It was the Cliff Chambers Memorial Race at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday evening. This annual race honors the former promoter of the track who was a long-time supporter of the sport. It was the 25th anniversary of his passing. The Nostalgia cars joined the six other regular divisions, giving fans a glimpse of racing from yesteryear.
The Sport Compact feature went to John Gill. Gill led all ten laps of the main event. Dave Moorman chased the leader the entire race, but could manage no more than the runner spot. Third was Aaron Miller, fourth went to Jacob Reiter, and fifth was Jeremy Stone.
It was fun to see the '50's and '60's nostalgia cars put on a show for the fans. I believe there was even a late '40's included. Jim Anderson, in his black 1959 Ford led until lap seven. That was when Roger Ceiliski took over in his #39 1963 Nova SS. It was a done deal after that, as he drove home to the checkers first. Anderson held down second, third was Pudge Grabill in the #5 red '55 or '56 Chevy, fourth was the #69 of Larry Knop driving a purple '69 Chevelle, and Scott Jorpeland took fifth in his white Chevelle #3.
Chargin' Charlie Brown has been having a good season so far. He took the win, his second in a row, leading the entire 15 laps. Andy Hennigar was reeling in the leader, but ran out of time to garner more than second. Mike Morrill was third, Josh May took fourth, and Travis Stensland rounded out the top five. After an initial "no go" on the start of race for a mishap in turn two, the race went green to checkered.
The IMCA Hobby Stock winner also led from start to finish. Austin Luellen, the Minburn, Iowa driver who has been making his way over to Marshalltown on Friday nights, along with brothers Clint and Ty who participate in the SportMod division, took the checkers by a comfortable margin. There was a lot of jostling behind the leader during most of the race however. Eric Larson, John Watson and Garrett Eilander were locked in a fierce battle. John Watson won the war for second, third went to Eilander and Larson was fourth. Fifth place finisher, Eric Stanton recovered from a mishap in turn two early in the race, falling many spots after gathering it back in. Luellen's win is the first of the regular points season after taking the Frostbuster victory.
The IMCA Northern SportMod 18-lap race went flag-to-flag. Montezuma racer, Brett Lowry quickly took the lead when the green flew. Carter VanDenBerg was immediately on his tail and Jenae Gustin tagged in third. Gustin made a great recovery after a bobble about lap five, kept her composure and continued without losing a spot. VanDenBerg gained the lead at lap six and drove home to the checkers first, untouched. However, a post race inspection deemed him illegal with an "ignition box infraction". This handed the win over to Lowry. Gustin was awarded second, Doug Smith drove from starting eleventh to earn third, fourth was Clint Luellen who had started twelfth, and brother Ty Luellen was fifth.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again---the IMCA Stock Cars put on another great show! Steve Meyer was running comfortably in the lead, happy to let the battling continue behind him. Jeff Wollam, Jay Schmidt, Michael Jaennette, Trent Murphy and Donavon Smith were locked in a close match for positions.
Wollam nabbed second, Schmidt made his way to third and Jeannette took over fourth at lap nine....Meyer sailing away at the point. A lap later, Jaennette suffered a flat tire, his night ending.
Meyer's comfortable lead evaporated at lap 11 when a yellow flag flew for a car sitting on the track. Wollam, Schmidt, Murphy and Smith waiting behind him in the wings on the restart. Meyer kept his lead when the race went green, Schmidt snatching second and Smith tagging him. The top three really entertained the fans in the closing laps. With two laps to go, Smith rocketed off of corner two, passing both Schmidt and Meyer and continued to the finish to seal the win. Meyer got back around Schmidt in the waning moments as they went second and third. Trent Murphy took fourth place and veteran racer Jeff Wollam had his best run of the season, taking fifth.
Eric Elliott, who moved up this season into the Modified class from the SportMods, looked strong leading the 20-lap race with but a handful of laps remaining. However, Luke Wanninger was giving him fits most of the time. Meanwhile, Ronn Lauritzen had come from starting twelfth, into third and was reeling in the leaders. Wanninger pulled off the pass and was leading at lap sixteen, when a caution came out for a car sitting on the backstretch. Lauritzen had also made the pass into second around Elliott as they awaited the restart. As the cars came to the green for that restart, it appeared Lauritzen momentarily lost power, boggling up the field as cars searched for a clear racetrack. Wanninger was not hindered by the debacle behind him, flying to the win---his first for the season after winning the Frostbuster. Rookie to the class, Joel Rust snaked through the restart mess to capture second. Racer Hulin crossed the finish line in third, but was later disqualified for a J bar infraction, giving third to Ronn Lauritzen who recovered well from his botched restart incident. Fourth went to Eric Elliott and Tyler Droste came from starting in row six, to take fifth place.
Next Friday night, the High-Banks of Marshalltown will once again be action. Racing begins weekly at 7:30. Hope to see you there. Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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