Racers and fans alike were ready for some racing at Marshalltown Speedway this past Friday night. Promoter Toby Kruse has had more than his share of rain outs this season and with the rain that fell early in the day on the Speedway, he said, "I'm looking for a miracle". At the end of the night, he exclaimed that he got that miracle. The track stayed good with the heavy humidity in the air and we saw multi-groove racing all night. A few sprinkles began at one point in the evening, but they quickly dissipated without a stop in racing action.
The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature was first on the track for their main event. Action was halted before the first lap was completed when the 14J of John Gardner put his ride on it's lid right on the front stretch. Thankfully, he was unscathed but it ended his evening. When racing action did get underway again, the neon orange #5 of Troy Hudson would keep his lead the entire race and go home to the win. Brothers Tim Hennigar and Andy Hennigar finished second and third respectively, fourth was Johnny Mordock and fifth was Jeff Stensland.
The IMCA Northern SportMods once again had to trim their starting field with a consy race.
The race early saw cars running four wide in the corners. Putting his #8 car up front was Grinnell's Brad Iverson. He stretched out that lead but yellows would bunch up the field. Pressuring him from behind was young Jake Strayer and point leader Kevin Sather. He was not to be denied though, and Iverson took the checkers first as Strayer made a great effort at the flag to overtake him. Strayer would take second and it appeared that Joel Bushore slipped by Sather at the flag to take third with Sather scored fourth and Zach Rawlins was fifth. This was Brad Iverson's first win at the Marshalltown Speedway. Congratulations go out to him.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA stock cars was up next. A full field of 24 cars competed during the night although only 23 would start the feature. The 8R of Sean Johnson was unable to make the starting call. Rookie Trevor Titus, who had earlier won his first ever heat race, would sit on the pole position. The early battle was between Clay Deppe, Steve Meyer and Ryan Gustin, but it wasn't long until point leader Dustin Smith was right up in the battle coming from starting 10th. Smith would be leading the race with only five laps down and would put distance between himself and the rest of the pack. Trent Murphy made his way past Meyer, Gustin and Deppe to take the runner up position as Smith took the checkers. Third went to Steve Meyer, fourth to Ryan Gustin , and fifth to Clay Deppe. Dustin Smith has visited Victory Lane many times in his career, and he added to his impressive win list again tonight.
The IMCA modified feature was billed as "The Show-Down in Mo-Town" and it was a great show. Several new faces were in attendance to fill out the 24 car feature. One visitor, Jeff Hunter from Henderson, Colorado had been in the area all week. We visited with him and found out he had made the 700+ mile drive (and a $600+ fuel cost) to come back our way hoping to run the Harris Clash and other weekly shows. Unfortunately, the Harris Clash was rained out, but he did get up to the Buena Vista Speedway in Alta, Iowa on Wednesday night to run their weekly program. He is planning to race at Boone Speedway and Stuart Speedway before heading back home. He told us he made the long trip by himself and will be heading back after Sunday for his oil field job. Always nice to see visiting drivers in our area.
Jacob Murray, "The Hartford Hot-Shoe", sat on the pole of the feature. Scott Hogan got to second early on but his night would come to an end as he was off power shortly after taking that position. Brett Ladehoff had a great run and made a good attempt at catching Murray. However, he would have to settle for second place as Murray took the win by leading flag to flag. Coming on strong to take third was Adam Larson, fourth to Richie Gustin and fifth to Nate Caruth. Both Gustin and Caruth came from starting in the sixth row I believe. This was Jacob Murray's first win at the Marshalltown Speedway. Congrats, Jacob.
The IMCA hobby stock feature concluded the night's events. This too would see a first time winner at Marshalltown. Young Michael Murphy took the win in his yellow 25M ride. Announcer Denny Grabenbauer talked with Murphy in Victory Lane and he said he was finally glad to get a win at Marshalltown. We have seen the eighteen year old win many times at other tracks but a victory had always eluded him at Marshalltown until now. Congratulations to another first timer at Marshalltown. The runner-up spot went to Devin Smith, third to Daniel Hilsabeck, fourth to Terry Shaffar and fifth to Clint Nelson.
The Central Iowa Fair will be on next Friday during the regular weekly racing show at Marshalltown for a little added atmosphere during the Iowa summer. There will also be bike races for the kids. Racing times will remain the same with hot laps at 7 and races at 7:30.
Happy racing!
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