Only three of the little IMCA Sport Compacts made an appearance at the track last night. David Moorman led all eight laps in taking his first win of the season at the track. Moorman, no stranger to taking the checkers at Marshalltown having raced there since the days of the old front-wheel drive class, nearly lost it at the flag. Moorman was tapped coming out of turn four, nearly lost control, but gathered it back in and took the win. John Gill took second over Aaron Miller in third.
Charlie Brown won the 15-lap Mod Lite feature. He too, led start to finish. Jimmy May applied some pressure in the early laps but to no avail. As the laps wound down, last week's winner Andy Hennigar positioned himself in the second place running, but would have to watch leader Brown from afar as he scored second. Jimmy May took the third spot over son Josh May in fourth and Mike Morrill rounded out the top five. The race went caution free.
The Hobby Stock's took to the track next. What a fight up front this one turned out to be! Jason See, the Albia, Iowa driver, led lap one but was soon joined in a battle with Jamie Songer. With just a handful of laps scored, Eric Stanton, who started ninth, was dogging Songer. Not to be out done, John Watson had made his way to snap at Songer's heels from starting tenth. Stanton made a surge and grabbed the lead at lap eight, only to experience problems and exit the track before lap ten was scored. When a caution came out with ten in the books....setting up a green-white-checkered finish, it was Watson at the helm. Watson was not about to give up command of the ship in the final circuits, and sailed home to his second win in as many weeks. Songer had to settle for the runner up spot, Jason See barely beat Brice Udelhoven to the stripe, as they went third and fourth. Eric Larson rounded out the top five. Watson scored back-to-back wins.
The IMCA Northern SportMod ran their usual 18-lap feature. After experiencing some mechanical issues in her early season, tonight Jenae Gustin seemed to put that all behind her! Gustin grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, but before lap three was scored, an incident low in turn four, halted the racing action. Veteran racer Bill Hildreth did not fare well in this one, being sandwiched between cars trying to avoid a spinning car. As he drove off, the right side of his car was unrecognizable, and he had to exit with what was evidently much more damage. When racing got back underway, Gustin remained at the point but was soon being challenged by Clint Luellen. Luellen had worked his way to run second from starting twelfth, and was on the hunt. Luellen was working the low side in his quest to reel in Gustin, while Gustin chose the high side in turns three and four. It worked for Luellen as he snatched the lead at lap nine, only to be overtaken by Gustin at lap ten as she also dropped low. Gustin kept the lead the remainder of the way to the checkers, scoring her first win at Marshalltown this year. Gustin, who said in victory lane she was getting a little concerned with lap traffic entering into the picture in the waning moments of the race, was happy to have her early season bad luck behind her. Luellen had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to Doug Smith who started fifteenth, Brandon Brinton was fourth, and Sam Wieben was fifth.
It was nice to see Michael Jaennette win the IMCA Stock Car feature....his first win, surprisingly, at the Marshalltown Speedway. It's always a special moment for a driver who nabs that first victory at any track, and though Jaennette has run well at the track, that elusive first win there had always evaded him. It wasn't an easy victory for him though. Early leader Steve Meyer was looking strong, with Jay Schmidt, who started eighth, right on his rear bumper. Meanwhile, Jaennette had worked into the third spot from starting seventh. Schmidt took over as captain of the ship on lap seven and Jaennette followed him past Meyer, to nab second. Jaennette made his move on the backstretch around Schmidt and led at lap eight. The remaining laps to the the checkers was held by Jaennette's "Pink Panther" machine, as he scored his first win ever at Marshalltown. Schmidt kept the runner up position, Meyer was third. Donavon Smith and Trent Murphy closed in on the front runners from their fifth row starting spots, as they finished fourth and fifth. The race went flag to flag.
The "Minion Machine" of Ronn Lauritzen was back in victory lane this week in the IMCA Modified division. Lauritzen is off to a great start for his season, as he has run strong everywhere in this early race season. Kyle Brown snatched the lead from early leader Andrew Kinser at lap three, only to lose it back at lap five. That "Minion Machine" of Lauritzen was on the move early from his sixth row starting position, as he was up to challenge in the early laps as well. Lauritzen chased Kinser for several laps, finally take the lead at lap ten, and from there on, never looked back. Jon Snyder worked his way to second with five laps remaining, but no threat to the leader. Lauritzen took back to back wins at the track, Snyder having to settle for the runner up spot. Kinser had a good run in taking the third spot. David Brown fought his way to a fourth place finish over Kyle Krampe in fifth, beating out early race leader Kyle Brown in sixth.
The track got rough in the corners last night, some of the drivers telling us afterwards, it was teeth rattling. No doubt, the rains from Wednesday through Thursday had something to do with that. By the end of the night though, the dust was rolling, and we were thankful the breeze was no stronger than it was coming at the grandstands.
Next week will once again be regular racing with hot laps at 6:45 and racing at 7:30.
Thanks for reading and Happy Racing!
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