The night's entertainment at Marshalltown started off with a tumble in the Faster Pastor race, and ended with a wild and woolly finish in the modified feature. The night sure didn't lack for exciting action that's for sure, with pesky yellow flags flying abundantly though out the night and bringing about some close bunched up race finishes.
Before any of the regular racing action began, the annual Faster Pastor race was held. It ended quickly when the pastor driving the car of Adam Rickett , went tumbling off of turn two and the race was red flagged and called complete. Thankfully he was okay...but seeing the car in the pits afterwards, it didn't fare so well. Pastor "Kenny" from the New Hope Christian Church was the trophy winner.
Sport Compact time was the first feature action. Veteran Merv Chandler did it again, keeping his perfect record and winning for the sixth time. He had little trouble finishing ahead of David Moorman and Duayne Herb. Justin Tharp did not finish.
The Mod Lite division found Mike Morrill back in victory lane. Josh May finished a close second over Randy Bryan, Dusty Masolini and Mike Kennedy. Morrill started seventh but led by lap three, May coming to second from starting in eighth.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran their 18-lap contest next. Racer Hulin took this one, coming from starting back in row five. Hulin had little trouble in holding off his contenders even during the numerous restarts due to cautions. Nick Roberts slipped by Carter VanDenBerg on the final lap, as they finished second and third in that order. Scott Davis came from row six, to finish in fourth over Jenae Gustin in fifth. Gustin, who had to tag the field earlier, came flying through the pack.
In the IMCA Hobby Stocks, Kevin Fee endured an early race mishap on the backstretch that sent cars in all directions...him included, as he teetered on two wheels, avoiding an even worse fate. Eric Larson led through the halfway point of the 12-lap event, but Fee was soon to challenge him. Fee made the pass and took the win, Larson keeping second place. Austin Luellen came from well back in the starting line up to finish third, fourth was Josh Saunders in his best run of the season, and Gary Pfantz rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Stock Car 18-lap feature, was setting up to be an unbelievable shoot out between Brian Irvine and rookie Michael Murphy. That ended when the two got together at the bottom of turn one with just a couple of laps remaining, bringing out the yellow, and sending them to restart at the tail. Jay Schmidt, who had been chasing the two, would now be the lucky recipient of the lead. Schmidt would take the win, his second of the year, over Jeff Wollam in second. Tracy Gienger finished third, Scooter Dulin was fourth and Trevor Titus put the Ford Thunderbird in fifth place. Irvine finished a close sixth after flying up through the pack.
After all of the earlier thrilling finishes, the IMCA Modifieds were not to be out done, as they produced that previously mentioned wild and woolly finish. Rookie Zach Rawlins took the lead early, maintaining it through the halfway mark; veteran Pat Graham snapping at his heels. Richie Gustin joined in the chase, as the three circled around the top of the track, lap after lap. On a restart, another rookie, Kyle Brown, seized his opportunity and took the number two position. With two rookies, both from Kellogg, Iowa, leading the pack, it was appearing they would finish in that order. That wasn't to be as the yellow flew just as the white flag unfurled, and the race was put under caution. A car, ironically Kyle's father, David Brown, was unable to get far enough off of the pit road exit and was "dead in the water"...victim of a distributor wire coming off. So, this would set up one of those infamous "green-white-checkered finishes. It turned out to be much like one of those NASCAR "bonus" lap finishes and it was wild. Brown slipped into first on the white flag lap, but with everyone in a tight pack battling for positions, cars would bump, in the "rubbin' is racin'" fashion and mix up the eventual finish. It was Jimmy Gustin--who had earlier fallen victim to mechanical problems in his heat race--having to start way back in nineteenth place (there were 21 cars in competition last night) and zoom through those top running cars, and take another of his numerous wins at Marshalltown. Richie Gustin, Gilman, Iowa, took the runner up spot, third went to new father Jon Snyder, fourth was Ronn Lauritzen and Pat Graham finished in fifth.
For the complete results, check www.marshalltownspeedway.com as well as other information about the track's upcoming events. Happy racing!
No comments:
Post a Comment