Marshalltown Speedway had a filled pit area for their season opener last night. Visiting drivers returned from last week's Frostbuster from New Mexico, North Dakota and Wisconsin, boosting the car count to 129.
There were seven of the IMCA Sport Compacts in competition. An emotional Bill Whalen won the 10-lap feature. Whalen dedicated the win to long-time veteran racer Merv Chandler, who passed away recently. Whalen led all but the opening lap of the main event, pulling away from the field. Dave Moorman captured the runner up spot ahead of John Gill in third. Aaron Miller and John Walker completed the top five.
We saw the Mod Lites for the first time this year. Andy Hennigar grabbed the lead by lap two after starting back in seventh spot, and never relinquished it. Hennigar outpaced runner up Travis Stensland by a lengthy margin. Travis Brandt had a successful run, finishing in third place from starting eleventh. Josh May and Joe Glick were fourth and fifth.
John Watson is back in form, taking the win in the IMCA Hobby Stock 12-lap feature. Watson, who tried a stint in the Stock Cars last year, told announcer Jerry VanSickle, he is glad to be back in a Hobby Stock. Watson took the lead at lap six when then leader Jason See went into spin mode, and then sailed on to the checkers. Eric Stanton was doing all he could to reel in Watson, but had to settle for second after starting back in the row six. Benji Irvine was also a driver on the move as he came from tenth, to take a third place finish. Eric Larson came from row six to snatch fourth place and Jake Nelson rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran a B feature to complete their starting grid in their 18-lapper.
Racer Hulin took the win in that consolation event. The front row sitters for the A main were returning North Dakotan, Justin Medler (one of the drivers from Minot, dubbed the "Minot Mafia")
and Jared VanDeest. VanDeest immediately flew to the lead and would lead the entire race, taking his first win at the Marshalltown Speedway. Doug Smith motored from eleventh to take the runner up spot. He fended off the challenges of Clint Luellen, who captured third place. Justin Medler finished fourth, just ahead of Travis Petersen in fifth.
Last week's Frostubster winner, Brian Irvine drew the lucky #1 starting spot for the 18-lap Stock Car main. Devin Smith, one of the Lake City Smith brothers who jumped from Hobby Stock into the Stock Car league this year, sat alongside. When the green dropped, Irvine got the advantage, flying to the lead. Smith tailed the leader until lap twelve when Trent Murphy won the battle and took over second. As the laps wore on, there was intense challenges being made for third through sixth as Donovan Smith battled brother Devin and Jay Schmidt was fending off Steve Meyer. When a yellow flew in the waning moments of the race, a green-white-checkered finish came into play. By this time, Donovan Smith was sitting in second behind Irvine, and he was no doubt just waiting for a slip by the leader on the restart. That was not to be however, as Irvine sailed home to the checkers, taking his second win at the track in consecutive weeks. Trent Murphy sneaked by Donovan Smith as they went second and third at the flag, fourth was Jay Schmidt still piloting his old car, and Devin Smith took fifth place. When Irvine was asked in victory lane if he was going to be back next week, he said he would be in the doghouse if he did as his wife is having their third child on Thursday.
Finale time was 20-laps for the IMCA Modifieds. Frostbuster winner, Luke Wanninger drew the lucky pill to start on the point, Joel Bushore sitting along side. Wanninger took the lead with David Brown...in his "Blue Brown" machine....tucking in behind him in second. Adam Larson made swift advancement from starting eighth, took over the runner up spot by lap four and was on the hunt to catch the leader. Another driver making a spectacular drive through traffic, was the "Minon Machine" of Ronn Lauritzen. Lauritzen had started ninth and was flying! Lauritzen wasn't done yet, as he passed both Larson and Wanninger by lap six, snatching the lead. Lauritzen settled into his usual lowside run of the track, staying there all the way to the checkers. Adam Larson was flying on the topside and was slowly reeling in Lauritzen just after the mid-point of the race, but a drop of his tire off the track between turns three and four, sent him backwards. Larson had to settle for second on this night. Third place went to Jammin' Jimmy Gustin, a driver you should never count out. He had been battling hard for position among the front runners all night. Tyler Droste and Jon Snyder won out against competitors to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
It was a windy...from the south thankfully...and more than a little chilly night, but the racing was good and the track stayed in good shape all night. It was nice to see some of the out of state drivers return from their Frostbuster run last week. We met Jason Wolla, the Ray, North Dakota driver who is in the oilfield service business and pilots the 27W Modified, and Regan Tafoya made the long trip back from Farmington, New Mexico with his family, to compete in weekend racing in the area again. The SportMod drivers from Minot, North Dakota, the #74 and #75 of Darren and Justin Medler also returned. Zach McKinnon from Wisconsin was on hand in the SportMod division, as was Eric VanIten from Green Bay Wisconsin in the Modified class. Always nice to see visiting drivers.
Next week will be KMJ Performance Night at the races. All weekly divisions will once again be competing. Hot laps at 6:45 and races at 7:30.
Thanks for reading, and Happy Racing!
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