There was some exciting racing Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway and at night's end, there were three new winners in 2015 standing in victory lane. One of those drivers got his second ever win of his career within three days time!
The Mod Lite feature was first and Charlie Brown would lead this one from start to finish. On lap six, the red flag came out when his brother Terry Brown wound up on his lid in turn one. He was okay, but his night was over. Charlie Brown had no trouble in maintaining his lead when things got back underway but then another yellow late in the race would set the scene for a green-white-checkered finish. By this time, Brown had two drivers that had closed the gap on him, Mike Morrill and Josh May. May slipped past Morrill and into second as they entered turn two as the race went green, but this would be all he had, as Brown took the win, May was the runner up. Third was Mike Morrill, fourth went to Randy Bryan and Cory Sauerman was fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks went 15-laps for their main event. Tim Barber was the early leader but lap four found a lap car spinning in corner four, and Barber unable to avoid it. That would be when Austin Luellen would weave his way past them and inherit the lead for the restart. Luellen was pulling away when a bumper on the track brought out a yellow at lap thirteen. This set up a green-white-checkered finish as had the previous race. Luellen wasn't bothered as the race took back up, keeping the lead and the checkers one more time. Andy Hick, who had been third on the restart, made the pass on Eric Stanton on the final lap, as they went second and third in that order. Fourth was Garrett Eilander and Dustin Elliott took fifth place. Luellen scored a win at Marshalltown for the fourth time of the regular season....having also won the Frostbuster special. He and Eric Stanton are still the only two Hobby Stock winners at the track this year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods saw a happy camper in victory lane in what turned out for him to be record setting week. Colby Heishman in the CH19 machine (yes...the numbers are there, but his less than perfect sheet metal sometimes defies that it's there) started the race on the outside pole, and established the lead immediately. From there on, Heishman was the captain of the ship, leading all laps and taking the checkers. Second place went to Jared VanDeest who took to the topside and flew around Clint Luellen in the closing laps. Following third place Luellen, was Brandon Williams in fourth, who also made a late race pass around fifth place finisher Jayme Duinink. Heishman, won for the first time at the track, and wasn't quite sure where victory lane was and had to be told. I mentioned this was a record setting week for this young man. We were privileged to see him win at the Benton County Speedway on Tuesday night.....his first win EVER, and three nights later, here he was standing in the winner's circle again.
What a finish to the IMCA Stock Car feature. We've said it before, and we'll say it again, they are often the class to put on an excellent show week in and week out. This one came right down to the wire! There was a pack of cars fighting for a top spot as the race went green and then five cars broke away. Trent Murphy led the troops but tight on his bumper was Donavon Smith. Following suite tight behind them was Michael Jaennette, Steve Meyer and Jared Daggett. Murphy and Smith hugged the corners while a few laps later, we noted Steve Meyer was opting for the top side and seemed to be making up ground on Jaennette. Right before lap ten was in the books, Smith was able to get under Murphy in corners three and four, sneaking past him and taking over the top spot. Meyer had now gotten into third place and was chasing the leaders. Smith was content with his position but probably had no idea that Murphy had decided to change his line by going to the top of the track and was reeling him in. As the two crossed the finish line, it had to be by mere inches that Smith was able to emerge the victor....it was that close! Meyer took third, fourth was Jaennette and Tyler Pickett completed the top five. Smith, who had started ninth, won for the second week in a row and took his third of the year at Marshalltown.
After the yellow flag had waved several times in the previous features, the 20-lap Modified A main was over in the blink of an eye.....going flag to flag. Early leader Scott Simatovich led Adam Larson in the opening laps. By lap eight, he was holding off Joel Rust and Jimmy Gustin, while Larson had fallen back to fourth. Just a lap later, Rust had taken command, and Gustin went to second and Larson to third. Gustin tightened the screws on Rust and by lap twelve, he took over the lead. Meanwhile, Larson had set sail on the top of the high banks, and was coming with a full head of steam! He then grabbed the lead at lap thirteen and from there on to the checkers, had his #2L rounding the top of the track flawlessly. Larson won comfortably, his first of the year at Marshalltown. Rust was able to get around Gustin as they finished second and third respectively. Fourth went to ninth place starter Josh "Happy" Gilman and Scott Simatovich rounded out the top five.
The racing continues next Friday night, May 29 at the Marshalltown Speedway. Hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30. Then on Tuesday, June 2, the speedway will be host to the Deery Brothers Late Model Summer Series. The SportMods will also be on tap along with Dirt Trucks and Legends.
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