Racing Weekend Recap

For those of you who check out this website, I apologize for the blog being late. Seems the website was having some issues, and was not available for posting new blogs. Hopefully it is now resolved and we will recap some of the racing we saw over the past weekend.

Friday was our usual stop at the Marshalltown Speedway. With regular announcer Blake Anderson off on duty at the three-day show running at the Knoxville Speedway, it meant some personnel taking on different roles at the track. Flagman Jerry VanSickle was on the mic for the night and Al "Pep" Wolfgram who is usually working the infield, took on the flagging duties.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature was won by Dusty Masolini who grabbed the lead away from Mike Kennedy and then drove off from the rest of the field. Kennedy kept his position for the runner-up spot, Randy Bryan was third, fourth went to Josh May and fifth to Tim Hennigar.

In the IMCA Northern SportMod feature, pole sitter Gaitlin Leytham and Neil Follett would exchange the lead until a yellow flag, caused by a car sitting in turn two, resulted in those two cars becoming hooked when they slowed for the caution. They did manage to "disengage" but Follett would then have to go to the pits under yellow, return and tag the field. On the restart, with three laps to go, Leytham was returned to the number one spot and would maintain the lead and go on to the win. Kyle Brown was chasing the leaders most of the race but would have to settle for second at the checkers. Third across the line was Scott Davis, fourth went to Brad Iverson and fifth was Eric Elliott.

A slimmer field of only thirteen stock cars were in attendance this week. Independence regular Brian Irvine was able to tame the high-banked quarter mile in fine fashion as he started tenth and quickly drove to the front. After getting the lead away from Steve Meyer, he drove off from the rest of the pack. As the laps wound down, point leader Dustin Smith gave it his all to run Irvine down, but to no avail. Irvine took the win, Smith was second, third went to Trent Murphy, fourth to Steve Meyer, and rounding out the top five was Jay Schmidt.

The modified A main winner was Jon Snyder who was being dogged much of the race by the 2L of Adam Larson. Late in the race, Larson slipped off the track between turns three and four, handing over second place to Richie Gustin. Gustin kept that position and finished second, third went to Brett Ladehoff in his new ride, fourth went to Jimmy Gustin, and fifth to Mike O'Lear.

The IMCA hobby stocks completed the night's feature events. Point leader Devin Smith made his way to the lead quickly from starting back in the fifth row. He made it seem easy in taking the win. Michael Murphy, second in points, came home to a second place finish. Third place went to the 99JR of Nick Murty, Michael Vibbard was fourth, and fifth was Gene Nicklas.

For more complete results and info on the track, check out http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com/.


Saturday was back at the Boone Speedway for their regular weekly show. We were in the area a bit early so opted to stop for a bite to eat before heading to the track. The sky was not looking very friendly, and while sitting in a restaurant in Ames, the rain came. The rain did stop and as we drove to the west side of Ames, it had not rained at all nor had it in Boone. Typical Iowa weather. Never trust what it's doing across town!

In the Dwarf/Mod Lite feature, Jeff Stensland saw his hope for a win elude him. He had led most of the race but young Josh May swung to the topside coming out of turn four as they looked for the checkered flag. May nosed by first for the win and Stensland had to be content with second place. Third went to Randy Bryan, fourth to Travis Stensland, and fifth to Mike Kennedy.

Next up was the SportMods which saw Jared Timmerman in the winner's circle. Following him to take second place was Tim Love. Third would go to Randy Roberts, fourth to Eric Elliott and fifth to Geoff Olson.

The IMCA modifieds saw a first time winner in the division as Joel Bushore led the race from flag to flag; caution free. Bushore shook off any nerves and ran a smooth, consistant race even with veteran Russ Dickerson on his tail. Taking third behind Bushore and Dickerson, was another veteran, Denny Pittman. Fourth went to Adam Larson, and fifth to Randy Havlik.

The stock cars followed up the modifieds with another caution free race. Bryan Trogdon was wanting to repeat his win from last week and wasted no time in taking the lead from starting 4th. Hot Rod Richards got into the second spot after making the pass on Mike Munson who would then fall back a couple of spots. At the end of the 18-lap event, Trogdon took his second win in as many weeks, Richards kept the runner-up position, Wayne Gifford made his way through the pack to take third, fourth went to Donavon Smith coming from 10th starting spot, and fifth was Mike Munson.

Closing out the night's racing was the hobby stock feature. Scott Lograsso came from starting 8th to take the win. Pat Mather took second from starting back in 12th spot. Third went to the familiar looking #40 of Randy Embrey, fourth went to Tony Cox and fifth to Cody Gustoff.

More complete results are listed below this blog. Also, check out the Boone Speedway website at http://www.raceboone.com/ for more information concerning the track.

Sunday we returned to the Stuart Speedway for the completion of the the weathered out Ron Little Memorial features for the Dwarfs, SportMods, and Stock Cars, plus the regularly scheduled show. Unlike last week when the weather chased us away from the track, we got to see the whole program.

The Dwarf/Mod Lites ran their make-up race first. Ivan Guerra and Bob Morgan tangled in turn one before the first lap was completed and both were towed off. James May took the win as he held off Dusty Masolin and his son, Josh May. Fourth went to Johnny Mordock and fifth to Colby Oberembt.

The make-up feature for the IMCA stock cars saw pole sitter Brian Blessington lead the entire race. Blessington ran the bottom as Tim Bengard tried to catch him. Blessington took the win and Bengard remained in second. Third was Cory Bushnell, fourth went to Jeremy Gettler and fifth to Bryan Snell.

The final of the make up features of the weathered out Ron Little Memorial was the IMCA SportMods. David Schlicht looked very fast as he took the lead after starting 5th and kept that lead to the finish line. Following Schlicht across in second place was Jeremy Embrey who took to the topside in his quest to catch the leader. Third place went to Mike Pruitt, fourth to Geoff Olson and fifth to Clint Luellen.

County music singer, Shane Morgan was on hand to help raise money for a little girl fighting cancer. He had met the little girl in Nashville at St. Jude's Hospital while she was there during cancer treatment. The crowd was generous as over $1500 was raised to go toward medical bills.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature saw the top two swap finishes from the make up main as Dusty Masolini won and James May was second. Josh May took third as he had done previously in the make up race and fourth went to Johnny Mordock as it had in the first race of the night. Rounding out the top five was Angelo Montgomery.

The IMCA Sport Compact feature went to Garrett Nelson as he bested the 24 of Jamie Mahlberg. Crossing the line in third place was the 18 car of Jacob Peters but he was later disqualified for an illegal helmet and "no shoes". Now, we are not quite sure if the "no shoes" really meant no shoes at all, or that he did not have racing legal foot covering. Third would then go to Cory Kyle. Dan Cleaver and David Archibald did not finish.

In the IMCA hobby stocks, John Watson repeated his winning ways from last week by leading the entire race to cross the finish line in first again. Second went to Nyle Godwin as he came from starting 10th, third was Curt Ganoe, fourth was Randy Embrey and fifth was his father, Larry Embrey.

The IMCA Northern SportMod regular feature went to a local favorite, Mike Pruitt. David Schlicht had to settle for second place after having won the make up feature. Jeremy Embrey finished in third, Clint Luellen in fourth, and Ty Luellen in fifth. Pruitt was happy to be back in victory lane in his Mopar powered machine.

The stock car class found Brian Blessington trying to catch Jeremy Gettler the entire time. It wasn't to be though and Gettler took the win with Blessington in second. Third went to defending track champion, Tim Bengard, fourth to the 32T of Tim Feltner in his Ford powered ride, and fifth was Kenny Hansen.

In the modified feature, Todd Shute took up where he left off last week when he won the Ron Little Memorial race in easy fashion. He made it look easy again as he led the pack the whole race. Coming home in second was a crowd favorite in Josh "Happy" Gilman as he came from the tail after having to change a tire earlier. Third place finisher was Randy Havlik, fourth went to veteran driver Rex Parkison and fifth was Jake George.

This wound up another three-race weekend swing for us ending at the Stuart Speedway. For more information and more complete results, be sure and check out http://www.stuartspeedway.net/.
Until next time, happy racing!