson. Most IMCA Sprint car competitors that will compete at Boone Tuesday night are from the Minnesota and South Dakota area where IMCA Sprint cars compete regularly. It’s impossible to pick a winner in any of these divisions due to the level of competition. The history and prestige of this event is much like the Knoxville Nationals 20 years ago. It’s a week-long event that draws campers, food vendors and thousands of people. I look forward to my first Super Nationals. See you in the stands.