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!