Sunday September 27th, saw Marshalltown Speedway end their season with an Oktemberfest special. The modfiieds were allowed to "go topless" for a novel experience for both drivers and fans. Visiting drivers would take home wins as well as track regulars, as they tried their hand at maneuvering the slick track. It was an extremely windy night and by the end of the event, the fans in the grandstand were covered in dust.
First feature of the evening was the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks. Going into the contest, point leader in this series was Ed Nelson as he held a six point lead over Bret Moyer. When Nelson had a flat early in the feature and had to tag the field, it was appearing that perhaps he would not be the champion of the series on this their final show. Moyer started from the pole and led the entire race but Nelson would make his way through the field to finish third and retain the point lead and win the championship. Moyer took the checkers in first, second went to Brian Murray, third to Nelson, fourth to Brad Moyer and fifth to Bob Murray. Missing in action on the night, was Carl Moyer who we heard was under the weather and unable to attend.
The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature saw the familiar #6 ride of Mike Morrill sitting in Victory Lane once again. As usual, he would hand over his trophy to a lucky youngster in the stands. Morrill came from starting third to grab the early lead and from there on, would lead the rest of the way.
Second went to Randy Bryan who started near the end of the field, third to Joel Huggins, fourth to Troy Hudson who was late arriving and started on the tail, and fifth to James May.
The hobby stock class saw a visiting driver from the northeastern part of Iowa take home the hardware. Chris Hovden from Cresco, who is a regular USRA sanctioned driver and who runs Cresco and Decorah tracks on a regular basis, took the feature win. Donavan Nunnikhoven from Kellogg, Iowa, had to settle for second after leading early on. Third went to visiting driver, Chris Spilde from Ridgeway, Iowa, fourth to Terry Shaffar, and rounding out the top five was Steve Holthaus from Cresco.
The Sportmod class had to run a B-main to cut their starting field to 24 cars. Matt Lettow from Roland, Iowa took that B-main contest. Brad Iverson from Grinnell, led the early circuits of the feature until "old Mr. Steady", Duane VanDeest put his car into the lead. Austin Lucas found the track to his liking, as he caught up to the leaders, and made the pass into the lead. At the finish line, it was Lucas taking the victory over veteran driver Bill Hildreth with a great run to finish a close second. Third went to VanDeest, fourth to Kyle Brown with a nice advancement from starting about ninth, and fifth went to Brad Iverson. This race was filled with veteran drivers as also competing was Em Fretheim from Decorah, Iowa; a seasoned veteran of the late model ranks who had competed at the Marshalltown Speedway back in the 80's.
The stock cars were allowed to run under IMCA and USRA rules, allowing for a different carburetor if desired. The track had become slick, slick, slick by this time and with the very strong wind blowing from the northwest, when cars got into the unpacked portion of the track, we were all eating a good amount of dirt! Local racer, Dave Atcher got out front early from his outside front row starting spot, and looked to be sailing along to the win. However, another visitor from the northeast, Kurt Krauskopf, was making his way cautiously through traffic and picking off cars. After reeling in Atcher by running the dangerous top-side, he was able to drop to the bottom, get inside Atcher, and make the pass into the lead. Krauskopf, a regular USRA competitor, took the win followed by Atcher in second. Finishing third, was Mike VanGenderen who early on had to retire to the pits for a tire change and tag the field under a yellow, worked his way nicely through the field, to take third, fourth went to Andy Bryant, and fifth to another visitor, Mike Bergan from Ridgeway, Iowa.
The final contest on the program was the modifieds with all but one car, that being Vern Jackson, going topless. It was interesting to see these cars without their tops, and also allowed fans to get a glimpse at just how the drivers worked the wheels during a race. Jackson got the lucky re-draw, starting from the pole position, and led the early portion of the race. Two "Snyders" (not related) were able to get the top two spots away from Jackson. Jon Snyder, in the 69X machine, and Jason Snyder in the 98, battled back and forth for the lead. In the end, it was Jon Snyder, a track regular, who prevailed and took the $1,000-to-win over Jason Snyder. Third went to Adam Larson who came from deep in the field, fourth to Scott Simatovich, and fifth to Kellogg's David Brown with his best run of the year after starting back in 14th spot.
Yes, we ate dirt, and yes, the track was mighty slick and rubbered over, but we did see some really good racing. Many of the winners exclaimed in their post-race interviews, that they loved the track and wished it was like that all the time. Fans and drivers alike will have differing opinions on that subject.
The evening also saw the end of a long career of announcing for veteran Denny Grabenbauer. This night ended his twenty-three year run at the Marshalltown Speedway behind the mic.
He said his very first night began on a cold and windy April night back in 1987, and his final night ended on much the same note. Good luck to Denny in all his future endeavors. It won't be quite the same without hearing that familiar voice when the Marshalltown Speedway begins their new season of racing in 2010.
There is still racing to be found before it all ends for 2009. Check out the calendar of events on http://www.positivelyracing.com/ for a possible racing event to attend. Happy racing!
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