There was a LOT of racing at the Marshalltown Speedway last night as it was double features in four classes due to the rain out last week. Those classes, the SportMods, Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars and Modifieds clicked off those make up features in good time when they all went caution free. However, the regular night's features would be an entirely different story!
The SportMod feature from last week was run first and picked up where it left off, at five laps down. Brandon Brinton got back to business at the drop of the green, resuming his lead as Ben Kates pressured him while running in second. Andy Tiernen got to third with a handful of laps remaining and then those three front runners went at it. When the white flag flew, Brinton was scored as the leader but that was all she wrote as Tiernen surged ahead in the run to the checkers, snatching the win. Brinton took what had to be a disappointing runner up spot, over Kates in third, Jayme Duinink in fourth and Jenae Gustin was fifth.
Eric Knutson took the lead in the make up IMCA Stock Car feature by lap four, but Michael Murphy had made great strides from starting in row five, to get to the second spot. Just a few laps later, Murphy nabbed the lead, and pulled away, scoring the win. Knuston had to fend off a hard charging Tracy Gienger at the finish as they went second and third. Fourth place was Steve Meyer and veteran Jeff Wollam rounded out the top five.
Brandon Pruitt over took leader Brice Udelhoven with five laps down in the make up Hobby Stock feature and that would be the way it would finish. Following Pruitt and Udelhoven was Bill Bonnett in third, fourth was Eric Stanton and Austin Luellen was fifth.
Wow! We are moving right along with the make up features and with no yellows! Would it continue for the final feature, the IMCA Modifieds? The first six laps had David Brown and Ronn Lauritzen putting on a great show up front for the fans as they circled the track neck and neck. Lauritzen made the pass at lap seven for the lead and gave himself some breathing room. Eyes were now on the 69X of Jon Snyder who had started back in tenth, had put himself "up top" in his familiar position, and was coming fast! Snyder overtook Brown for second as the final laps wound down but was unable to gain any more. Lauritzen got his first win at Marshalltown this year, Snyder took second, Brown, third. Zach Rawlins and Luke Wanninger finished fourth and fifth. And yes, the modifieds ended the make up features with a caution free 20-lap feature! In his victory lane interview, winner Lauritzen thanked his sponsors and then deemed the track "perfect".
Now it was on to the regular night of racing and after all the heats and one B in the SportMod class was completed, it was time for more feature events. The Sport Compacts kicked it off. In this one, John Gill held the lead over Merv Chandler for the first three laps, but then Chandler took the reins and motored home to another feature win. Gill took second over Chad Larson and Josh Keller.
The Mod Lite's came up next. Josh May took command of this one at lap eight after his pass on Eric Hendrickson, pulled away from the pack and scored the victory, his third of the year at Marshalltown.Second place was Mike Morrill who started deep in the field, third went to Andy Hennigar who came from near the back of the starting grid, fourth was Eric Hendrickson and Randy Bryan completed the top five.
Things were still looking good with only a total of two yellow flags in the regular nights features. Should have known, as the IMCA SportMod feature was a yellow flag fest!! Among those situations were a car getting shoved into the wall and then a rear end coming out, another car shoved into the wall plus numerous spin outs, but when the threat of a time limit was tossed at the field remaining, the race did finish under green.
Eric Elliott took the helm of the SportMod feature at lap five and held off the contenders at the numerous restarts, earning his first win at the Speedway this year. Clint Luellen won the war for second as he had to go tooth and nail earlier against Ben Kates who was third, and Jenae Gustin in fourth. Brett Lowry took fifth place.
After the marathon SportMod feature, it was the Hobby Stocks rolling out for their second feature of the night. This one turned out to be a show between veteran Bill Bonnett and Brandon Pruitt. Bonnett preferred the outside line, Pruitt the inside, and at lap eight, Pruitt gained the advantage. Pruitt then motored home to his second win of the evening. Bonnett finished in second, Donovan Nunnikhoven hung around the front of the pack all evening and finished third, as did Chris Luloff in fourth and Garrett Eilander completed the top five.
The IMCA Stock Cars ran their 18-lap feature next. This was a show up front between Sean Johnson and Jay Schmidt, who was sporting his new snazzy race car. The two went at it with Johnson holding the advantage. Then enter those ugly yellow flags again! Racing was halted for numerous incidents. Dusty Vis ended up against the outside wall coming out of turn four....minus his rear end. Just a few laps later, Michael Murphy who had won the make up feature earlier, found his car with the same situation! How often does that happen in the same race?! When racing did get back to business with more than just a couple of continuous laps, it was still Johnson and Schmidt up front. Schmidt gained advantage on the back stretch at lap fourteen, but Johnson slid in front of Schmidt coming out of turn four, contact was made and both cars dropped back in positions. So....now who should come into the picture but Damon Murty, the guy who had been to the pits once to change a tire and tag the field, and then once more having to tag the field after stopping to avoid the Dusty Vis incident with no place to go between Vis and the rear end on the track! Murty had flown through the field....more than once...and then running close to the front, saw his chance when the two front runners had made contact, snapped up the lead and snatched the win! What a thrilling race to watch! This was Murty's third win at the track this year...adding just another to his many wins at various tracks this year.
Finally....finale time and the IMCA Modified feature. Richie Gustin had his eyes set on the checkered flag early on. He led by lap four and extended his lead from the competition, even after several restarts brought about from those nasty yellow flags. Luke Wanninger ran in second much of the race, but once again, it was Jon Snyder taking flight on the topside after starting in twelfth spot. Snyder took over second but there was no stopping leader Gustin, as he took the win by a comfortable margin. Snyder took the runner up spot, Wanninger finished third with Jimmy Gustin snapping at his heels in fourth at the flag and Adam Larson was fifth.
It was right at 11:20 p.m. when racing was completed last night, but the fans sure got plenty of racing for the price of their ticket! It's a wonder there was racing anywhere in the state after the absolute deluge that we had! Here in Grinnell, we had 7.28 inches early Sunday morning...that was pretty accurate as we have an automatic rain gauge, and through out the next several days of more unrelenting rain, we ended up with right at 11.5 inches! We were one of the lucky ones, as the town had many basements full of water, many with backed up sewers, but we stayed dry! We feel for all of those who are dealing with those situations through the state.
Check out the calendar at Positively Racing for a race you may want to catch. Don't forget the Deery Brothers Summer Series and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour this coming Tuesday, June 4 at the Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City. Should be a great show. Now begins a busy "specials" time for racing in our area as well as all of the weekly racing programs. Get out and support and enjoy this great sport of dirt track racing we all love. Happy racing!
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