Marshalltown Speedway got their season points racing action underway on Friday night, April 9th, after having their Frostbuster rained out the previous Friday night. The pits and stands were filled, with 137 cars competing for the opening points night. An unfortunate "lights out" in the infield occurred at the beginning of the action when a transformer blew, leaving the infield without power. While it did not halt the first six heat races, the PA system did not work. We have been to several tracks where the power has gone out, but it certainly brought back memories of Eldora, Iowa where it happened often especially during their fair races. Fellow Positively Racing blogger Tapfan, was quick to mention that recollection! Shortly after 8 p.m., heat racing was stopped, when the visibility was just too dark to be safe. Promoter Toby Kruse was having portable rented lighting brought in, but just after the first one was up in turn two, Alliant Energy was able to restore power. Downtime was about an hour and fifteen minutes. New announcer this year is young Blake Anderson, who also helps announce at the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday nights. He takes long-time announcer, Denny Grabenbauer's place on the PA. Welcome aboard Blake. Taking to the flag stand this year is Jerry VanSickle who takes the place of Ryan Bergeson. Ryan, a new father last November, is sticking closer to home and will be waving the flags at the Donnellson Speedway on Friday nights.
The first feature was the Dwarf/Mod Lites. The race was red flagged when Kevin Grisham rolled his ride in turn one. He was not injured. Tim Hennigar led much of the race as Josh May and Mike Morrill pursued him. It was back and forth between May and Hennigar until Morrill made his move past Hennigar to challenge for the lead. The final few laps was another back and forth battle between Morrill and May with May getting the advantage out of turn four, to take the first checkers of the year and I believe his first win at the Marshalltown Speedway.
The SportMod class had to whittle their feature down to 24 cars by running two B mains. Young Geoff Olson looked impressive by taking the feature win over Eric Elliott, Eric Flander (who moved from the stock car class) Brad Iverson and Roland's Matt Lettow.
Stock Cars had a good field of 23 cars on hand. Damon Murty took command of the race early and never looked back, to take home the feature win. Dustin Smith started in the back after suffering a flat in his heat race, to take second, third was Steve Meyer, fourth went to Michael Jaennette, and fifth was Trent Murphy.
Modified action was exciting with rookie to the division, Luke Wanninger, and Richie Gustin putting on a battle up front. An unfortunate incident with lap traffic would put both of them out of action when they wound up together on the frontstretch. Scott Simatovich inherited the lead then and he would maintain that point postion to take the win. Jon Snyder came home second, third went to a hard charging Vern Jackson, fourth was Jimmy Gustin and rounding out the top five, was Todd Conrad.
The final feature was the hobby stocks. Nick Murty led the race until he suddenly exited from the track during a yellow. Josh Irvine took the lead then and would come home the winner, followed by Todd Reitzler, Michael Murphy, Devin Smith and Dustin Elliott. The racing was done shortly before midnight.
Boone Speedway - April 10th
Saturday, April 10th, we ventured to the Boone Speedway for their season opener. We had learned that the front stretch bleachers were going to be heated and were curious to see how that was going to be done. The first section to the west had the back and sides beneath it, wrapped in heavy plastic and they had two large heaters blowing warm air up under the stands. That was quite the crowded section! Unfortunately, the breeze was blowing toward the stands and probably did not give a good indication as to how well the setup really worked.
I counted 131 cars competing on the night. The first feature was the Dwarf/Mod Lites which surprisingly seems to be dropping in numbers. Only thirteen cars were on hand. The top two spots went to father and son, Josh and James May, with son beating out his dad. This was the third straight win for young Josh as he took the checkers at Burlington last weekend, Marshalltown Speedway the previous night, and the win at Boone. Third place finisher was Joel Huggins, fourth went to Dusty Masolini and fifth to Randy Bryan.
The SportMod class still continues to grow. Their feature was pared down to 24 starters by running two B mains. Young, talented Brett Moffitt didn't have much trouble in taking the checkers for the win in this contest. Moffitt, who has been signed with the Joe Gibbs racing team, will be competing in the Nascar Pro Series East division later. Quite the accomplishment for one so young. Following him across the line to take second, was Jared Timmerman who looks to be a challenger this year. Third went to another driver who had an impressive run, Eric Elliott, followed by Brian Miller in fourth and Scott Davis rounded out the top five.
The IMCA modified feature found Richie Gustin leading the race until he threw a driveshaft with 14 or 15 laps down in the 20 lap feature. Rookie Luke Wanninger took over the point spot until he slid high, allowing Scott Baker to slip under him for the lead. Todd Shute passed Wanninger and was pedaling fast trying to catch Baker, but time ran out for him with Baker taking the win and Shute having to settle for second place. Third went to Wanninger, fourth to rookie in the division, Daniel Hilsabeck, and fifth to Josh "Happy" Gilman.
Twenty-five of the the twenty-seven stock cars, started the A Main. Fifth place starter, "Hot" Rod Richards led from nearly the beginning, never relinquishing his top spot. He took the win over Bill Reetz, Bryan Trogdon, Trent Murphy and Nathan Wood.
Two A features were run for the IMCA hobby stocks. Feature one was taken by Chris Hupp from his outside front row starting position. Second was Brandon Pruitt, third was John Watson, fourth went to Steve Roberts, and fifth to Aaron Rudolph. A feature number two, concluded the evenings races with Matt Wahlert taking advantage of his pole starting spot, to come home the winner. Veteran racer, Donnie Gustoff was second, third went to Dean Hartwig, fourth to Matt Hudspeth and fifth to Nyle Godwin.
Early in this racing season, we have noticed vast improvements in some drivers, many drivers changing classes, and some drivers missing in action. Congratulations to all the winners over this past weekend. Thanks to all the drivers for putting on a show for us fans. We look forward to many more exciting nights of racing ahead. Get out and support this great sport of dirt track racing.
More complete results are listed below for Boone Speedway.
Happy Racing!
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