Notebook: Frantic ‘Hell Tour’ makes $10,000 stop at Farley Speedway

Anyone who knows anything about dirt Late Model racing — or, for that matter, any kind of weekly racing — knows it takes quite a lot to prepare a racecar for competition.

More than just adjustments to the chassis, the sheer maintenance that goes into the cars, plus grinding and grooving multiple sets of tires makes getting ready for a race a multiday job in most cases.

The teams on the DIRTCar Summer Nationals Hell Tour take all that preparation and cram it into a few hours — hours between races hundreds of miles and typically only one day apart. The Hell Tour packs 29 races over the course of 32 days — one of which comes Wednesday night at Farley Speedway and pays $10,000 to win.

'It's something that's hard to explain until you do it,' said veteran Late Model racer Billy Moyer. 'People don't have a clue or understand at all what you go through. The travel time that's involved, along with trying to keep the car running and right, and the tires prepared. And especially this time of year with the heat as bad as it is, it shows you how tough you are in a hurry, I'll tell you that.'

There's two sides to look at fitting so much racing into such a short period of time. On one side, there's the advantage of learning a lot about what makes the car fast very quickly. On the other, overhauling the car each night while also trying to travel a few hundred miles can sometimes lead to oversight.

A guy like Oxford driver Chris Simpson, who has only run one Hell Tour race of the four so far, sees the benefits, but likes where he's sitting headed into the race at Farley.

'For the guys that are racing all the time, it can be an advantage or disadvantage,' Simpson said. 'For us, to make sure everything is maintenanced and straight and have time to do it, we're at an advantage there. For some of those guys who have a good program and can be on the track every night and know where to be, they can get that advantage too.'

Simpson has a pair of big-money Open Late Model wins this year in Iowa, and is someone Moyer pointed out as one to watch at the 3/8-mile track.

He's a little less familiar with this configuration than the old half-mile version, but has a deep enough notebook that he and his team feel confident Moyer noticing them won't be just lip service.

'I haven't been there a ton on the 3/8,' Simpson said. 'I've been there on the half when we used to run the Yankee (with Open cars) and stuff. Times have changed so much, you just treat it like any other track, to be honest.

'The track tends to get one lane by the end of the race, so as long as we have 25-30 laps to race on, we'll be good.'

Moyer, who runs Victory Chassis by Moyer, isn't running all the races this year, but has two of the four wins on tour so far.

The Batesville, Ark.-based driver splits his time between Arkansas and his race shop at Karl Performance in Ankeny, and agreed that the nickname for the tour is all-too appropriate. He races enough and has done this tour enough that he and his team know how to be efficient in the process of getting ready to race.

'Coming off Cedar Lake and some of these good runs we have, we feel like we've got a really good shot at it this year,' Moyer said of winning at Farley. 'Hopefully everything is together and goes good.

'Bobby Pierce has been running real good. He'll be one who runs good. Jason Feger has one of my cars, I know they're running real good. Then Simpson and some of those guys all have a good shot also. They all have their stuff together.'

The Hell Tour had Monday as one of its three off days before making a stop Tuesday night at Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway. Wednesday's race serves as the sixth race of the season after the opener at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway was canceled due to rain.

Pierce has a pair of wins like Moyer, most recently at Wilmont (Wis.) Raceway on Sunday. He's one among just a few who plan to race the entire tour. Mike Marlar sits second in the standings, with Feger third.

Among locals expected to attend are Simpson, his brother Chad, Jason Rauen, Dave Eckrich, Tyler Bruening and possibly a few others. In addition to the Hell Tour Open Late Models, IMCA Late Models also will be racing, with $1,000 going to the winner.

Races are set to start at 7 p.m.

VAN METER NIGHT THIS FRIDAY AT HAWKEYE DOWNS

Hawkeye Downs Speedway plays host to one of 11 Racing for a Cause events on Friday night, to be coupled with Van Meter Night, and will offer $1,000 to win for the INEX Legends feature. The race benefits Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.), and on Friday night all the proceeds from the event will go to C.O.P.S.

In past years, Van Meter Night has featured a Pride Race, which pitted local celebrities against each other in a Legends car race around the ¼-mile, but organizers are switching it up this year. The hope headed into the event was to have 'a driving competition between city, county and state officers in their patrol cars, working on timed events. We'll have K-9 demonstrations, and hopefully have McGruff there for the kids. We're working on some things that will kick off in the afternoon,' according to a co-organizer of the event, Warren Ropp.

C.O.P.S. is a national foundation that offers financial and emotion support to families of police officers who've been killed in the line of duty. Gates open at 6 p.m. on Friday night, with racing to begin at 7:30. The only admission required is a $1 minimum donation, but fans are encouraged to donate more if possible.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com