Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, September 15, 2011

On any given weekend, a number of Ringgold county drivers take to the track in auto racing. Motor sports from racing cars to pulling trucks and tractors to demolition derbies or figure-8 racing, the competition is in the heritage of Ringgold county. For the second year in a row, a Ringgold county driver has risen to the top to take a track championship at the Adams County Speedway in Corning, the venue where many of the county drivers participate.

This year it is Paul GLENDENNING'S turn to reign as the NASCAR Whelen All-American series late model champion. The Mount Ayr resident has been racing at the track for 26 years and come close before, but this is his first track championship.

Last year it was Pat SHIFLETT of Diagonal who topped the hobby stock division of the dirt track racing each Saturday night in the summer in Corning.

In taking to the race track, GLENDENNING has followed in the footsteps of his father Lloyd, who raced cars for 30 years when he was younger.

Exciting finish GLENDENNING took the track championship for the late model racers this year in an exciting finish. When it came down to a winner-takes-all situation in the Coors Light Silver Bullet late models it was Paul GLENDENNING capturing not only the win Saturday night, but his first track championship as well.

Trailing JC WYMAN by two points entering the final night, GLENDENNING needed either to finish in front of WYMAN by more than one position or to win the feature in order to lock down the championship.

And win the feature he did, but not without a challenge nearly every lap of the 25-lap feature.

From the drop of the green flag it was Atlantic's Jason O'BRIEN charging to the front. O'BRIEN had won his heat race by a commanding six seconds over GLENDENNING and when he took the lead on lap five it looked like he might run off and hide from the field. But GLENDENNING, with WYMAN glued to his rear bumper, moved through traffic and they were running one, two, three by lap 11. On lap 12, O'BRIEN and GLENDENNING touched in turn two spinning to a halt. Fortunately for both of them another car stopping in turn one brought out the yellow caution flag, sending the realignment back to the prior lap. When O'BRIEN made a quick trip to the pits, it turned the lead over to GLENDENNING, but left WYMAN directly behind him. For the second half of the race WYMAN tried every move he could to get around GLENDENNING'S #33,and while he could pull even he was never able to take the top spot away.

At the checkers the margin was less than four-tenths of a second. GLENDENNING took the championship by a five point margin – the five bonus points he received for the win. WYMAN was second with Justin ZEITNER third, Trent JACKSON fourth, and Jason O'BRIEN fifth in season points.

"It was one of those races -- a real nail biter," GLENDENNING said this week.

"I had the fastest car Saturday night but JC gave me a good run for the money."

Gaining a track championship is a goal that GLENDENNING has had for many years.

"We ran second in 2008," GLENDENNING noted.

To take the title he only had to run in the top six on the final night. In the pace lap before the race, however, a ball joint broke on the car and he was not able to start, meaning that he missed out on the title.

He has had several other top five and top 10 finishes over the years, but finally broke through this year.

Saturday night's win was GLENDINNING'S second of the season. The wins came after starts in the fourth and sixth row, making the victories even more impressive.

"I didn't get a lot of wins this year, but I got the finishes I needed when I needed them," he noted.

Last season WYMAN was third and GLENDENNING was fourth in total points.

Along with the $2,000 for winning the late model season point title, GLENDENNING also receives $3,000 for being the state NASCAR late model champion. He notes that the NASCAR honor is a function of the Adams County Speedway being the only NASCAR sanctioned raceway in the state.

Race tracks are either sanctioned by the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) or NASCAR. The rest of the tracks in the state have the IMCA sanction or stand alone without the sanction of one of the two major race sanctioning groups.

As a NASCAR sanctioned track champion, GLENDENNING is also ranked nationally against late model NASCAR drivers across the country.

"I've been in the top 250 the last six to eight years," GLENDENNING notes.

This year he will tentatively finish 89th nationally.

What does GLENDENNING like most about racing that keeps him spending much of his summer every year preparing his car and racing it?

"I just really enjoy the competition," GLENDENNING says.

"I still get a thrill from getting out on the race track and trying to drive faster than everyone else."

It's definitely not for the money that he races.

"Racing is an expensive hobby," GLENDENNING says. "The higher level you race, the more the costs rise."

That's why though he has aspirations to race at a higher level, he says the costs are just too great to move up.

GLENDENNING said people ask him how fast he drives on the track.

"It's not a matter of what speed you drive, it's if you can make it around the track faster than everyone else, whatever that speed is," GLENDENNING said.

Many years ago there were 10 to 12 NASCAR sanctioned tracks in the state, but the NASCAR sanctioning is more expensive than the IMCA sanctioning, so for that and other reasons the Adams County Speedway is the only NASCAR track in the state.

Racing takes a lot of time to accomplish, GLENDENNING notes.

"During the season I am working on the car six nights a week and racing the seventh," GLENDENNING noted.

He has a crew who help him out each week, but all of them have to work around other responsibilities. Paul's brother Todd is a crew member. So is Paul's son, Jake GLENDENNING. Wayde ROSS of Mount Ayr is a regular, as is Shane AUSTIN of Creston, who travels down a couple nights a week to help. Occasionally Clint DREDGE helps out and Dick and Dennis ELLIOTT also lend a hand when needed.

GLENDENNINGS'S crew tries to reciprocate.

Finding people who have the time to help out is always a challenge.

Life is so busy with other responsibilities calling that people just help out when they can.

"I really appreciate all my crew members," GLENDENNING said.

This year has been sort of a learning curve as GLENDENNING introduced a new car a third of the way into the season this year. With a new car, it takes some fine tuning to be able to get it running like you want it to to dominate at the track. Getting used to the strengths and weaknesses of a new car takes some time. GLENDENNING was especially pleased that Dick ELLIOTT helped get the new car back in action when a lifter broke on the motor earlier in the season. He noted that his crew lends a hand for Dennis ELLIOTT when help is needed. ELLIOTT races in the modified division.

By about a third of the way through the season, GLENDENNING began to hit his stride with the new car -- to "catch on to what the car likes and what it doesn't like."

GLENDENNING enjoys the challenges of the dirt track in Corning as that's the kind of racing he has done most of the time.

"With the dirt track conditions are constantly changing," GLENDENNING said. "By the end of the night the track can be completely different to drive than earlier in the same session."

Being able to win is making the right changes on any given night to meet track conditions.

"That's the key to winning and losing," he said. "I'm just fortunate that I have enough money to be able to play and get out on the track almost every time the starting flag is waved in the late model division," GLENDENNING said.

Having his first track championship just adds to the enjoyment.

Racing season at the Adams County Speedway in Corning came to a close Saturday with nine area drivers placing in the final races and 10 wrapping up the season with placings in the various divisions.

Paul GLENDENNING of Mount Ayr took first place in the late model final feature race and was the point leader for the season.

Jeff FRENCH of Mount Ayr finished eighth Saturday night and was seventh in point totals.

Ron BINNING of Grand River finished 16th Saturday night, the same as his season point placing.

Dave CARLISLE of Shannon City was 20th Saturday night and had a 14th place finish for the season.

In the hobby stock class, David WEEDA of Mount Ayr placed second Saturday night and had a fourth place finish for the season.

Last year's winner Pat SHIFLETT of Diagonal placed 10th in the final race and finished fifth in point total.

In the modified racing, Dennis ELLIOTT of Mount Ayr placed fifth in the final race and was third in the final point standings. Russell STEWART was 10th in the final race and 16th for the year.

Allison DAVIDSON did not place Saturday night, but was 17th for the season. Dave CARLISLE of Shannon City was 19th Saturday night and 25th for the season.

Photographs courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2011