It was a beautiful night at the Marshalltown Speedway and the racing was great as well, making for a perfect combination for race fans. This would be billed the Cliff Chambers Memorial race which was postponed from an early rain cancelled date. Chambers was honored for his years of benefiting racing at the speedway.
The first feature event of the evening was the Dwarf/Mod Lites. Mike Morrill was attempting to continue his "Mr. Perfect" status at the track of winning every regular event as well as the Frostbuster feature. He started 12th in the main event and although he was picking off cars at a good clip, it was appearing that his streak just might come to an end. The 57 car of Tim Hennigar, with his fans cheering him on wildly, looked to be the one to bring this streak to an end. Unfortunately, Hennigar would find himself pushed high on the frontstretch, come to a rest high in turn one, ending his challenge. After the green flag flew once again, it was Morrill taking charge and he took the checkers first. As is his custom, he gave his trophy to a lucky youngster in the crowd--this one going to one from England! Runner-up in the feature was Charlie Brown, third went to Eric Hendrickson, fourth to Randy Bryan and fifth to Josh May.
The always popular SportMod class would have to have it's starting feature whittled down to 24 through a B main. Challenging for much of the race upfront were Paul Nagle, Kevin Sather, and Luke Wanninger. Wanninger took over the top spot and appeared to be on his way to a victory, but on the last lap, Sather reeled him in and made the pass for the win. Following him would be Wanninger and Nagle, last week's winner Scott Davis in fourth, and new to the track driver, Brett Meyer in fifth. Sather would also present his trophy to a lucky young fan.
The IMCA stock cars saw 25 cars in attendance with 21 able to start the 18-lap main. This race would go flag to flag and would be run in 5 minutes and 46 seconds, according to announcer Denny Grabenbauer. While the action was all around the track, those running up front would provide the excitement with Lake City's Dustin Smith taking the win, followed closely by Trent
Murphy and Dusty Vis. Finishing in fourth would be the "Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty and fifth was Tracy Gienger.
The modifieds alway produce an exciting race at Marshalltown, and Friday night was no exception! You can almost always count on Jimmy Gustin putting his car up front and when he grabbed the lead, it appeared a sure thing that he would be visiting Victory Lane again. However, Adam Larson, who came from well back in the pack and began his hard charge by running the topside, made an exciting race at the end. Larson held the lead on the white flag lap for a short time, but Gustin was able to regain the top spot, and come home the victor. Following Larson across the line was Jon Snyder for third place, Joey Schaefer in fourth and Danny Fetters in fifth.
Not to be outdone in providing excitement, the "wild things" IMCA hobby stocks put on quite the show at the finish! Jumping to the lead early, was the 19D of Dustin Elliott. However, putting pressure on behind him were several contenders and they were all fighting for position .
There were four cars coming out of turn four looking at the checkered flag, and it would be Grinnell's Gene Nicklas able to visit Victory Lane for the first time since 2004. Todd Reitzler
was able to come home in second, just squeaking by Dustin Elliott in third and also right there in fourth was Terry Shaffar. Justin Lichty came home in fifth. Nicklas was more than a little excited about being able to visit Victory Lane, which last time he did so he quipped, "didn't even have cement!"
A King of the Hill event for the IMCA modifieds ended the evening's activities with six cars giving it a shot. In the first round, it was Danny Fetters taking the two lap shoot out over Derek Reimer, Jon Snyder besting Todd Conrad and Jay Schmidt beating Vern Jackson. Second round saw Fetters versus Snyder with Snyder taking the checkers. The final test for the "king" status was Snyder against Schmidt, who had drawn a bye. The King of the Hill for the event ended with Jon Snyder taking top honors, as he beat Schmidt.
Next Friday at the Marshalltown Speedway, will be 410 Sprint Car driver Dusty Zomer challenging a yet to be determined modified driver as he visits the speedway in his Minuteman sponsored powerhouse. It's always an enjoyable night at Marshalltown, so try and catch a race there sometime during the season if you have not already done so.
Happy racing!
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