Caleb Hammond Memorial Contested At Southern Iowa Speedway
By: Jerry Mackey
Oskaloosa, Iowa: With the 2026 Southern Iowa Fair in full swing the 8th annual Caleb Hammond Memorial Race was held with a great field of cars on hand to race for a greatly expanded purse in front of a large crowd. Special thanks goes out to the event sponsors, Stout Trucking, VanUtrecht Farms and Trucking and Peterson Motorsports for making the night extra special.
A fantastic field of 22 Midstates Machine Stock Cars took the green for their feature with Pat Rachels leading the field to the green. Maguire Dejong took over the top spot before sixth starting Cayden Carter moved into the lead. Carter held the point until 8th starting Andrew Schroeder was able to move out front with 3 laps to go. Schroeder and Carter raced side by side the last two laps before Carter was able to regain the lead on the back chute of the white flag lap. Carter held off one last charge by Schroeder to score the win by less than a car length. DeJong crossed under the checkers in third ahead of Nathan Wood.
Brayton Carter added another Caleb Hammond Memorial trophy to his collection by topping the Oskaloosa Quality Rentals Sportmod feature. Carter started the main event in the 9th position and steadily worked to the front eventually overtaking leader Colton Livezey. Cory VanZante made a rare appearance at the Southern Iowa Speedway and took third in the main event.
Dustin Griffiths took off from his outside front row start in the Stout Tucking Hobby Stock feature and set sail and went on to score an impressive win in the feature. Old timer Craig Brown brought the familiar #69 to Oskaloosa on Wednesday night and showed the fans he can still get it done by running a very impressive second place in the Caleb Hammond Memorial feature.
Seth Meinders has been the driver to beat all year in the Sport Compact class, Meinders added another win to his resume on Wednesday night as he was joined in victory lane by his wife and his one week old son Sawyer. Meinders took the win ahead of Brandon Allison and Caleb Hildebrand.
Troy Folkerts raced for the first time in 22 years on Wednesday night and he picked up the feature win in the Doug’s Four Wheelers Crown Victoria class. Troy stated in victory lane, no matter where I finished tonight this is a one and done, as he claims to be officially retired from racing. Trent Kerr ran second ahead of Cole Hughes.
Mahaska Season Championship races will be held on Wednesday, July 22nd with all five weekly classes settling the 2026 season long point championships. In addition the Vintage late Models will be back in action, hot laps will get underway at 7:15 with racing to follow.
Southern Iowa Speedway
Caleb Hammond Memorial
Wednesday, July 15
Feature Results (top five)
Midstates Machine Stock Cars
1. 1X Cayden Carter-New Sharon
2. 02 Andrew Schroeder-Fremont
3. 30M Maguire Dejong-Montezuma
4. 52 Nathan Wood-Sigourney
5. 79S Jason See-Albia
Oskaloosa Quality rentals Sportmods
1. 01 Brayton Carter-Oskaloosa
2. 29 Colton Livezey-New Sharon
3. 34Z Cory VanZante-Sully
4. 1V Cole Vanderwal-Oskaloosa
5. A5 Austin Paul-Newton
Stout Trucking Hobby Stocks
1. 10G Dustin Griffiths-Hedrick
2. 69 Craig Brown-Eldon
3. 7 Keaton Gordon-Ottumwa
4. 55 Brad Stephens-Bussey
5. 44P Peyton Stephens-Bussey
Sport Compacts
1. 65 Seth Meinders-Ottumwa
2. 69ER Brandon Allison-Oskaloosa
3. 11 Caleb Hildebrand-Oskaloosa
4. 3S Paige Sanders-Montezuma
5. 2K Katelyn Watts-Oskaloosa
Doug’s Four Wheelers Crown Vics
1. 67 Troy Folkerts-Albia
2. 5K Trent Kerr-Oskaloosa
3. 11 Cole Hughes-What Cheer
4. 51 Russell Bauer-Centerville
5. 42K Kira Kerr-Oskaloosa
