Sunday, August 29, 2010

Father/Son Grab Boone Wins

Boone Speedway was blessed with beautiful weather and a packed pit area this past Saturday night with 168 cars checking in. Every class had a repeat winner from this season, and a father-son matched wins. We noted some visiting drivers testing the waters at Boone...no doubt in anticipation of the upcoming Super Nationals.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature was led early on by the 76M of Angelo Montgomery but by lap five, a familiar name was ahead of the field. Troy Hudson in his 4+1 ride (which equals 5...the number he has driven in the past) made it three in a row by reaching the checkers first. Charlie Brown tallied a second place finish, Dusty Masolini, Davide Schmalzried and Angelo Montgomery finished third through fifth place in that order.

The SportMods took to the track next for their feature run. Adam Shelman held a substantial lead through lap fourteen when a yellow flag flew. On the restart, Shelman would get jostled around a bit and loose many positions. Jeremy Embrey was the leader now and with just a few laps remaining, took another win at the Boone Speedway--his fourth on the year. Geoff Olson took the runner-up spot, followed by Jake Strayer in third, the #2 of Bill Wears in fourth, and rounding out the top five spots, was Cayden Carter. Sixth place went to Randy Roberts..minus much sheet metal, and Shelman recovered nicely from his shuffle backwards, to grab seventh. There will be much sheet metal being replaced this week as several cars were minus whole sides of their car.

The IMCA Modifieds put on quite the show as the fast track provided multi-grooves and much action. Mike Molle was fast from the get go from his pole starting spot. Luke Wanninger made the challenge on Molle by taking the low road as Molle motored away on the topside. Wanninger nabbed the lead with five laps to go in the 20-lap feature, but here comes Jimmy Gustin! Gustin made the pass into second and rode the very rim of the track. He would take the lead with one lap to go and take the checkers first. It was Gustin's fourth regular season win but he had also won the Frostbuster making it five victories at the track this year. Gustin puts on a show for the fans for sure, and we always say if he'd learn to push his car to the limit, he would REALLY be good! Ha, ha.....as if he doesn't do that already...and makes it work!

The IMCA Stock Cars brought their A main to the track next. It turned into a five or six car breakaway with Cory Bushnell leading the pack. Bushnell put distance between his competitors fighting for position behind him, taking the win for the second time this year. Travis Shipman finished in second with Alan VanGorp, Wayne Gifford and point leader Donavon Smith finishing closely behind for third through fifth positions respectively.

The first of two A mains for the IMCA Hobby Stocks found John Watson in his #4W repeating his win from last week. He had a good battle going with Kevin Fee who took second place at the checkers, third went to Scott Lograsso, fourth to Cory Tasler and fifth was Aaron Rudolph.

The second feature in the IMCA Hobby Stocks saw Tyler Pickett lead the charge for much of the race. That is until Randy Embrey came calling with two laps to go...overtaking Pickett for the lead. Embrey took the win, his second of the year, and matched the win earlier by his son Jeremy, in the SportMod class. Pickett had to settle for second place followed by Kenny Loftus in third, Pat Mather in fourth and Nyle Godwin in fifth.

The final week of regular season racing at Boone will be next Saturday night, September 4th, with Season Championship night. Of course, there will still be a lot of racing to come at the track when the 29th running of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals come to town for their September 6-11 run. We have attended every year since 1988 and we plan to be there for the duration once again. It's the highlight of our racing year. We always look forward to great racing, and seeing racing friends we have met through the years, drivers and fans alike. For more information and complete results, check out http://www.raceboone.com/ and http://www.imca.com/. There is much info at these sites for questions concerning the upcoming "Racin' Vacation". Happy racing!

Boone - 8-28-10

Unofficial results - 168 cars

Modified - 25 cars

Heat 1 - 5 Todd Shute
Heat 2 - 19 Jimmy Gustin
Heat 3 - 20 Luke Wanninger

Feature

1. 19 Jimmy Gustin
2. 20 Luke Wanninger
3. 27 Kelly Lyons
4. 18 Jake Durbin
5. 33M Mike Molle
6. 2L Adam Larson
7. 93 Cale Sponsler
8. 23 J. J. Scott
9. 12C Kent Croskey
10. 3Z Randy Havlik
11. 28R Russ Dickerson
12. 22D Daniel Hilsabeck (different car)
13. 49T Tim Stevens
14. 1 Billy Davis
15. 83G Josh Gilman
16. 98 Jeremy Brogaard, Kanawha, IA
17. 15M Shane DeMey, Denison, IA
18. 58 Denny Pittman
19. 36 Jeff Conner, Panora, IA
20. 87 Joel Bushore
21. 131s Ed Seibert
22. 5 Todd Shute
23. 69X Jon Snyder
24. 32H Lloyd Henderson

SportMod - 41 cars

Heat 1- 3s Adam Shelman
Heat 2 - 81D Scott Davis
Heat 3 - 18J Jake Strayer
Heat 4 - 32L Ty Luellen

B Main #1 - 2 advance to A

1. 10 Cayden Carter
2. 9X Austin Lucas
3. 9E Eric Elliott
4. 57 Lynn Brockett
5. 28R Mark Rose, Elcho, WI
6. 7 Carter VandenBerg
7. 7W Tim Wilcox, Ida Grove, IA
8. 28 James Reichart
9. 17 Jamie Ganoe
10. 21ZC Sean Allen, Des Moines, IA

B Main #2 - 2 advance to A

1. 27 Tim Love
2. 1TX Bobby Davis III, Des Moines, IA
3. 57T Tyler Gross, Bondurant, IA
4. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
5. 36 Matt Pittman
6. 321 Andy Tiernan
7. 5B Tom Burke
8. 3 Stacey Clark
DNS: 22J Jeff Blume
92 Mike Pruitt
46 Trevor Oberholz, Adair, IA

Feature

1. 41 Jeremy Embrey
2. 2G Geoff Olson
3. 18J Jake Strayer
4. 2 Bill Wears
5. 10 Cayden Carter
6. 3R Randy Roberts
7. Adam Shelman
8. 32L Ty Luellen
9. 29B Ben Wilson
10. 6 Darren Huntley
11. 1TX Bobby Davis III
12. 81D Scott Davis
13. 27 Tim Love
14. 3L Clint Luellen
15. 9X Austin Lucas
16. 23JR Nick Roberts
17. 63 Daniel Tasler
18. 59 Tara Longnecker
19. 29 Jamie Daughenbaugh
20. 5M Matthew Meinecke
21. 25 Scott VanBuskirk
22. 86 Cory Rose
DNS: 56 Lonnie Hodges

Stock Car - 27 cars

Heat 1 - 9 Jerry Gifford
Heat 2 - 22X Josh Brauckman
Heat 3 - 23HR Rod Richards


Feature

1. 55 Cory Bushnell
2. 87 Travis Shipman
3. 19A Alan VanGorp
4. 22 Wayne Gifford
5. 35 Donavon Smith
6. 12+ Ryan Rose
7. 50 Robert Stofer
8. 25 Trent Murphy
9. 45 Larry Crocheck
10. 59 Larry Portis
11. 77 Andy Bryant
12. 04 Don Vis
13. m2 Matt Fox, Payton, IA
14. 81B Dave Baugh
15. 3s Bryan Snell
16. 76 Norm Belew
17. 3H Ty Hill
18. 5 Keith Miner
19. 22X Josh Brauckman
20. 7I Andrew Inman, Mason City, IA
21. 99D Damon Murty
22. 9 Jerry Gifford
23. 23HR Rod Richards
DNS: 60 Clay Deppe
556 Terry Cornelison
B1 Russ Byriel

Hobby Stock - 47 cars

Heat 1 - 52 Kevin Fee
Heat 2 - 63 Cory Tasler
Heat 3 - m15 Pat Mather
Heat 4 - 24B Brandon Brinton
Heat 5 - 23 Cody Gustoff
Heat 6 - 3A Austin Luellen

Feature #1

1. 4W John Watson
2. 52 Kevin Fee
3. 83S Scott Lograsso
4. 63 Cory Tasler
5. 38R Aaron Rudolph
6. 25M Michael Murphy
7. 23 Cody Gustoff
8. 10B Brandon Pruitt
9. 12M Matt McDonald
10. 3A Austin Luellen
11. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon, IA
12. 74J Dean Hartwig
13. T15 Jacob Thompson
14. 20G Curt Ganoe, Stuart, IA
15. 9R Matt Hudspeth
16. 46J Jesse Hopkins
17. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
18. 51D Dustin Filloon
19. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
20. 27R Clint Rothfus
21. 85 Seth Janssen
22. T10 Tim Barber
23. 293 Jake Wirtz
24. 14 Matt Wahler

Feature #2

1. 40 Randy Embrey
2. 5A Tyler Pickett
3. 18L Kenny Loftus
4. m15 Pat Mather
5. 11G Nyle Godwin
6. 27 Clint Nelson
7. 51 Matthew Webb
8. 911 Darin Rothfus
9. 47W Shaun Wirtz
10. 10S Ray Stock, Jr.
11. 33 Nick Genkins, Stuart, IA
12. 21CZ Cody Cleghorn or Sean Allen...not sure
13. 20T Richard Yaw
14. 26T Jeremy Tilley
15. 23G Dustin Tepp
16. 10 Travis Fenton
17. 96W Danny Watson, Des Moines, IA
18. 20 Donnie Gustoff
19. 24B Brandon Brinton
20. 22 Chris Jensen
21. 16B Jay Arends
22. 59 Joe Myers
23. 21 Ross Marshall


Dwarf/Mod Lite - 28 cars

Feature

1. 4+1 Troy Hudson
2. 82 Charlie Brown
3. 8 Dusty Masolini
4. 01 David Schmalzried
5. 76M Angelo Montgomery
6. 95 Mike Kennedy
7. 5X Matthew Goodin
8. 2 Bobby Harris
9. 11R Jason Whitehead
10. 4 Cliff Barber
11. X50 Joel Bushore
12. 3G Dustin Forsberg, Wichita, KS
13. 14J John Gardner
14. 99 Josh May
15. DC5 David WScandrett
16. 88 James May
17. 64 Randy Bryan
18. 8T Todd Thorson
19. 76 Terry Sorenson
20. 4L Larry Sorenson
21. 37X Tim Milner
22. 66F Eric Hendrickson
23. 20 Jeff Stensland
24. 41Z Ed Zehm
25. 0B Colby Oberembt
26. 1 Kenny Hake
DNS: 33 Gayle Worthington
11 Michael Stoker

Blog to follow

Saturday, August 28, 2010

A "New" Gustin in Victory Lane!

It was a beautiful night for racing at the Marshalltown Speedway this past Friday night. By night's end, we would see history in the making, when a "new" Gustin was in Victory Lane for the very first time. The track stayed fast and smooth, but unfortunately, the yellow flags seemed to wave much too often.

An added class of the Micro Mini Sprints visited the track for the second time this year. We understand that the drivers love coming to the Marshalltown Speedway. Fourteen of the cars were checked into the pits. Since we are not familiar with the class (not sure where or IF they run anywhere on a regular basis in our area) but we do know that the winner was the 11B ride of Ben Woods.

Feature number two was the Dwarf/Mod Lite with their 15-lap main. The 95 of Mike Kennedy won for the third time this year. Second place went to point leader Tim Hennigar, starting from the 10th spot. Hennigar tried to reel in Kennedy but appeared to be having difficulty negotiating turn two at times. Following Hennigar for third was Ivan Guerra, fourth went to Mike Morrill and fifth was Josh May.

The IMCA Northern SportMods brought their rides to the track next. Jenae Gustin wasted no time in putting her 19J to the point spot by lap four. Tyler Droste made his move up to the second position before halfway, and at the same time, Cayden Carter and Scott Davis were moving up to the front runners as well. A yellow flag flew with just two laps to go, and no doubt, was not what Gustin was wanting to see. The Gustin family talent showed through though, as Jenae kept her cool, hit her marks, and won her very first A feature. It was a happy Jenae Gustin in Victory Lane and much of the grandstand gave her a standing ovation. Congratulations to Jenae on getting that very first feature win under her belt. We see many more coming to her down the line. Tyler Droste took the runner up spot followed by point leader Scott Davis for third after nipping fourth place finisher Cayden Carter on the final lap, and fifth was Carter's cousin in the #7, Carter VandenBerg. After the race, we noted some close post-race inspection going on in the tech area, but as far as we know, the results stood.

The IMCA Modifieds ran their 20-lap feature next. Yellows flew in this race too, plus one red flag situation that caused a lengthy stop in the action. That red flag was brought about when three cars were involved in an incident on the front chute. The cars involved were Jay Schmidt, Brett Ladehoff and visitor on the night from Hartford, the 15M of Jason Murray. Not knowing exactly what happened in the situation, we do know that Schmidt was against the frontstretch wall and ended up getting punted down the track into turn one from contact with one or both of the other cars, Ladehoff and Murray. Murray and Ladehoff came to a halt just past the flagstand. Murray had to be cut from his car (we heard his feet/legs were pinned) but he was alert and talking the entire time. He was transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure and hopefully, had no significant injuries. The car on the other hand, did not appear to fare well at all. The other two cars also had substantial damage. The incident happened with only four laps remaining with Jon Snyder taking the point position when action was restarted. Snyder took the win with Mike O'Lear in second, third went to Jimmy Gustin in his recent new ride, Ronn Lauritzen finished in fourth and Adam Larson returned to the Marshalltown Speedway after quite an absence, to finish fifth.

Things were shuffled a bit in their feature running order from the norm, with the IMCA Hobby Stocks next on the night. Clint Nelson led for nearly the entire 12-lap feature and took his first win at the speedway. Scott Durlin took second place, followed by Michael Murphy in third, Eric Knutson in fourth and rounding out the top five was point leader Devin Smith.

The IMCA Stock Cars ran last for the regular classes. The #2 of Dave Atcher took the lead by lap three, after starting sixth. Not surprisingly, point leader Dustin Smith came from 10th starting spot, to be on Atcher's tail by lap five! Smith made the pass for the lead on lap six and from then on, it was another easy victory.....what we believe was his sixth in a row at Marshalltown and eighth in all. No surprise that Smith is the point leader with that record. Damon Murty got by Atcher coming to the checkers, as they finished second and third. Fourth was Trent Murphy from Jefferson and fifth went to the "Flyin' Dutchman", Mike VanGenderen in the 57V. VanGenderen was testing the track for the upcoming Iron Man Challenge series for USRA stock cars which will be on the docket this coming Tuesday when the USMTS modifieds come to town.

An added event tonight at the track was the popular "Gamblers" race for the modified class. Drivers wishing to participate, tossed $50 each into the pot with the winner taking all. With eleven cars starting, the $550 was an enticing carrot dangling in front of the drivers. Jon Snyder made it a clean sweep for the night by winning the Gambler in easy fashion after taking the A main earlier.

How the season has flown, and next week at the Marshalltown Speedway will be Season Championship night. Joining the regular classes will be the Nostalgic Vintage cars running as well. This Tuesday night, the USMTS modifieds will come to the track with Nascar driver Kenny Wallace scheduled to be in attendance. Racing starts at 7 p.m. on Tuesday with the USRA Iron Man Challenge series for stock cars also racing. If you haven't seen these two classes run before, they WILL put on a show, so make plans to attend. Support classes running will be B-modifieds and the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks. It was announced that local driver Darrel DeFrance will be piloting one of the trucks. There will be more than a few tv crew and cameras around the track too. A dirt track documentary is being filmed as they follow the USMTS series from track to track. For more information and results from last night's racing, check http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com/ and also check http://www.usmts.com/ for information on their upcoming race. Until next time, happy racing!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Southern Iowa Speedway Completes Regular 2010 Season

It had been several weeks since we had been to the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, and it was good to get back to what has been one of our regular weekly stops for years and years. The track has had more than its share of rain outs this season, but this Wednesday brought fabulous weather. It was Season Championship night and four track champions would be crowned at night's end.

The Carter Mfg. USRA B-modifieds ran their 15-lap feature first. There were twenty cars checked into the pits tonight, with two unable to start the feature, those being Brad Iverson and a name we remember from years past, Mark Mundell. The front row found the D1 of Drew Lawson and the 3 of Derek Kirkland. Kirkland, a regular hobby stock driver, was piloting the car previously driven by Chris Ammenhauser. Announcer Tony Paris said this was just Kirkland's second time behind the wheel of the B mod.

Bill Gibson got to the front quickly in the B mod feature but had to battle with Tyler Groenendyk for that front spot. Groenendyk would fall back several spots when AJ Johnson made a bid for the lead and Andrew Schroeder (making his appearance after a stay in Chicago)
followed Johnson into third place. As the final checkers flew, Gibson claimed the victory with AJ Johnson in second, Schroeder kept third spot, fourth was Jason McDaniel (who came from starting dead last) and crossing in fifth was Cayden Carter. Things would get shook up a bit after post-race inspection. It was announced that two cars in the top five were disqualified for rule infractions; AJ Johnson for a fly wheel issue, and Cayden Carter for an illegal transmission. AJ Johnson was later deemed legal and kept his second place finish. With Carter being dq'd, Tyler Groenendyk was moved to the fifth place car. Groenendyk is the 2010 track champion.

The 15-lap USRA stock car feature was next, with visiting driver from Webster City, Dennis Plain on the point starting spot. Mike VanGenderen, the Newton, Iowa driver who races all over the state of Iowa and sometimes beyond, immediately took over the top place. He had company coming fast behind him by lap six, when Nathan Wood made it into second, and Shane Weller followed to take third. It was quite the battle for a while when those three cars jockeyed for position and then the 15K of Kyle Harwood made his presence known and joined in. Weller outran those challengers and took the win. Following him to take second was Nathan Wood, the track champion for 2010, third went to Mike VanGenderen, fourth to Kyle Harwood, and fifth was Brian Sterling.

The USRA hobby stock feature up next, would determine who would be the track champion for the year. Tony Paris indicated that IF Kris Walker could pull off the win tonight and point leader Derek Kirkland finished sixth or worse, Walker would be walking away with another track championship. With Walker's record of wins at the big 1/2-mile in Osky, that scenario really wasn't much of a stretch. However, Kirkland has had a great season this year with consistently good finishes. Consistency is often the determining factor in winning championships, and tonight that is what played into the outcome. It wouldn't be either of those two drivers getting the win on this night, however. Andy Coleman led most of the 15-lap feature and took his second win of the year at the track. Kris Walker was trying his hardest for a win and hoping for a chance at that track crown, but had to settle for a runner up place. Third went to Steve Allen, fourth to Craig Brown, and fifth to Don Nunnikhoven. With a sixth place finish, Derek Kirkland took his first Southern Iowa Speedway championship by just 3-points over Walker.

The A modified feature completed the action for the night with their 20-lap event. Fifteen cars were in attendance and all started their main. Zack VanderBeek led from his pole starting spot through lap eight when Colt Mather, who had been reeling in the leader, was able to make the pass into the lead on lap nine. Mather would keep that top spot for the win, and VanderBeek finished second. In third would be the plain white car with an "X" on it. The car was driven by Kelly Shryock and we understood it was an "R.D."(research and development) 2011 Skyrocket.
The body seemed larger than most of the Skyrocket cars we've seen, but it definitely was getting around the track. Following Shryock to finish in fourth, was Scott Dickey and fifth was Steven Blattler. Though we did not hear it announced, we believe that Blattler kept his point lead over Dickey, and is the 2010 modified champion at the track.

So ends another regular season of racing at the Southern Iowa Speedway. However, there will be racing at the track next Wednesday night, September 1, when the USMTS comes to town. Nascar driver, Kenny Wallace is scheduled to be in attendance for that race. Also on the docket will be the USRA Dart Ironman Challenge for the stock cars, plus B mods and hobby stocks. Film crews will be on hand as they will be filming for a tv dirt track documentary, Dirt Knights. For more information check www.rlpromotions.com/oskaloosa.

Congratulations to all the track champions and thanks to ALL the drivers for entertaining us this past year. With the season winding down everywhere, try and catch a few more races before we all have to call it a year of dirt track racing in our neck of the woods. Until next time, happy racing!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Osky - 8-25-10

Unofficial results

Modified - 15 cars

Heat 1 - 8 Colt Mather
Heat 2 - 94 Steven Blattler

Feature

1. 8 Colt Mather
2. 33Z Zach VanderBeek
3. X Kelly Shryock (in a 2011 experimental Skyrocket)
4. 40 Scott Dickey
5. 94 Steven Blattler
6. 4R Ron VerBeek
7. 26 Dan Fetters
8. 22 Brandon Banks
9. 17P Brad Pinkerton
10. 00 David Ott
DNF: 70 Jesse Dennis
47 Josh Truman
15K Kevin Harwood
55D Nick Deal
j40 Clayton Jensen

B Mods - 20 cars

Heat 1 - 17T Tyler Groenendyk
Heat 2 - 8T Tony Johnson
Heat 3 - 7 Carter VandenBerg

Feature

1. 38 Bill Gibson
2. 8J AJ Johnson (originally announced dq'd for flywheel infraction, but was later declared legal)
3. 02 Andrew Schroeder (back from Chicago)
4. 85 Jason McDaniel
Note: 10 Cayden Carter crossed in 5th but was dq'd for an illegal transmission
5. 17T Tyler Groenendyk
6. 16 Mike Shelton
7. D1 Drew Lawson
8. 1 Curtis Vander Wal
9. 41 Bob Lynch
10. 777 Jayme Duinink
11. 7 Carter VandenBerg - limped across the line
12. 50X James Krier
DNF: 8 Tom Lathorp
3 Derek Kirkland (in the car formerly driven by Chris Ammenhauser)
49 Leroy Groenendyk
25 Scott VanBuskirk
8T Tony Johnson
DNS: 8x Brad Iverson
15X Mark Mundell

Stock Car - 9 cars

Heat - 15K Kyle Harwood

Feature

1. 20dub Shane Weller
2. 52 Nathan Wood
3. 57V Mike VanGenderen
4. 15K Kyle Harwood
5. 98s Brad Sterling
6. 7 Rick Todd
7. 62X TJ Henderson
DNF: 57 Dennis Plain, Webster City, IA
60K Clay Deppe

Hobby Stock - 18 cars

Heat 1 - 3S Steve Allen
Heat 2 - 22R Todd Reitzler

Feature

1. 78 Andy Coleman
2. 18 Kris Walker
3. 3S Steve Allen
4. 69 Craig Brown
5. 2N Don Nunnikhoven
6. 2K Derek Kirkland
7. 47 Tim Pettibone, Moravia, IA
8. 911 Shawn Coleman
9. 53D Ron Downing
10. 67 Tyler Ruepke
DNF: 12 Mike Kincaide sp?, Cincinnati, IA
10G Dustin Griffiths
33 Justin Hook
84 Danny Thrasher
64 Casey Grueubel
29 Wes Almond
22R Todd Reitzler
DNS: 558 Jim Hughes

Blog to follow

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Watson and Gustoff Take First Wins at Boone

A hot, muggy night awaited us at the Boone Speedway this past Saturday night...to say nothing about the swarm of mosquitoes that attacked in the latter part of the evening! We heard comments like, "they are as huge as sparrows", and fans were sharing their supply of spray to help dispense the little buggers. They didn't put much of a damper on the racing though as drivers added to their wins this year and in the hobby stocks, two new winners emerged.

Troy Hudson put it back in Victory Lane after his first win last week. He had the 4+1 Mod Lite humming, as he zoomed from starting fifth, to leading by lap two. Charlie Brown wasn't able to catch Hudson and had to settle for the runner up spot followed by Dusty Masolini in third, Josh May in fourth, and fifth went to Randy Bryan.

As usual, a large car count was on hand for the IMCA Northern SportMods resulting in two B mains. Those were won by Eric Elliott in the 9E and Jeremy Embrey in the 41 car. Several yellows would plague the feature and shake up the field. Clint Luellen led at lap nine and was fighting off the challenges of Nick Roberts and Daniel Tasler. Meanwhile, point leader, Scott Davis was making his move and moving up well as he positioned himself in the fourth spot behind veteran Rick Ringgenberg. Things would get changed up a bit as the cars charged to the checkers when Roberts would spin low in turn four, ruining his top finish. Clint Luellen took the checkers for the second time this year, Davis finished as the runner up, third went to Ringgenberg, fourth to Randy Roberts, and visitor Tim Wilcox from Ida Grove, and who came from qualifying through a B main, was scored in fifth.

The IMCA Modifieds saw all twenty-one cars start their feature. Young Joel Bushore once again showed his composure in scoring his third win of the season at Boone. A lap car nearly caused a big problem for Bushore on the white flag lap, but he was able to gather the car under him and take the win. Jimmy Gustin (we noted with a new body on his car) was in his usual fast mode, and finished in second from having started back in 16th spot. Randy Havlik, last year's Super National champion, finished in third, fourth went to Russ Dickerson, and fifth was Jake Durbin.

We have been noticing large fields of IMCA Stock Cars as of late, and tonight was no exception as there were 34 of them on hand. This would call for a B main to qualify the final four cars in the feature event, and it was won by the 19J of Jay Schmidt. The 83E car of Thomas Thompson from Hopkinton, Iowa led the opening laps from his pole starting position. Not surprisingly, point leader Donavon Smith charged to the lead by lap eight and from there on, never looked back. We count this as win #5 on the season at the Boone Speedway for Smith. Robert Stofer finished in second, third went to Wayne Gifford, Jay Schmidt; after qualifying through the B, finished in fourth, and fifth went to Thomas Thompson.

There were two A mains for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Feature #1 brought a new winner as the 4W of John Watson took the checkers first. A tire going down, ended leader Austin Luellen's chances for a win in the closing lap of the race. When that incident happened, Watson shot around second place runner, Tony Cox and into the lead. Watson took his first win of the year, Cox was scored in second, and Luellen hung on to finish in third. Fourth would go to Justin Maschke in the 4JW car and fifth was Jesse Hopkins.

The second A main for the IMCA Hobby Stocks closed out the night's action. It too would have a first time winner in veteran Donnie Gustoff. Gustoff took the lead over Cory Tasler with just two laps to go to take that win. Tasler held on for the runner up spot, third went to another veteran driver, Randy Embrey, fourth was Cody Gustoff, and fifth to the 9R of Matt Hudspeth.

The regular racing season is quickly winding down with only two more races on tap at Boone before the 29th running of the IMCA Super Nationals September 6-11th. Don't forget to bring your bug spray! Check out http://www.raceboone.com/ for information about the track as well as details about the Super Nationals. Until next time, happy racing!

Boone - 8-21-10

Unofficial results: 158 cars

Modified - 21 cars

Heat 1 - 3C Max Corporon
Heat 2 - 93 Cale Sponsler
Heat 3 - 33M Mike Molle

Feature

1. 87 Joel Bushore
2. 19 Jimmy Gustin
3. 3Z Randy Havlik
4. 28R Russ Dickerson
5. 18 Jake Durbin
6. 93 Cale Sponsler
7. 27 Kelly Lyons
8. 1 Bill Davis, Jr.
9. 3C Max Corporon
10. 12C Kent Croskey
11. 32H Lloyd Henderson
12. 131S Ed Seibert
13. 26 Phil Levri
14. 20 Luke Wanninger
15. 33M Mike Molle
16. 49T Tim Stevens
17. 5 Todd Shute
18. 58 Denny Pittman
19. 15X Scott Baker
20. 69X Jon Snyder
21. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch

SportMod - 38 cars

Heat 1 - 63 Daniel Tasler
Heat 2 - 3L Clint Luellen
Heat 3 - 9X Austin Lucas
Heat 4 - 2 Bill Wears

B main #1 - 2 transer to A

1. 9E Eric Elliott
2. 7W Tim Wilcox
3. 6 Darren Huntley
4. 3S Adam Shelman
5. 27 Tim Love
6. 29B Ben Wilson
7. 29 Jamie Daughenbaugh
8. 22J Jeff Blume
DNS: 59 Tara Longnecker

B main #2 - 2 transfer to A

1. 41 Jeremy Embrey
2. 17 Jamie Ganoe
3. 34J Jerry Hinton
4. 13D Dan Wetzel
5. 56K Kyle Webb
6. 25 Scott VanBuskirk - Fairfield, IA
7. 28 James Reichart
DNS: 18J Jake Strayer
2G Geoff Olson

Feature

1. 3L Clint Luellen
2. 81D Scott Davis
3. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
4. 3R Randy Roberts
5. 7W Tim Wilcox, Ida Grove, IA
6. 63 Daniel Tasler
7. 41 Jeremy Embrey
8. 35 Bruce Egeland
9. 1C Cody Warrick
10. 9E Eric Elliott
11. 17 Jamie Ganoe
12. 22X Troy Oliver
13. 2 Bill Wears
14. 23JR Nick Roberts
15. 57 Lynn Brockett
16. 5B Tom Burke
17. 8 Brad Iverson
18. 56 Lonnie Hodges
19. 86 Cory Rose
20. 32L Ty Luellen
21. 9x Austin Lucas
22. 20T Mike Tanner, Kansas City, MO
23. 3 Stacey Clark
DNS: 24 Brian Miller

Stock Car - 34 cars

Heat 1 - 18 Jeff Harkrider
Heat 2 - 12 Bryan Trogdon
Heat 3 - 23A Jeremy Gettler
Heat 4 - 50 Robert Stofer

B main - 4 transer to A

1. 19J Jay Schmidt
2. 52 Nathan Wood
3. 12+ Ryan Rose
4. 31s Paul Shephard, Marengo, IA
5. 9 Jerry Gifford
6. 76 Norm Belew
7. 93 Michael Jaennette
8. 24K Kevin Shaw
9. 35B Donny Boucher
10. 5 Keith Miner
11. 5X Luke Skalla, Scranton, IA
12. 23HR Rod Richards
DNS: 77 Lonnie Bryant
27 Gary Bass

Feature

1. 35 Donavon Smith
2. 50 Robert Stofer
3. 22 Wayne Gifford
4. 19J Jay Schmidt
5. 83E Thomas Thompson,
6. 17A Todd Inman
7. 3S Bryan Snell
8. 45 Larry Crocheck
9. 25J Josh Daniels
10. 23A Jeremy Gettler
11. 55 Cory Bushnell
12. 38 Rich Vogt, Fairfield, IA
13. 52 Nathan Wood
14. 3H Ty Hill
15. 19A Alan VanGorp
16. 18 Jeff Harkrider
17. 31S Paul Shephard
18. 12 Bryan Trogdon
19. 25 Trent Murphy
20. 22X Josh Brauckman
21. 60 Clay Deppe
22. 57V Mike VanGenderen
23. 556 Terry Cornelison
DNS: 12+ Ryan Rose

Hobby Stock - 40 cars

Heat 1 - 67 Ed Mahlstedt
Heat 2 - 20 Donnie Gustoff
Heat 3 - 27R Clint Rothfus
Heat 4 - 47W Shaun Wirtz

Feature #1

1. 4W John Watson
2. 1BC Tony Cox
3. 3A Austin Luellen
4. 4JW Justin Maschke
5. 46J Jesse Hopkins
6. 83 Chris Hupp
7. m15 Pat Mather
8. 16B Jay Arends
9. 12M Matt McDonald
10. 51 Matt Webb
11. 27R Clint Rothfus
12. 18L Kenny Loftus
13. 2L Leonard Loftus
14. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
15. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo, IA
16. 85 Seth Janssen
17. 26T Jeremy Tilley
18. T10 Tim Barber
19. 78 Tim Hadley
20. 52 Kevin Fee, Knoxville, IA

Feature #2

1. 20 Donnie Gustoff
2. 63 Cory Tasler
3. 40 Randy Embrey
4. 23 Cody Gustoff
5. 9R Matt Hudspeth
6. 74J Dean Hartwig
7. 38R Aaron Rudolph
8. 14 Matt Wahlert
9. T15 Jacob Thompson
10. 24B Brandon Brinton
11. 5A Tyler Pickett
12. 83S Scott Lograsso
13. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
14. 22R Todd Reitzler
15. 25m Michael Murphy
16. 20T Richard Yaw II
17. 47W Shaun Wirtz
18. 10 Tim Barber
19. 21 Ross Marshall
DNS: 00 Kyle Dirks

Dwarf/Mod Lite - 25 cars

Feature

Heat 1 - 88 James May
Heat 2 - 99 Josh May
Heat 3 -- 82 Charlie Brown

1. 4+1 Troy Hudson
2. 82 Charlie Brown
3. 8 Dusty Masolini
4. 99 Josh May
5. 64 Randy Bryan
6. 95 Mike Kennedy
7. 46Z Bryan Zehm
8. 88 James May
9. 11R Jason Whitehead
10. 2 Bobby Harris
11. 01 David Schmalzried
12. 20 Jeff Stensland
13. 5X Matthew Goodin
14. 37X Tim Milner
15. 8T Todd Thorson
16. 4 Cliff Barber
17. 51 Justin Efkamp
18. 5K Kent Efkamp
19. 76 Terry Sorenson
20. 4L Larry Sorenson
21. 14J John Gardner
22. 1 Kenny Hake
DNS: 11 Michael Stoker
35 Bruce Egeland

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Miller "The Thriller" Nabs Iowa State Fair Deery Brothers Win

A trip to the Iowa State Fair was on tap for us this past Monday, where the evening brought the running of the IMCA Deery Brothers show along with IMCA Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks, SportMods and the Dirt Trucks. We had arrived shortly after 8 a.m. and by the time for racing, we had walked miles touring the fairgrounds, and ready to sit and enjoy the traditional racing at the Iowa State Fair. Over 150 cars filled the infield and the huge grandstand had a great crowd.

After the heats and B's, it was feature time with the Hobby Stocks coming to the track for the first of two A main events. It turned into a great battle between the 99jr of Nick Murty and the 78 of Shannon Anderson. Those two challenged each other back and forth for the lead through much of race. There was contact between the two in turn two late in the race, with Anderson leading at that point. However, haulers parked in the infield prevented us from seeing exactly what happened, but Anderson would loose his lead due to the incident and Murty would then take the checkers. Eric Stanton who had been running third, was also able to get around Anderson, as he took second. Anderson recovered to take third placed, fourth was Justin Maschke and fifth went to Kris Walker.

The second Hobby Stock feature then immediately took to the track. The program was picked up a notch, as radar was showing some shower activity nearby. John Watson would lead this one, flag to flag to take the victory. He was tailed by the 31 car driven by Steve Jones much of the race, but Blaine Peterson in the 68+1 ride, was able to make the pass into second with one lap to go. The final run to the checkers saw a bit of bumping and jockeying for that top spot, but Watson maintained control for the win. Peterson was second and Jones held third. Fourth went to Ray Stock, Jr. in the 10S and fifth was Jeremy Purdy in the 4 car.

It was decided to run the main attraction of the night next as the IMCA Late Models pulled onto the track. The 35-lap feature had current point leader Ray Guss, Jr. sitting on the pole with Jay Johnson alongside. Just a couple of laps into the feature, brought out a yellow and on the restart, it didn't take long for Darren, "The Thriller" Miller to make his move around leader, Guss. The big mover of the race was Todd Cooney. Cooney qualified for the A by winning the first of two B mains, putting him starting from the 13th starting position and he made his way into fourth by the halfway mark. Miller would go on to take the feature win, and what we understood was his first Deery win since 2001. Ray Guss, Jr. kept his runner up position and padded his point lead, Cooney was able to slip by Tom Darbyshire as they finished third and fourth, and rounding out the top five was Dubuque driver, Jeremiah Hurst.

The IMCA Northern SportMods were up next and Jesse Sobbing shot to the lead from his outside starting position. A yellow flag situation stopped the action and took a while before the green flag was thrown. On the restart, Sobbing was leading and Kyle Brown had maneuvered around Tyler Gross and moved into the second spot. A bit later, Sobbing would pull high in turn four; off power from a shucked drive shaft. On the restart, it would be Brown, who had inherited the lead and Austin Kaplan on his tail. Only another few laps were scored when another yellow came out and while under caution, Mother Nature decided to water the track with a shower. The track was never lost as cars were kept on the track, and thankfully, the sprinkling ended. On the restart, Brown kept his lead but Scott Davis had made the pass on Kaplan to slip into second. The remainder of the race went caution free and Brown kept his line and took the State Fair win. Davis was scored in second, Austin Kaplan in third, brother Beau Kaplan and the track point leader, was fourth, and fifth went to Jeremy Embrey who had started well back in the starting field.

The Dirt Truck 16-lap feature was next. Early leader was the 16m driven by Todd Inman with Bret Moyer tailing him. Those two trucks would swap the lead several times until Inman took the final command at the checkers. Bret Moyer had to settle for second Steve "Scuba" Churchill from Creston was third, fourth went to Bryan Nevins, Jr. and fifth was the 03 of Ed Nelson.

One final feature remained, that being the IMCA Stock Cars. I counted right at 40 stock cars on hand to test the big half-mile oval and the final four cars in the starting field of 24 cars, was completed by running a B main. Jeff Johnson won that consy. Chelsea, Iowa driver, Damon Murty began his quest for another win, from the pole starting position. Murty had just recently won his 100th IMCA stock car feature up in Britt, Iowa, and was looking for win #101. Murty kept it pretty well in command and that 101st win was looking pretty good. That is until current track point leader, Mike Nichols, came calling late in the race. Nichols had eliminated some competition by getting by Todd Inman and Donavon Smith, gotten in to second place, and was wanting more. Nichols would gain that top spot a few laps later and take his #63 ride to the checkers first. Murty, had to settle for the runner-up spot. Third went to Todd Inman, fourth to Donovan Smith, last year's winner of this race, and scored in fifth was Mark Elliott in the #412.

So concluded another Iowa State Fair race, something that has been a traditional event for us for years and years. It's always a nostalgic race as the Des Moines track brings back fond memories of not only the many, many races we've watched there, but also of the Iowa State Fair itself, with it's colorful Midway lit up just off of turns one and two. We've watched many cars circling that track as we go back to the days of the 200-300 lap races.

For complete results of the features, check http://www.jjamracing.net/, and click on 2010 points under the Iowa State Fair Speedway. Until next time, Happy Racing!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Baugh Bags a Win at Boone

Heavy rains and terrible flooding in nearby Ames during the week, did not stop the racing at the Boone Speedway as they continued their scheduled season without a cancellation. New faces and old faces visited Victory Lane, a new way of starting each race was implemented when the "cone rule" was put in force, and the evening would end with an unusual circumstance occurring in the infield area.


The Mod Lite feature ran their feature event immediately after the regular farming took place during "halftime". A driver who has had much success at the track got back in the winner's circle as Troy Hudson picked up the win. We are still trying to recognize Hudson in his new ride, the #4+1, instead of his familiar bright orange #5 from previous seasons. Hudson began the race sitting on the pole, and led the entire circuits to take his first win at Boone this year. Joel Huggins let a second place finish slip through his fingers when he spun between turns one and two after the white flag flew, giving second over to Ed Zehm. Jeff Stensland, Colby Oberembt, and Dusty Masolini finished third through fifth, in that order.

Twenty-nine IMCA Northern SportMods checked into the pits, calling for a B Main to complete their feature starting field. Tara Longnecker took that checkered flag. This race would go green to checkered. Five cars raced closely upfront in the late going of the 18-lapper. It was Randy Roberts, Daniel Tasler, Eric Elliott, Jeremy Embrey and point leader, Scott Davis going at it. On the final lap as the cars rounded turn four, Eric Elliott would find himself the unfortunate car sideways and lose his second place position. The fortunate driver in the situation, was third running Jeremy Embrey as he avoided the situation and raced to the checkers for the win. Randy Roberts held on for a second place finish, Scott Davis grabbed third, fourth went to Daniel Tasler and fifth was Jared Timmerman. Elliott recovered enough to take seventh, behind the sixth place car of Ty Luellen.

All seventeen IMCA Modifieds on hand took the start for their A main. Mike Molle was flying in his 33M ride and Tim Stevens was trying hard to take over that top spot as they raced wheel-to-wheel. Just past halfway of the 20-lap feature, it was Scott Baker who came calling after Stevens dropped back. Baker made the pass for first around Molle who in turn, was also passed by Cale Sponsler. When the checkers flew, Baker took his second win of the year at the track, Sponser was second, and Kelly Lyons slipped by Molle as they finished third and fourth. Rounding out the top five was Jammin' Jimmy Gustin. This was another race completed without a yellow flag flying, making for "hold on and hang on" racing!

Now to the IMCA Stock Car feature. Their starting grid needed to be filled in by also running a B Main as twenty-nine of the "Class Too Tough To Tame" were on hand. Trent Murphy triumphed in that consy. Dave Baugh who has recently made his appearance back at the Boone Speedway, sat on the pole position with Kevin Shaw along side. Behind Baugh was Brian Irvine who was piloting the O1U car normally driven by Chris Ullrich, but with a taped on #26B. Irvine positioned himself quickly into the runner-up spot as he dogged Baugh and on lap ten, took the lead. Meanwhile,Ryan Rose was waging a battle with Kevin Shaw and Josh Daniels behind the leaders. Upon seeing the green held high, Irvine then drove off of turn one and into the pits, which handed the lead back to Baugh. Baugh would then keep the lead and take his first win at the track. Ryan Rose was scored in the runner-up spot, while Kevin Shaw finished with a good run, in third. Fourth went to Josh Daniels and Jeff Harkrider was fifth.

The first of two A features for the IMCA Hobby Stock class now took to the track. A first time winner also enjoyed the spoils as Brandon Brinton took the checkers first. Brinton led most of the 12-lap event and Donnie Gustoff came from starting 10th, to finish in second. Third went to the 63 of Cory Tasler, fourth was John Yaw, Sr. and John Watson finished fifth.

Before the final A for the Hobby Stocks came to the track, we noticed Brian Irvine being pushed to the infield, which led to much speculation about a possible promoter claim taking place. We had witnessed Irvine pulling off the track while leading with two laps to go for two consecutive weeks, but later we were told that he had also done it the week we were not in attendance due to being at the Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway.

Back to racing as the final feature in the Hobby Stocks came to the track. Point leader Michael Murphy chalked up another win to add to his numerous victories this year at Boone Speedway. Early leader was Leonard Loftus battling to stay ahead of the 4JW of Justin Maschke. Murphy put his 25M in the lead at lap seven of the 12-lap affair, and sailed home to the win from there. Loftus hung on to second place and Jesse Hopkins garnered a third place finish. Fourth went to Michael Peterson and fifth was Chris Hupp. The 4JW of Maschke faded late to take sixth.

As racing was completed, we noticed a mass of people waiting at the pit entrance to cross the track into the infield. Speculation again arose as to what was happening. After gathering our belongings and heading to the vehicle, we heard an announcement on the loud speaker, and curiosity made us return to the grandstand area. We were told that Robert Lawton had used his option of a promoter claim and taken Brian Irvine's motor. Our understanding was, all other drivers that were in the A main stock car race, were able to toss in a dollar with their name on it, all monies put in a pot, and a winner for the motor drawn from said pot. It has been many years since we have seen a promoter claim, but we have seen it. It is stated in the IMCA rules that that option is in place; an uncommon occurrence, but not unheard of.

The cone rule mentioned earlier seemed to work in keeping cars in line and eliminating "jump starts" as there was not one "no-start" on the evening. A cone was positioned coming out of turn four and cars approached the cone for the start of each race. No car was to pass another until they had passed the cone. Rumor was this rule will continue and even be used during the upcoming IMCA Super Nationals.

The schedule of events for the Boone Speedway shows that you can vote for your favorite driver next week, August 21st, in addition to all of the regular divisions of racing in action. Further details and full results can be found at http://www.raceboone.com/ and if anyone would like to check the IMCA rules, they can be found at http://www.imca.com/. Happy racing!

Boone - 8-14-10

Unofficial results: 143 cars

Modified - 17 cars

Heat 1 - 15X Scott Baker
Heat 2 - 93 Cale Sponsler

Feature

1. 15X Scott Baker
2. 93 Cale Sponsler
3. 27 Kelly Lyons
4. 33M Mike Molle
5. 19 Jimmy Gustin
6. 18 Jake Durbin
7. 69X Jon Snyder
8. 49T Tim Stevens
9. 28R Russ Dickerson
10. 49 Michael Manson
11. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora, IA
12. 87 Joel Bushore
13. 3Z Randy Havlik
14. 58 Denny Pittman
15. 26 Phil Levri
16. 75X Garry Hall, Rochester, MN
17. 1 Bill Davis, Jr.

SportMod - 29 cars

Heat 1 - 3L Clint Luellen
Heat 2 - 63 Daniel Tasler
Heat 3 - 3R Randy Roberts

B Main - 3 advance to A

1. 59 Tara Longnecker
2. 57 Lynn Brockett
3. 3S Adam Shelman
4. 3 Stacey Clark
5. 28 James Reichart
6. 84 Brandon Morris
DNS: 56 Lonnie Hodges
7X Kris Law

Feature

1. 41 Jeremy Embrey
2. 3R Randy Roberts
3. 81D Scott Davis
4. 63 Daniel Tasler
5. 7+ Jared Timmerman
6. 32L Ty Luellen
7. 9E Eric Elliott
8. 35 Bruce Egeland
9. 3L Clint Luellen
10. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
11. 6 Darren Huntley
12. 23JR Nick Roberts
13. 22J Jeff Blume
14. 57 Lynn Brockett
15. 5B Tom Burke
16. 59 Tara Longnecker
17. 32Z Alex Zwanzinger
18. 17 Jamie Ganoe
19. 34J Jerry Hinton
20. 2G Geoff Olson
21. 5M Matthew Meinecke
22. 13D Dan Wetzel
23. 3S Adam Shelman
DNS: X4 Jason Purvis

Stock Cars - 29 cars

Heat 1 - 23HR Rod Richards
Heat 2 - 24K Kevin Shaw
Heat 3 - 26B Brian Irvine

B Main - 3 advance to A

1. 25 Trent Murphy
2. 556 Terry Cornelison
3. 35 Donavon Smith
4. 17S Rob Schneider
5. 76 Norm Belew
6. 22X Josh Brauckman
DNS: 77 Andy Bryant
22S Toby Smith

Feature

1. 81B Dave Baugh
2. 12+ Ryan Rose
3. 24K Kevin Shaw
4. 25J Josh Daniels
5. 18 Jeff Harkrider
6. 50 Robert Stofer
7. 87 Travis Shipman
8. 23HR Rod Richards
9. 3H Ty Hill
10. 27 Gary Bass
11. 22 Wayne Gifford
12. 9 Jerry Gifford
13. 19A Alan VanGorp
14. 45 Larry Crocheck
15. 556 Terry Cornelison
16. 3S Bryan Snell
17. 25 Trent Murphy
18. 26B Brian Irvine (in the O1U car of Chris Ullrich)
19. 23A Jeremy Gettler
20. 04 Don Vis
21. 55 Cory Bushnell
22. 35 Donavon Smith
23. 83E Thomas Thompson, Hopkinton, IA
24. 27D Brad Dutton

Hobby Stock - 38 cars

Heat 1 - 63 Cory Tasler
Heat 2 - 2L Leonard Loftus
Heat 3 - 3A Austin Luellen
Heat 4 - 67 Ed Mahlstedt

Feature #1

1. 24B Brandon Brinton
2. 20 Donnie Gustoff
3. 63 Cory Tasler
4. J4 John Yaw, Sr.
5. 4W John Watson
6. T15 Jacob Thompson
7. 51 Matthew Webb
8. 3A Austin Luellen
9. 40 Randy Embrey
10. 9R Matt Hudspeth
11. 16B Jay Arends
12. 26T Jeremy Tilley
13. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
14. 11G Nyle Godwin
15. 85 Seth Janssen
16. 14 Matt Wahlert
17. 23 Cody Gustoff
18. 21 Ross Marshall
DNS: 911 Darin Rothfus

Feature #2

1. 25M Michael Murphy
2. 2L Leonard Loftus
3. 46J Jesse Hopkins
4. 1X Michael Peterson
5. 83 Chris Hupp
6. 4JW Justin Maschke
7. 38R Aaron Rudolph
8. 39 Larry Embrey
9. 12A Rob Allison
10. m15 Pat Mather
11. 69 Calvin Dhondt, Newton, IA
12. T10 Tim Barber
13. 10 Travis Fenton
14. 5A Tyler Pickett
15. 74J Dean Hartwig
16. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
17. 20T Richard Yaw II
18. 23G Dustin Tepp
19. 47W Shaun Wirtz

Dwarf/Mod Lite - 30 cars

Heat 1 - 11R Jason Whitehead
Heat 2 - 14J John Gardner
Heat 3 - 41Z Ed Zehm

B Main - 3 advance to A

1. 51 Justin Efkamp
2. 4L Larry Sorenson
3. 76 Terry Sorenson
DNS: 9 Rick Taylor
37X Tim Milner
5K Kent Efkamp
10 Ivan Guerra
14 Michael Thomas
1 Kenny Hake

Feature

1. 4+1 Troy Hudson
2. 41Z Ed Zehm
3. 20 Jeff Stensland
4. 0B Colby Oberembt
5. 8 Dusty Masolini
6. 5X Matthew Goodin
7. 82 Charlie Brown
8. 95 Mike Kennedy
9. 01 David Schmalzried
10. 76M Angelo Montgomery
11. 4 Cliff Barber
12. 46 Kevin Grisham
13. 88 James May
14. 2 Bobby Harris
15. 8T Todd Thorson
16. X50 Joel Huggins
17. 76 Terry Sorenson
18. 4L Larry Sorenson
19. 11 Michael Stoker
20. 64 Randy Bryan
21. 51 Justin Efkamp
22. 11R Jason Whitehead
23. 99 Josh May
24. 14J John Gardner

Blog to follow

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Marshalltown Speedway Endures Friday the 13th

It was raining AGAIN on Friday but luckily the Marshalltown Speedway did not receive the heavy rains that some parts of Iowa received. This allowed the racing program to go on as scheduled. Also on the docket for the evening was another round of "Spectator Eliminator" competition and the annual Cardboard Classic races.

By feature racing time, Mother Nature was causing concerns as the clouds rolled in and once again, radar was showing rain close by. The program was hurried along and the first of the five main events, the Mod Lite feature, took to the track quickly. Ivan Guerra would lead the entire distance, taking his first win of the year. Finishing second was Eric Hendrickson who rode along in that position most of the race. Tim Hennigar stole third position from Josh May at the flag, leaving him with a fourth place finish, and Mike Morrill took fifth.

It took three attempts to get the IMCA SportMod feature underway--doesn't that always happen when things are trying to be hurried along? By this time, the sky was looking bad and we were expecting raindrops to start falling at any moment. Thankfully, that did not happen for a change! It was a familiar face back in Victory Lane as Cayden Carter won for the sixth time this season at the Speedway. Tyler Droste chased Carter most of the 15 laps, to take the runner up position. Point leader Scott Davis moved through the field to pick up a third place finish, fourth went to Brad Iverson, and fifth was Eric Flander.

In the IMCA Stock Car class, Dustin Smith just continues to dominate as he scored another "W".
The stock cars provided great excitement as multiple cars vied for third and fourth positions at times. Veteran Tommy Thompson put his yellow #72 out front and was pulling away from those cars jockeying for position behind him. Dustin Smith had however, gotten to the second spot and was pursuing Thompson relentlessly and made the pass with four laps to go. Thompson may have regained the lead, but only for a brief moment, with Smith taking final command to take the win. Rob Schneider had his newest ride running well as he took the third position, with fourth place finisher Rick Brown unable to catch him. Rounding out the top five, was the 3W car of Jeff Wollam.

A shorter than normal field of only twelve IMCA Modifieds entered the pits Friday night. A new winner would emerge when Todd Conrad put his 83C machine across the finish line first. Late in the race, second place finisher Brett Ladehoff was catching Conrad, but was not quite able to over take him. To no one's surprise, the 19 of Jimmy Gustin was racing hard from starting about ninth, to make a strong third place finish, fourth went to Jay Schmidt in his J & V Napa ride on this, Napa Night at the Races. It was great to see the #5 of Todd Shute make an appearance at the Marshalltown Speedway, and grab a fifth place finish.

Devin Smith was the winner for the sixth time this season, in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature.
He quickly positioned himself in second place behind Clint Nelson, as he moved from starting eleventh, to second, with just a couple of laps in the books. Smith took the lead at the half-way mark of the 12-lap contest, as he also added to his multiple wins on the year. Michael Murphy was the runner-up and Clint Nelson held on for a third place finish. Fourth went to a crowd favorite, Jennifer Hulin, and Calvin Dhondt grabbed a fifth place finish.

Racing was completed right at 9:50 p.m. The kid's Cardboard Classic contest was then held on the frontstretch and after that, the second of the year, Spectator Eliminator contest, pitting licensed vehicles against one another. Not a drop of rain fell, making for a lucky Friday the 13th at the Marshalltown Speedway! Check www.marshalltownspeedway.com for the full results and all other information concerning the track. Happy racing!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Marshalltown and Boone Recaps

Marshalltown 8-6-10

We have certainly seen a lot of racing this weekend. Friday night at Marshalltown Speedway, racing action started a half-hour early at 7 p.m. with make-up features in four divisions. These features were from two week's prior as last week's show was rained out even before the gates opened. The stands were packed in anticipation of all of the racing to be had on this night.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature resumed with two laps in the books with Shawn Simatovich in the lead. Simatovich maintained that lead until two laps to go when Cayden Carter made the pass and went home with the win. Simatovich had to settle for second, third was Ryan Ashton, fourth went to Eric Flander, and fifth was Fred Leytham.

The Stock Car make-up feature saw Andy Bryant lead early on until Dustin Smith came calling.
Smith took the win with Bryant in second place, Trent Murphy in third, veteran Tommy Thompson was fourth, and Steve Meyer in fifth.

The IMCA Hobby Stock was won by Newton's Calvin Dhondt. This was Dhondt's second win of the year. Point leader Devin Smith had taken the lead late in the race, only to suffer a tire going down causing him to drop positions. Dhondt took the win, Eric Larson grabbed second, third went to Michael Murphy, fourth to Eric Knutson and Smith held on to finish fifth.

The IMCA Modified make-up feature saw many cars dropping out with both mechanical and racing incidents. Both Josh Gilman and Andrew Kinser took rolls off of the track, which ended their nights early. They were not hurt. Jimmy Gustin was in fine form as he flew through the pack to take the early modified win of the evening as Brett Ladehoff chased him across the line for second. Jon Snyder came from well back in the field to score third place, Denny Rosenberg was fourth and Rick Speck got fifth.

This would end the make-up session of the night and the show would then proceed to the heats and b mains, followed by the features for the current night.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature began poorly when James May and Johnny Mordock became tangled on the front chute, and both went tumbling. Thankfully, they were okay. Most of the race saw Mike Morrill and Tim Hennigar waging a great battle with Hennigar winning out. Hennigar would take the win over Mike Morrill, young Josh May came home in third, fourth went to Eric Hendrickson, and fifth was Dusty Masolini.

Point leader Scott Davis added to his lead in taking the second feature of the night in the IMCA SportMod A main. Kyle Brown drove a nice race and avoided on track incidents, to score a runner-up position. Third went to Grinnell's Brad Iverson, fourth was Jake Strayer and Jenae Gustin was a crowd-pleaser in fifth.

The IMCA Stock Car feature was like deja vu from year's past, as The Flyin' Farmer Rick Brown and Jeff Wollam raced lap after lap, side-by-side for the lead through the first half of the 18-lap race. Dustin Smith ended that when he passed both drivers on the backstretch to take over the lead. Smith took another win, Wollam followed in second and Brown in third. Fourth was Dave Atcher and fifth went to Steve Meyer.

The modified feature was led the entire 20-laps by Brett Ladehoff. Ladehoff had the field covered but a late race "blip" and subsequent slowing when the hood became torn back, caused second place car, Luke Wanninger to see a chance at catching the leader. It wasn't to be however, as Ladehoff was the winner with Wanninger in second. Joel Bushore was scored in third, fourth went to Jon Snyder and fifth was Todd Conrad.

The finale of the night was the Hobby Stock feature. Michael Murphy took this win with Gene Nicklas scored in second, Dustin Filloon in third, Jennifer Hulin was fourth and Devin Smith took fifth. We noted that Eric Larson crossed in second place but indications were that he was disqualified for an infraction...perhaps the "questionable driving" rule.

It was right at 11:30 when all was said and done at the Marshalltown Speedway. Next week will be Cardboard Classic racing as well as the second Spectator Eliminator competition. For full results and more information about events and the Marshalltown Speedway, check out http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com/


Boone Speedway - 8- 7-10

Saturday night we were back at our regular stop at the Boone Speedway after having missed the prior week when we took in the Nationwide race at the Iowa Speedway. The Nationwide race was fun and a change of pace, but we can truly say we missed our good ole dirt track racing.

One hundred fifty-one cars were checked into the pits according to our count. We noted several new cars that were perhaps in attendance to gear up for the fast approaching Super Nationals. Before the features began, the cardboard racers sprinted in front of the grandstand to the delight of the crowd. Kids and drivers alike took their turns and it was Josh May, Mod Lite driver, winning the driver's portion. No word was received if he weighed too light.

The Dwarf/Mod Lites were the first up for feature action. Charlie Brown put his #82 ride back in the winner's circle and it was Josh May chasing him across the line for second place. Third was Joel Huggins, fourth went to Tim Hennigar and fifth to Bryan Zehm. We have not checked it out, but we would suspect that Bryan Zehm is the son of veteran Dwarf driver Ed Zehm.

The Northern SportMod feature found the orange cars of Jason Purvis (new skin) and point leader Scott Davis battling for the lead. Purvis would then lose the handle and spin, giving the point spot over to Davis. Davis scored yet another of his numerous victories this year, several coming here at the Boone Speedway. Cory Rose was the runner up and Bill Wears took third. Fourth went to Lynn Brockett and rounding out the top five was Randy Roberts.

The IMCA Modified feature was won by Jimmy Gustin. This was Gustin's third regular season win at Boone plus he also won the Frostbuster. He started back in tenth position as he chased down leader Joel Bushore and took the lead by the half-way point of the 20-lapper. Bushore had to settle for second, Kelly Lyons was third, fourth went to Russ Dickerson and Adam Larson took fifth.

The IMCA Stock Car class feature looked to have two-time Super Nationals winner, Brian Irvine stepping back into victory lane as he took command early and was sailing away comfortably. Irvine would then suddenly pull off the track with two laps to go, handing the lead over to Mason City driver, Travis Shipman. Shipman took the win with Robert Stofer following him for second. Third went to Jerry Gifford, fourth to Jeff Harkrider, and fifth to Josh Brauckman.

Chris Hupp was awarded the win in the first of two IMCA Hobby Stock features. Cody Gustoff was second, after he led early on, third went to Matt McDonald, fourth to Jesse Hopkins, and fifth was Tim Barber.

Finishing the night off was the second IMCA Hobby Stock main event. The 4JW car driven by Justin Maschke led the race flag to flag. A slight bobble at one point allowed second place car of Tyler Pickett to get a bit closer, but not enough to overtake the leader. Pickett was the runner up with Michael Murphy in third, Donnie Gustoff in fourth and fifth was Travis Fenton. It appears that Murphy has now taken over the Hobby Stock point lead from Pat Mather. Mather had problems in the first feature and finished 10th. Murphy had only been four points behind Mather going into tonight's racing thus giving him now a slight 3-point advantage.

Next Saturday night, August 14, will be a regular points race along with a candy toss for the youngsters. Check http://www.raceboone.com/ for full results and more information concerning the track. Until next time, happy racing!

Boone - 8-7-10

Unofficial results: 151 cars

Modified - 20 cars

Heat 1 - 87 Joel Bushore
Heat 2 - 27 Kelly Lyons

Feature

1. 19 Jimmy Gustin
2. 18 Jake Durbin
3. 87 Joel Bushore
4. 27 Kelly Lyons
5. 28R Russ Dickerson
6. 2L Adam Larson
7. 69X Jon Snyder
8. 93 Cale Sponsler
9. 58 Denny Pittman
10. 49T Tim Stevens
11. 15X Scott Baker
12. 3W Chris Webb
13. 94 Fred Schimmels
14. 1 Bill Davis, Jr.
15. 00X Jim Cooper
16. 24 Robert Avery
17. 36X Rusty Gladson
18. 3C Max Corporan
19. 33M Mike Molle
DNS: 19G Richie Gustin

SportMod - 32 cars

Heat 1 - 23JR Nick Roberts
Heat 2 - 41 Jeremy Embrey
Heat 3 - 7+ Jared Timmerman
Heat 3 - 3L Clint Luellen

B main - 4 advance to A

1. 9X Austin Lucas
2. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
3. 64 Brandon Leeman
4. 35 Bruce Egeland
5. T17 Tom Rawlins
6. H1 Mark Hunziger
7. 22X Troy Oliver
8. 32L Ty Luellen
9. 5B Tom Burke
10. 32Z Alex Zwanzinger - Nashua, IA
DNS: J7B Jon Braathun
13D Dan Wetzel

Feature

1. 81D Scott Davis
2. 86 Cory Rose
3. 2 Bill Wears
4. 57 Lynn Brockett
5. 3R Randy Roberts
6. 41 Jeremy Embrey
7. 66 Cody Hennings
8. 7+ Jared Timmerman
9. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
10. 3 Stacey Clark
11. 6 Darren Huntley
12. 46N Matt Northrop - Stanhope, IA
13. 64 Brandon Leeman
14. 17 Jamie Ganoe
15. 9E Eric Elliott
16. 63 Daniel Tasler
17. X4 Jason Purvis
18. 23JR Nick Roberts
19. 3L Clint Luellen
20. 27 Tim Love
21. 35 Bruce Egeland
22. 9X Austin Lucas
23. 52E Ryan Engelkes
DNS: 22J Jeff Blume

Stock Car - 30 cars

Heat 1 - 50 Robert Stofer
Heat 2 - 26B Brian Irvine
Heat 3 - 87 Travis Shipman

B main - 3 advance to A

1. 77 Andy Bryant
2. 25J Josh Daniels
3. 5 Keith Miner
4. 60 Clay Deppe
5. 27D Brad Dutton
6. 76 Norm Belew
7. 05 Seth Bowman
8. 26K Butch Bass
DNS: 59 Larry Portis

Feature

1. 87 Travis Shipman
2. 50 Robert Stofer
3. 9 Jerry Gifford
4. 18 Jeff Harkrider
5. 22X Josh Brauckman
6. R31 Ryan Leeman
7. 19A Alan VanGorp
8. 27 Gary Bass
9. 45 Larry Crocheck
10. 55 Cory Bushnell
11. 23HR Rod Richards
12. 12+ Ryan Rose
13. 12 Bryan Trogdon
14. 35 Donavon Smith
15. 3H Ty Hill
16. 5 Keith Miner
17. 556 Terry Cornelison
18. 26B Brian Irvine
19. 99D Damon Murty
20. 25J Josh Daniels
21. 22 Wayne Gifford
22. 25 Trent Murphy
23. 24K Kevin Shaw
24. 77 Andy Bryant

Hobby Stock - 40 cars

Heat 1 - 63 Cory Tasler
Heat 2 - 12M Matt McDonald
Heat 3 - 83 Chris Hupp
Heat 4 - 24B Brandon Brinton

Feature #1

1. 83 Chris Hupp
2. 23 Cody Gustoff
3. 12M Matt McDonald
4. 46J Jesse Hopkins
5. T10 Tim Barber
6. J4 John Yaw, Sr.
7. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
8. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
9. 27R Clint Rothfus
10. m15 Pat Mather
11. 96W Danny Watson
12. 1BC Tony Cox
13. 74J Dean Hartwig
14. 11 David Castellano
15. 77M Mark Lamer
16. 26T Jeremy Tilley
17. 1X Michael Peterson
18. 96 Mark Hidlebaugh
19. 24B Brandon Brinton
DNS: 83S Scott Lograsso

Feature #2

1. 4JW Justin Maschke
2. 5A Tyler Pickett
3. 25M Michael Murphy
4. 20 Donnie Gustoff
5. 10 Travis Fenton
6. 63 Cory Tasler
7. 49 Jim Johnson - Cherokee, IA
8. 51 Matthew Webb
9. 9R Matt Hudspeth
10. 1+ Adam Bonnett
11. 47W Shaun Wirtz
12. 14 Matt Wahlert
13. 2L Leonard Loftus
14. T15 Jacob Thompson
15. 21 Ross Marshall
16. 16B Jay Arends
17. 39 Larry Embrey
18. 85 Seth Janssen - Ogden, IA
19. 78 Tim Hadley
20. 38R Aaron Rudolph

Dwarf/Mod Lite - 29 cars

Heat 1 - 76M Angelo Montgomery
Heat 2 - 89 Travis Stensland
Heat 3 - 99 Josh May

B main - 3 transfer to A

1. 01 David Schmalzried
2. 95 Mike Kennedy
3. 0B Colby Oberembt
4. 8T Todd Thorson
5. 37X Tim Milner
6. 4L Larry Sorenson
7. 14 Michael Thomas
8. 11 Michael Stoker

Feature

1. 82 Charlie Brown
2. 99 Josh May
3. X50 Joel Huggins
4. 57 Tim Hennigar
5. 46Z Bryan Zehm
6. 8 Dusty Masolini
7. 11R Jason Whitehead
8. 64 Randy Bryan
9. 76M Angelo Montgomery
10. 88 James May
11. 01 David Schmalzried
12. 95 Mike Kennedy
13. 0B Colby Oberembt
14. 14J John Gardner
15. 2 Bobby Harris, Jr.
16. 76 Terry Sorenson
17. 89 Travis Stensland
18. 66F Eric Hendrickson
19. 5K Kent Efkamp
20. 20 Jeff Stensland
21. 51 Justin Efkamp
22. 4+1 Troy Hudson
DNS: 5X Matthew Goodin
33 Gayle Worthington

Blog to follow

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Busch Dominates in Newton

We took a rare change of directions on Saturday as we headed to the Iowa Speedway for the NASCAR Nationwide race instead of our regular Saturday night "date" at Boone. A huge crowd of close to 56,000 fans were on hand and by the appearance of the parking lots, not many car pooled! We didn't arrive until right at 2 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. race start, but were fortunate to get a decent parking spot. Even more surprising, it was just three spots from our son and daughter-in-law. Quite something since we had not communicated except to say we planned to be there after 2 p.m.!

We browsed the souvenir trailers and manufacturer's row outside the grandstand area before making our way through the gates to watch some of the qualifying runs. It was quite warm and sunny by this time, and instead of watching from our seats, opted to stand below in a shaded area...as did many people. It was appearing that Kyle Busch was going to be the pole sitter until Trevor Bayne snatched it away. This would be Bayne's third consecutive Nationwide pole, something that had not been done since Jeff Gordon did it back in 1992. Bayne is only 19 years old, so look for more out of this youngster in the future.

After a trek back to the vehicle for a bit, we were invited by our "parking neighbors" to join them in the shade of their tent canopy for a rest. Shortly, another couple parked beside us, were also asked if they'd care to join the shaded area. Strangers in a parking lot, but all Iowan's from hither and yon, showing the Midwest hospitality way and all racing fans as well.

Before the race started, the usual driver introductions were made, the Star Spangled Banner was sung, and the jet fly-over...something that always gives me goose bumps...roared directly overhead to the cheering and waving crowd.

As a summary of the 250-lap race, it was dominated by the 18 car of Kyle Busch pretty much the entire race. Only three different leaders led the 43-car starting field; Busch, Bayne and Kevin Harvick. Busch led initially until Bayne took over the lead about lap 75. By this time, several cars had already retired to the garage area, some to never return. The right front tire was often the reason for the problem and heard that it may have been the brakes overheating and melting the bead. Two red flag situations occurred which needed car and track clean up, but thankfully no driver injuries.

On a pit stop at lap 207, it was the #33 of Kevin Harvick getting out of the pits first. Harvick took on two new tires but we noted that Busch had opted for tires all around. That extra time in the pits cost Busch position as he restarted in sixth place. Two laps later, those four new tires were paying off as Busch was up to second and running down Harvick. Busch did just that, making the pass with 24 laps to go--to the cheers and jeers of the fans. It was easy sailing the rest of the laps as Kyle Busch won the Nationwide U.S. Cellular 250. This was the ninth time this year that Busch has visited Victory Lane in the Nationwide series. Harvick finished as runner up, Jason Leffler had a good day with a third place finish, fourth went to 2009 winner, Brad Keselowski and fifth was Trevor Bayne. Sixth went to Steve Wallace, son of track designer Rusty Wallace, seventh to Iowa's own Michael Annett, eighth to Justin Allgaier in the Verizon sponsored car #12, ninth was Matt Di Benedetto and the tenth place went to Sprint Cup regular, Carl Edwards.

We saw many of our dirt track friends and acquaintances in attendance, as well as a driver or two, so we were not the only ones taking a night off from the dirt ovals. If you haven't had a chance to see a race at the Iowa Speedway, we encourage you to try and make an event. It's quite the facility and experience to take in. Do know though, it is much different from the weekend warrior shows we are accustomed to seeing.

For full results and race run down, you can check http://www.iowaspeedway.com/. Happy racing!