Racing returned to the Southern Iowa Speedway on a rare Thursday night with the running of the Frostbuster. This was the first of four in the Frostbuster Series for 2014 with a stop in Marshalltown on Friday, Boone on Saturday and concluding at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton on Sunday. The four classes of IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Hobby Stocks are running for National, Regional and State points, but track points will not begin until the season openers next week.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks kicked off the feature racing. Shannon Anderson drew the lucky pole starting spot and this one was a near no-challenge for him. Anderson led the entire 16-laps, making it look easy in taking the win. Eric Stanton applied a bit of pressure with a few laps remaining, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Dustin Griffiths took third over Danny Thrasher and John Watson who were fourth and fifth respectively.
The IMCA Northern SportMods came next with an 18-lap affair. An incident in turn four took out several cars before the first lap was completed. It eliminated Jason Hall, Tony Olsen, driver from Omaha, Ryan Fullenkamp, and Gatlin Leytham. After the track was cleared, the young lady racer Jenae Gustin was showing the boys how it's done in the early laps, looking strong as she led the field. A yellow at lap five was not what Gustin wanted to see, as the field was now bunched behind her, erasing her comfortable lead. A couple of laps after the restart, it was Carter VanDenBerg pestering Gustin, but she maintained her lead. Another caution at lap 10 was just what VanDenBerg was wanting as he was able to make the pass for the lead, and sailed off. Jason McDaniel was also making up ground from his fourth row starting spot, getting to second. VanDenBerg extended his lead the remaining way to the checkers, scoring the win. McDaniel kept second, and Jenae Gustin finished third. Fourth went to Minot, North Dakota driver, Justin Medler, and Clint Luellen out of Minburn, Iowa, rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Stock Cars ran a 20-lap feature, with Cayden Carter jumping to the lead from his outside front row starting spot. Brad Pinkerton put his ride in second spot by lap seven, after starting back in ninth spot, but he had "Chelsea Charger" Damon Murty chasing him in third. Murty continued to bother Pinkerton relentlessly for several laps before taking over second with a handful of laps remaining. There was no catching Carter on this night however, as he took the win by a lengthy margin. Murty, who started tenth, finished as the runner up, Pinkerton was third. Todd Reitzler, the racer from Grinnell, was fourth and Donovan Nunnikhoven was fifth.
The evening ended with the 22-lap Modified A main, paying a $1,000 to the winner and a qualifier for the All-Star Fast Shafts Invitational ballot. Drawing the front row was Richie Gustin and Luke Wanninger. However, when Wanninger pulled onto the track, there was a very noticeable popping sound resounding from his machine, and he pulled off of the track. This moved Cayden Carter to the outside front row.
When the race began, Carter got the jump on Gustin, scooting to the lead. Jesse Sobbing challenged immediately from starting third, and was able to overtake Carter and fly to the lead by lap nine. From there on out, Sobbing pulled away, stretching the lead and took the win. Carter kept hold of second place, and Richie Gustin, Jimmy Gustin and Jacob Murray finished third through fifth, all a comfortable distance apart.
It was finally a pleasant night to be sitting at the race track; Mother Nature cooperating for a change! The track stayed in excellent shape, and the competition and diversified field of drivers was great. Drivers from Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, as well as Canada, made the trip to get their fix of racing.
The opening night of season points racing begins next week at the Southern Iowa Speedway. Mark Wednesday, April 16 on your calendars. Hot laps 7, racing at 7:30. Thanks for reading, and happy racing!
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