Jack
Mitchell won the IMCA modified feature at the Vinton Speedway season opener.
Vinton, Iowa (May 15, 1983) – Jack Mitchell of Cedar Falls began defense of his point championship at Vinton Speedway in impressive fashion as he beat Mike Schulte of Norway to the checkered flag in the 25-lap IMCA modified feature race before a small but enthusiastic crowd.
By feature time, the track, which had soaked up vast amounts of rain over the past few weeks, had developed deep ruts, especially in the turns, and drivers fought the track as much as they did each other. In fact, the 25 laps were so grueling and demanding that many of the drivers suffered bruises to their arms, legs, and backs from being tossed about inside their speeding machines.
“Two more laps and I would’ve had to pull out,” Schulte said after chasing Mitchell for much of the race. “I just couldn’t take much more.”
Schulte, third place finisher Jim Schmuecker of Vinton, and fourth-place finisher Howard Stinger of Cedar Rapids didn’t leave their cars for several minutes after the completion of the event and the exhaustion on their faces was evident.
Two mishaps were directly attributed to the rough surface.
The first, with three official laps completed, left speedway regular Mike Sampson of Evansdale with a completely destroyed race car. After a restart, with the field tightly bunched, Sampson was tagged by Hiawatha’s Steve Stinger as they left the fourth turn and entered the straightaway. Sampson’s car veered sharply to the right and slammed head-on into the cement retaining wall at more than 60 miles per hour. Sampson walked away uninjured but the frame on his car was bent beyond repair.
The other incident, also in the fourth turn, involved Buz Kaster of Kansas City and Mitchell. Running through the ruts, Mitchell’s car touched Kaster’s and the latter tagged the wooden guardrail that extends beyond the cement retaining wall. The impact bent a tie rod and flattened a tire, ending his drive. Nonetheless, Kaster was not discouraged.
“These IMCA modifieds are new in Kansas City and we’ve only had one race down there because of the weather,” Kaster said. “I wanted to come up here because I had heard so much about guys like Mitchell, Schulte and Fischlein (Dale) and I wanted to see if I could run with them. Also, I want to race this track two or three times at Vinton before the Nationals, so I know the track better.”
In other opening night action, Rex Cousins of Evansdale and Don Berg of Waterloo put on a door-to-door battle in the altered street stock feature before some lapped traffic ultimately decided the outcome. Berg got trapped, while Cousins sped by and took the opening night win the exciting 20-lap contest.
Results –
IMCA Modified –
1. Jack Mitchell, Cedar Falls
2. Mike Schulte, Norway
3. Jim Schmuecker, Vinton
4. Howard Stinger, Cedar Rapids
5. Todd Jensen, Waterloo
6. Bernie Juliar, Hudson
7. Doug Robison, Brandon
8. Buz Kaster, Kansas City, Mo.
9. Dan Higdon, Vinton
10.Merv Chandler, Cedar Rapids
Altered Street Stock –
1. Rex Cousins, Evansdale
2. Don Berg, Waterloo
3. Glen Conger, Waterloo
4. Craig Coventry, Brandon
5. Wayne Wall, Marion
6. Bob Tritle, Marion
7. Jim Kemmerling, Cedar Rapids
Rex
Cousins of Evansdale won the altered street stock feature at Vinton Speedway to
open up the 1983 season.
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