The deluge of rain in the area did not stop the racing at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night. There was extra money on the line in the Hobby Stock, SportMod, Stock Car and Modified classes, thanks to Jim's Johns---a porta potty business out of Des Moines. Winners of the heats were offered the chance to go to the tail of their feature. Win, and an extra $250 was their's. It started with the Hobby Stocks and if not won, an additional $250 was added to each class from there on out....up to $1,000 possible for the Modifieds. It made for some interesting racing during the features!
The Sport Compact feature went to Dave Moorman, as he won for the fourth time this season. Aaron Miller was the runner up. John Gill did not start.
The Mod Lites ran their 15-lap feature caution free. Eric Hendrickson was the man in charge through lap three.....but he had Charlie Brown and Josh May nipping at his heels. Brown made the pass into first by lap four, and set his sites on seeing the checkers first. Josh May had other ideas, as he was soon to challenge the leader, and Andy Hennigar came along to join in for a run to the finish. May took the point spot by lap ten, after slight contact with Hennigar set him back a spot. May held on to the lead the rest of the way to the checkers and the win. Hennigar recovered from the contact issue, and finished as the runner up. Charlie Brown was third, Eric Hendrickson finished fourth, and Daniel Keltner from Coralville, made his first trip to the track, and finished fifth. May took his second win of the season.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks kicked off the feature racing that involved the $250 bonus money. None of the three heat winners took the challenge. Andy Hick held the lead for the first three laps, but he had a lot of company behind him. Eric Stanton started eighth and flew to the lead by lap five, bringing along John Watson and Austin Luellen to tail him. Those three drivers went at it tooth and nail the remaining way to the checkers. Stanton and Luellen raced side by side for most of those laps; Watson waiting in the wings for their miscue. Stanton held the point at the finish line, winning by a slight margin over Luellen in second. Watson was third, early leader Hick took fourth and Brice Udelhoven completed the top five. Though Stanton has consistently had strong runs at Marshalltown, this was just his second win of the year.
Since the $250 bonus challenge was not won, the SportMod feature had a $500 incentive to go to the tail. Clint Luellen was up for it. There was more than a full field of cars in the class last night, a B main weeding the starting field to 24 cars...and Luellen starting 24th. Des Moines driver, Brandon Williams (who moved from the St. Joseph, Missouri area a couple of years ago) took the lead by lap four after early leader Shawn Simatovich got caught up in an incident with a lap car. He had his hands full with Sam Wieben and Jenae Gustin. Meanwhile, Clint Luellen had been making headway, taking flight up top, and was coming strong. As the laps wound down, Luellen had taken over third place, and was challenging Wieben for the runner up spot. The leaders had to snake through some lap traffic in the closing moments, but it was not much of a hindrance, the three making it to the finish line in the same order. Williams won for the first time at Marshalltown this year, his first since June of last year, Wieben took second and Clint Luellen made a great try of it, falling a little shy of his quest, but finishing third, from starting 24th. The next three finishers had a great race going on a bit further back, Jenae Gustin winning fourth over Carter VanDenBerg in fifth, and Taylor Mussellman in sixth.
So.....since no one had won the challenge money bonus yet, another $250 was added to the pot for the Stock Car class....a possible $750 extra payday. Two drivers had already committed to the challenge, Michael Jaennette, and Jared Daggett---both starting on the back row. Dave Atcher put his spiffy looking #2 to the point, leading by lap one. There was a lot of action behind him, cars jockeying for position, left and right! Donavon Smith had already put his ride into second, Steve Meyer was dogging him in third, and by lap three, there was Michael Jaennette in fourth! This was about to get interesting!! Jaennette had a blip coming out of turn four a lap or so later, sending him back just a bit, but he was back to fourth by lap eight. Smith continued to hold the lead, and Meyer was now applying pressure. Those two would battle it out, Meyer looking low in turns three and four, but Smith diving to the bottom in turn one and maintaining control of the race. Meanwhile, Jaennette had worked his way to third place and trying with all his might, to give it a run for that extra $750. Time ran out, though, and Smith kept hold of the lead and took the win. Meyer finished second and Jaennette had to be content with a great run and a third place finish. Dave Atcher was scored in fourth and Jared Daggett, the other driver who took the challenge, finished in fifth. Smith continues his hold on the point lead, winning for the fifth time this season at Marshalltown.
Since no one had won the challenge money yet....another $250 was added to sweeten the pot....making for a bonus of $1,000 in the Modified class. Two drivers had already spoken up for the run for the money----point leader Ronn Lauritzen and Tyler Droste, who had won their heats earlier. Scott Simatovich held down the point spot through lap five, when a caution flew. Ronn Lauritzen had suffered a flat going hard into corner one, bringing out the yellow, after flying through the field and grabbing fifth place already. A trip to the pits for a tire change, brought Lauritzen back to the track and once again tagging the field for the restart. Joel Rust took the lead just after the restart, leading the pack of battling cars behind him. Adam Larson had put his BMS chassis into second and Luke Wanninger had followed up to run in third, when a caution flew at lap twelve. An on track incident between Tyler Droste and Kyle Brown halted the action, and called for realignment for a restart. Rust was still holding the point, Larson second and Wanninger licking his chops running in third. Simatovich was in fourth and there was "Uncle Ronnie"....Ronn Laurtizen, already back to fifth! The race continued from there on, caution free. Wanninger made the pass into first as the laps wound down, and went home to the checkers flying, taking the win. Rust held on to second, and Lauritzen made a valiant effort, but had to settle for third. Adam Larson finished fourth and Racer Hulin recovered from a bit of a rough ride earlier when he got into the infield just after turn two, and scored fifth place. Wanninger chalked up win number three of the regular season at Marshalltown plus winning the preseason Frostbuster.
The cloud bank building to the west, did not materialize into anything, but it was yet another night of watching and wondering. It's getting old! The track, even after receiving a lot of rain during the week, stayed in good condition, and yielded great racing all night.
Let's hope Mother Nature straightens up and gives us some drier weather for upcoming races. I see Webster City has already cancelled for tonight, and Harlan will be making a decision later. Here's hoping you can find a race to attend and help support the sport we all love....dirt track racing. Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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