cjspeedway Archives

CJ Speedway takes green flag this Friday

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (April 11, 2023) – The forecast looks perfect for the first race of the 2023 racing season at CJ Speedway, located on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, Iowa. This Friday, April 14, the sweet sound of racing engines will be heard at the 4/10th mile dirt track. Racing action at CJ Speedway will again run under the sanctioning of the International Motor Contest Association which allows competitors to not only earn local but national, regional and state points and the recognition that can be earned. Sanctioned racing divisions include Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts. Hot laps are scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. with racing to follow Friday night.

Muscatine Mall to host pre-season race car show

By Jerry Mackey MUSCATINE, Iowa (March 13, 2023) – The 2023 racing season In Eastern Iowa is just around the corner and the Muscatine Mall will be hosting a pre-season race car show to rev up the enthusiasm for the season in our area. Drivers from around the area will have their shiny new 2023 race cars on display in the Muscatine Mall starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 18. Race fans of all ages will have the opportunity to see the cars up close and will meet the drivers and crews and can ask all about their race teams and get autographs. In addition to over 20 race cars on display, several racing go karts will also be on display. Area race tracks will be represented and have schedules and special event information available. Race tracks represented will include The CJ Speedway, located on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction, the Davenport Speedway, located on the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport and the West Liberty Raceway located on the Muscatine County Fairgrounds [Read More]

Kile, Griffiths among IMCA winners at Louisa County Fair races

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (July 29) – A great crowd turned out on a beautiful night for racing at the 130th annual Louisa County Fair on Friday night. Larry Richardson gave the 88 race teams in attendance a great racing surface to race on, not only did the drivers use every inch of the CJ Speedway oval, they raced on the lower part of the levee on several occasions. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature ran caution-free. Row two starter Kurt Kile moved out front early as he raced away from Derek Walker. The race was on for second as Mitch Way and Jarrett Brown both worked to the front and waged a battle for second. Kile scored the impressive $1,000, Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible win as Way edged out Brown for second. The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars provide great racing every Friday and the Fair race was no different as the 20 drivers in attendance provided the fans with an outstanding feature race. Scott Jordan led early as Jason Cook made [Read More]

CJ checkers fly for McDaniel, Roth

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (July 22, 2022) – Friday night racing action at the CJ Speedway saw two more drivers add their names to the first time winners list in 2022 at the Louisa County Fairgrounds oval. Jason McDaniel has raced on and off at CJ Speedway but had not won a race on the 4/10th mile dirt track since the 2018 season. McDaniel led the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature flag to flag en route to the win. The feature went under caution late and the restart saw the top five positions shuffled as Kirk Kinsley took advantage of the restart and raced into second and was closing in on McDaniel as the checkers waved. Rod Staats crossed the finish line third ahead of Corey Strothman. Jason Roth had a little something to prove in making a return trip to Columbus Junction. Roth, from Hazel Green, Wis., had raced at CJ a few weeks ago and finished second only to be DQ’d for an illegal gear. Roth proved on Friday night it wasn’t [Read More]

California Kid scores big win at CJ Speedway

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (July 15, 2022) – Racing action returned to the CJ Speedway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds in Columbus Junction following two consecutive rainouts. The wet conditions on the grounds made for a very high speed racing surface on Friday night. The fans were treated to a very nice Fireworks display courtesy of Patriot Fireworks following the racing action. The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature ran as the headliner of the night with a strong field of 20 drivers taking the initial green flag for the main event. Matt Mayo from Bakersfield, Calif., is spending time in Southeast Iowa racing out of the Shane Paris shop in Muscatine. Mayo took the lead from Matt Lundry and went on to score his first victory since arriving in the Hawkeye State. The feature was only slowed for one minor caution after lap one was completed. The race then restarted with Mayo making the pass for the lead on lap four and Mayo went on to score a comfortable win ahead of [Read More]

Jared makes it Miller Time at CJ Speedway

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (June 24, 2022) – Jared Miller has seen his motor luck go from bad to worse so far this season, but still had a good feeling going into his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main event Friday night at CJ Speedway. Those positive vibes became reality after the West Branch driver drew the pole start and held off heavy hitters Randy LaMar and John Irwin following a late restart for the checkers. The win was his career second in the IMCA class and first since 2010 at then-hometown Marshalltown Speedway. “We’ve blown up four engines so far this year, including one leading the feature here at Columbus Junction a couple weeks ago,” said Miller. “But I had a good feeling about tonight. I thought if I made it through the heat race and everything stayed together I had a good chance to win.” He had started the night by winning his heat, then went to the top side, held his line and outran all challengers following that late yellow. “The caution came out [Read More]

Wroten makes history at CJ Speedway

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (June 24, 2022) – Friday night, history was made at the CJ Speedway as victory lane welcomed the first female driver in recent history. It happened in the very tough IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division. Leah Wroten made her third consecutive trip to CJ Speedway and started the main event in the second row. Wroten took the lead on lap five from Kenny O’Donnell and went on to make history by winning the main event in convincing fashion. A late-race caution bunched the field up but Wroten held her line and sailed on to the win ahead of Tom Cannon and O’Donnell. When asked if he could remember the last time a woman made her way to victory lane, promoter Larry Richardson was stumped and could not remember when or if it had happened. The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature saw Jarrett Brown continue his recent hot streak at CJ Speedway. Brown started in the last row, quickly worked through the pack and went on to bolster his point [Read More]

Brown gets Modified win, Spaw stays hot at CJ Speedway

by Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (June 17) – Jarrett Brown scored the feature win in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds Friday night at CJ Speedway. Brown chased down race leader Kurt Kile making the pass at the midway point of the feature and went to score the win ahead of Matt Werner and Kile. Johnny Spaw has made three visits to CJ Speedway in 2022 and has scored the win every time he has raced in the very tough IMCA Sunoco Stock Car class. Spaw took the lead early from Kenny O’Donnell and went on to score an impressive win ahead of Matt Picray, who advanced from the third row and scored his best finish of the season. The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods saw 24 drivers take the initial green flag. The main event belonged to Logan Anderson who started up front due to the redraw lineup. Anderson easily out distanced Logan Veloz for the win. Jake Benischek scored two feature wins on Friday night. The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature saw Benischek [Read More]

Veloz scores first win, Spaw and Kile repeat at CJ Speedway

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (June 10, 2022) – The weather cleared Friday afternoon providing a beautiful night for racing at CJ Speedway. Mother Nature provided just the right amount of water on the 4/10 mile dirt track making for a very smooth, fast race track that evening. The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods were the final race of the night and a strong field of 24 drivers took the initial green flag. Carter VanDenBerg took the green from the pole position and led the main event for 14 and ¾-lap but the checkers had not waved when a caution flew for the second place driver spinning in front of the field. The field was reset for a green, white, checkered dash to the finish. VanDenBerg was holding off all challengers until the final lap when recent high school graduate Logan Veloz provided a thrilling finish. Veloz got to the inside of VanDenBerg as the two came off of turn four heading to the checkers. Veloz scored the win by less than half a car [Read More]

Janssen, Foster score first-time wins at CJ

By Jerry Mackey COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (May 27, 2022) – Racing went on at the CJ Speedway on Friday despite recent rains making for challenging conditions on the wet Louisa County Fairgrounds. The track was a bit tricky but proved to be very racy for all 73 competitors that signed in. Drew Janssen made his first local appearance of the 2022 season and came away with the 16-lap Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win. Jonathan Huston battled Barry Dugan for the lead in the early going before Huston was able to take over the point. Huston’s lead was short lived as the third starting Janssen took over the point and went on to hold off a hard-charging Maguire DeJong at the finish. Last week’s winner Jarrett Brown came under the checkers in third. The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature proved to be wild affair as several drivers held the point. Mike Clausen led early before Colton Livezey was able to take over the top spot. Eighth starting Dylan VanWyk was headed to the front [Read More]