Marshalltown Speedway saw another great night of racing on the High Banks. The track produced three and four-wide action all night long. One driver won for the second week in a row, while others added to their multiple wins of the year. Before the racing action began, it was great to hear the voice of Denny Grabenbauer on the mic once again. Denny was there promoting a special event happening for the 4th of July races. It will be $5 admission night, fireworks and drivers from the past will be on hand, helping celebrate the 50th anniversary of the track.
The IMCA Sport Compact class was four cars strong. A driver making his first appearance at the track, took home the marbles in this one. Adam Gates in the #007 car, came and conquered the quarter-mile with ease. Gates took the lead at lap two, leading the remaining eight laps to the checkers. Last week's winner Dave Moorman was second, followed by Aaron Miller. John Gill did not finish.
The Mod Lite division ran their 15-lap event next. It didn't take long for Jimmy May to get to the front, taking the lead from Mike Kennedy at lap three, and point leader Andy Hennigar was right there on his tail in second. Meanwhile, the Brown brothers, Charlie and Terry were in a tight battle for third place---that tight battle getting a little too tight when the two got together, bringing out a yellow, and Charlie Brown's night was over. His thoughts were probably the same as the cartoon character Charlie Brown....."RATS!" When thing restarted, Terry Brown had kept his machine going when the incident with his brother occurred, allowing him to realign in third place. The final three laps were completed with the 5J of James May taking the checkers, Andy Hennigar was second, and Terry Brown kept third place. Tim Hennigar held off Dusty Masolini as they were scored fourth and fifth.
The 12-lap Hobby Stock feature didn't get off to a good start. Pole sitter Andy Hick made a right turn entering turn one just after the green flag fell, bringing out a yellow before a lap could be scored. When things did get underway, the drivers were really getting after it as they raced three and four-wide. Gary Pfantz held off Austin Luellen for a couple of laps, Luellen having the lead at lap three. Just after that, Pfantz spun and was out of the running. Luellen kept his run as the captain of the ship all the way to the checkers. Garrett Eilander chased Luellen for most of the race, but could do no better than the runner up spot on this night. Dustin Elliott took third place, John Watson came from starting eleventh to finish fourth and Eric Larson rounded out the top five. Luellen, who had started ninth on the field, won for the third time in the regular season, and also won the Frostbuster.
The IMCA Northern SportMod feature found Clint Luellen matching his brother's earlier win in the Hobby Stocks. Luellen didn't have it easy however. Jenae Gustin, last week's winner, snatched the lead at lap two from her third row starting spot, got to the topside and was sailing away! Luellen worked his way from starting tenth, to the runner up spot by the time a yellow flew at lap eight. Another yellow a couple of laps later, still had the two running 1-2. Luellen attempted a big slide job coming out of turns three and four, only to have Gustin slam the door. A lap later, Luellen got the job done, and took over the helm. Two more yellows would fly before the 18-laps were completed, but Luellen had no trouble in pulling away and taking the checkers. Gustin finished as the runner up, third went to Andy Tiernan, Brett Lowry started back in thirteenth and had a great run to finish fourth, and Tyler Musselman took fifth after starting eleventh. Luellen now has three wins under his belt at Marshalltown this year.
The Stock Cars put on their usual entertaining feature. Michael Jaennette put his "Pink Panther" hot rod to the point position by lap three and was pulling away when a yellow flew at lap five for a spinning Jeff Wollam. Wollam---who was sporting a new black, orange and silver wrap, (strickingly different from his usual white and red Dilly Bar special ride) had been locked in a battle with Robbie Merkle, Donavon Smith and Steve Meyer for a top five spot. When the race restarted, Jaennette continued to hold down the lead, Smith running second. Just after lap six was scored, Jaennette was out of the game, and pulled into the infield with a gear problem, Smith now in command. The latter part of the race saw Trent Murphy and Steve Meyer give Smith a bit of a challenge as did visitor Justin Temeyer...all to no avail, as Smith took the checkers. Murphy held on to the runner up spot, Temeyer got by Meyer as they went third and fourth, and Dave Atcher put his spiffy looking ride in fifth. Donavon Smith took home his fourth win of the season and adding to his track point lead.
The 20-lap Modified feature was a no go before lap one got scored. The two front row starters, Eric Elliott and Scott Simatovich got together at the top of turn two. The incident ended Elliott's night, but Simatovich kept going, getting his spot back at the front. When the race did get underway, Kyle Brown and Jon Snyder were fighting tooth and nail for the top spot, with Adam Larson soon joining in the fun. When a caution came out at lap five, Snyder was holding down the point, Larson was in second and Brown in third ahead of Luke Wanninger and Ronn Lauritzen. Brown and Wanninger made contact a couple of laps later, sending Wanninger to the infield, and Brown to the tail for the restart. Larson took over the lead at lap thirteen as he took to the topside, pulling away in the closing laps for his second win in as many weeks. Ronn Lauritzen, point leader, who started twelfth, had a great late race run, taking the runner up spot. Third went to Richie Gustin, who had started deep in the starting field, Racer Hulin battled to a fourth place finish, and Kyle Brown picked off car after car after tagging the field, to get a top five finish. Larson took back to back wins at Marshalltown, and is happy with his new BMS ride.
Cam Reimers, who calls Ogden, Iowa home, put on an exhibition with his Traxxas TORC truck series ride between races. His first appearance onto the track was a flying leap from the entrance area of turn four. Several more leaps onto the track from other areas, stirred the crowd with the spectacular moves.
Next Friday will be racing as usual in all six classes. Hot laps are 6:45 and racing at 7:30. More information can be found at http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com. Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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