Marshalltown and Boone Frostbusters

The first race of the season in our neck of the woods was at the Marshalltown Speedway on April 1...yes...April Fool's Day! Mother Nature was none too kind either as racing time temps were very chilly, and a stiff breeze was blowing toward the grandstands. Neither of those factors deterred the crowd though as the stands were quite full. A record car count of 225 cars filled the pits as drivers from near and far came to test their skills on the highbanks. It was announced that about a dozen of our Canadian neighbors joined in the fun, as well as a good number of Wisconsin competitors.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature ran their main event first. Mike Morrill and Andy Henniger chased each other early on with Josh May closely in tow. Young Josh May was able to take the lead and would go home to the win well ahead of second-place finisher Randy Bryan. Third went to James May, fourth to Mike Morrill and fifth was Andy Henniger.

The IMCA Northern SportMods had a huge field of cars with right at 60 cars according to my count. Three B mains were needed to set the 24 car starting field. Those B mains were won by David Schlicht, Austin Kaplan, and Brad Iverson. Pole-sitter, Kyle Brown led the 20-lap feature through the half-way mark when, as often is the case, a restart shuffled up the lead cars. Josh Sherbon took the lead and maintained it to the finish and the win.. Beau Kaplan took the runner-up spot. Brother Austin Kaplan would finish in third from qualifying through a B Main, Kyle Brown took fourth, fifth was Jake Strayer and sixth was Scott Davis.

The IMCA hobby stocks also needed three B mains to complete their feature. Those were won by Norm Buchholz, Donovan Nunnikhoven, and Dustin Filloon. John Watson lost the lead early when he bobbled and was then out of the picture. Kevin Fee, Knoxville driver put his #52 to the point then and sailed across the finish line first for the win. Eric Knutson finished in second place, third went to Nyle Godwin, fourth to Richard Yaw, fifth was Rob Allison, sixth was Cory Adams and seventh was Dustin Elliott.

The IMCA stock cars ran two B mains and those were won by Bob Ahrendsen and a #02 car; didn't catch the name. The 20-lap feature proved to be one of the best stock cars races we've seen in a while as there were six to seven cars upfront in a pack vying for position. Dave Stricker led many of the laps but it was Jay Schmidt who drove his 19J to the eventual victory. He triumphed over Damon Murty in second, Stricker was third, fourth went to Sean Johnson, and fifth was Trent Murphy. I believe the 56 of Kevin Temeyer was sixth and Donavon Smith in seventh. What a show they put on!

The finale of the night was the IMCA modified feature. They would need eight heat races, and four B mains to set their starting A main. The consy features were won by Richie Gustin, Mike Mashl out of Wisconsin who is back in the seat after a time of "retirement", Canadian driver Davin Emmel, and Ronn Lauritzen in his new-look ride. Richie Gustin dominated the entire race to take the feature win. He maneuvered the lap traffic in the flag-to-flag 30-lap feature, to perfection. The bright orange #72 of Brian Mullin, a driver out of Wisconsin, took the runner-up spot, be it a good distance behind the winner. Third was Adam Larson, and unofficially by my observation, fourth was Josh Most, fifth was Luke Wanninger and sixth was Troy Cordes.

It was not the most pleasant of conditions sitting in the cold, wind, dirt and long program which ended about 1:15 a.m., but the racing action was most definitely worth seeing! Next Friday night will begin the Marshalltown Speedway's regular point season with racing action to begin at 7:30 p.m. Check http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com/ for more information.

Boone 4-2-11

We headed west for our familiar route to the Boone Speedway on Saturday night for the running of their Frostbuster special. The pits were quite full as expected and right at 200 cars were on hand. The Dwarf/Mod Lite's were not on the docket but we noted several cars that came for a test-n-tune hot lap session or two.

The Northern SportMods ran their feature first and it was a flag-to-flag 20-lap contest. The #12 of Lake City driver, Doug Smith put it in Victory Lane with Clint Luellen taking the runner-up spot. Austin Lucas was scored in third, fourth went to Boone's own Scott Davis and the 92X of Wisconsin's Eric Mahlik rounded out the top five.

Jon Snyder led the entire 25-lap IMCA modified feature as he took the victory. Several yellow flags during the contest did not bother Snyder as he maintained the point spot. Jimmy Gustin made it to second place, third was Todd Inman, fourth went to Richie Gustin and Jeremy Mills finished in fifth from qualifying through a B main, when a car was disqualified.

Winning the 20-lap feature for the IMCA stock cars was the familiar #35 car of Donavon Smith. Trent Murphy came home in second, third was Wisconsin driver JJ Heinz in the #57, fourth went to Norm Chesmore and fifth was Ryan Rose. There were thirty-five cars checked in and a B main completed the starting 24-car grid. The B main was won by Robert Stofer.

Ending the night's racing was the IMCA hobby stock feature. Des Moines driver John Watson made it to victory lane in the 15-lap event. Devin Smith challenged for the win, but had to settle for second place. Third was the 29N of Cody Nielsen out of Fort Dodge, fourth went to Eric Stanton and fifth to Michael Murphy. Next Saturday night, April 9th, will begin the Boone Speedway's regular points night. Racing action is set to get underway at 7:30 p.m. For more information be sure and check http://www.raceboone.com/. Happy racing!