Deery to Sobbing, Smith, Roberts and Hollatz take supporting class wins

Boone Speedway held it's annual Memorial Day IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series Late Model special on Monday.  Also running were the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods and the IMCA Hobby Stocks. It was a beautiful day for a race, albeit a bit breezy. There were 25 Deery Brothers Late Models on hand for the traditional race, 30 Stock Cars, 22 SportMods, and 18 Hobby Stocks rounded out the 95 cars checked in.

Before the Deery main event, the drivers finishing 1-4 in the heats, were brought before the fans. Then it was into the usual pizza box draw determining the first twelve starting spots for the Deery feature.  You know, the, "do you want to keep your box, or switch with someone".  After a few passes back and forth, Curtis Glover and Chad Holladay were the wise ones to keep their original draw, giving them the front row starting spots. 

The 40-lap Deery Brothers Late Model feature went to Jesse Sobbing.  Sobbing started third, chased leader Chad Holladay from early on in the race, and finally ran him down to take the lead at lap twenty-eight.  He then went the distance as captain of the ship, taking the checkers by a comfortable margin.  Holladay held on to second place. Twelfth place starter Todd Cooney worked his way through the pack, to finish third.  Ironman Darrel DeFrance, who still hasn't missed a Deery Brothers race, came from eleventh starting spot, to finish fourth, Justin Kay, who already had two wins under his belt in the series, was fifth, just beating out longtime racer Curt Martin in sixth at the finish line.  Sobbing became the sixth different driver to win a Deery Brothers Summer Series feature this year.

Donavon Smith captured the IMCA Stock Car win.  Smith led the entire 20 laps to win for the first time at the speedway this year.  Brother Devin Smith chased him across the finish line to finish as the runner up. Kevin Opheim was third, Todd Inman was fourth, and Jason VanSickel was fifth after starting thirteenth.

Randy Roberts came away with his first IMCA Northern SportMod feature win at the track this year. Roberts had to catch Johnathon Logue in doing so.  Logue led from the drop of the green but Roberts was able to slip under him on the backstretch at lap thirteen.  He then kept that lead the remainder of the 20-lap event, and took the flying checkers.  Eleventh place starter Jake McBirnie made the pass on Logue just after the white flag flew, as they finished second and third respectively.  Chad Ryerson was fourth and rookie to the class, John Watson came from fifteenth, to finish fifth.

Visiting IMCA Hobby Stock racer, Chanse Hollatz, from Clear Lake, made it pay off, as he won the 15-lap feature.  Hollatz led all but the opening lap and won by a comfortable margin over second place Dustin Graham.  Gregg Anderson finished third, Eric Knutsen was fourth, and Tim Barber was fifth.

The Deery Brothers Summer Series is now halfway through their 14-race schedule...with all seven races completed.  Next up for them will be on Tuesday, June 6, at the Marshalltown Speedway.  They will be running with the IMCA Modified Hawkeye Dirt  Tour series.

Next up for us will be this Wednesday night at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, where it will already be Musco Lighting Mid-Season Championship night.  The racing season is flying by! Get out to a track and support the sport we all love.  

Mother Nature lost this one at Boone Speedway

Saturday turned out to be a wet one for sure, and message after message of track cancellations came through during the day.  Word came that Boone was still a go, so off we went.  It was raining here when we left and we drove through rain....downpours at times, until we were close to Ames.  Then....blue sky and sunshine!  It wasn't that Boone had not had rain...more than a little moisture for sure, but the timing had been perfect.  The track had been sealed over prior to the rain, and by the time we arrived, the Green Machines were farming the racing surface.  Had the rain continued falling for another hour, the show may not have gone on.  A nice field of 122 race cars was on hand for some fun on the hammer down track.  

Things kicked off with the Mod Lite 15-lap feature.  Mike Kennedy led the early portion of the race but at lap six, it was Josh May taking over as captain of the ship.  May then pulled away to take the easy win.  Kennedy, who's CAR had gone to victory lane at Marshalltown the previous night with Travis Stensland behind the wheel, held on to the runner up spot, with Bryan Zehm a close third.  Fourth went to Charlie Brown and Joel Keenan completed the top five. May won for the first time at the track in 2017.

Daniel Tasler saw the winner's circle by taking the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature event.  Tasler led all 18 laps on his way to victory.  Robert Moore chased Tasler the entire distance to take second place.  Third was tenth place starter Randy Roberts, Hunter Longnecker was fourth and rookie to the class, John Watson, was fifth.  This was Tasler's first win of the season.  The race went caution free.

Another driver leading his entire 20-lap feature was Joel Bushore, in the IMCA Modified division.  Bushore jumped to the immediate lead, and pulled away from his competition to take the comfortable win. Russ Dickerson started eighth and finished as the runner up.  Robert Avery was third, just holding off tenth place starter, Mike VanGenderen.  Pole sitter Chad Louks rounded out the top five.  Bushore was also a first time winner at the track this season.

Veteran racer Robert Stofer led all but the opening lap of the IMCA 18-lap Stock Car main event, on his way to his first win this year.  Jay Schmidt maneuvered through lap traffic and around Justin Nehring on the final turn after he'd made many attempts to nose under him previously, as they finished second and third respectively.  Rod Richards was fourth and Tyler Brauckman finished fifth.  This was also Stofer's first win at the track this year. The race went flag to flag.  

The IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars ran a 20-lap feature.  Devin Wignall led through lap nine when a caution flew.  The restart proved to be his nemesis as Tyler Thompson flew around him to take over the top spot as the race went green.  Two laps later, Thompson had misfortune, when he broke and had to retire to the infield.  The lead was then handed over to Michael Johnston, with Michael Moore hot on his tail.  Moore made his move at lap fourteen, with a slide around Johnston to take command.  He would then hold the top spot the rest of the way to the checkers.  Johnston was the runner up, third went to early leader Devin Wignall, Iowa Falls racer Bob Hildreth, was fourth and CJ Houseman was fifth.  This was Moore's second win at the track.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks completed the night's feature racing with a scheduled 12-lap event.  Dustin Lynch led the entire race and went to victory lane for the first time.  Ryan Wells out ran Aaron Rudolph as they finished second and third.  Fourth was David McQuisten, and Dean Hartwig was fifth.  The race was called complete at lap eleven when the time limit expired.  

For the second time this week, we've seen a new Modified chassis make it's debut.  Earlier, the VanderBuilt Chassis that is the undertaking of Zack VanderBeek, was the new ride of Cayden Carter. Last night at Boone, the Assault Chassis built by long time racer Randy Havlik made it's first appearance on the track with Havlik himself behind the wheel.  

Next up at the Boone Speedway is the annual Memorial Day special with the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models headlining on Monday, May 29.  The IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods and IMCA Hobby Stocks will also be racing.  Gates open at 3, hot laps at 4, and racing at 5.

Emotional night at Marshalltown Speedway

It was an emotional night at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night.  Dale DeFrance, former racer and father of Darrel DeFrance and Judy Gustin, and grandfather to Jimmy, Richie, Ryan, and Jenae Gustin, was honored prior to the race start. Dale, who passed away earlier in the week, had taken his final ride and checkered flag at the high banks just the day before.  Then, during the night, Darrel DeFrance won his heat, and won the dash that qualified him for the upcoming $3,000 to win Super Dash later this year.  Dale was no doubt riding alongside his son during those moments.

Racing was back in full force on Friday night after last week's rain out. The big crowd on hand got more than their money's worth from the 153 race cars that competed on the night. The Micro Sprints joined the regular classes for a seven-class night of excellent racing.

The Micro Sprints started off the night's feature racing and it was Skylar Hunter leading the 15-lap main event from start to finish.  Hunter, who hails from Afton, Iowa, started on the pole, and was never seriously challenged on his way to the checkered flag.

Travis Stensland took the win in the Mod Lite 15-lap feature.  Stensland, who was in a borrowed car that is usually piloted by Mike Kennedy, was a happy camper in victory lane.  Joel Huggins chased Stensland much race, but had to be content with the runner up position.  Third went to Mike Morrill, fourth was Josh May, and Bryan Zehm was fifth.

Doug Smith took his second win of the year in the IMCA Northern SportMod class.  Smith powered his way to the topside and captured the lead at lap five, never to look back.  Tyler Soppe made the trip from Sherrill, Iowa in the far northeast part of the state, to take second after starting in the sixth row.   Travis Peterson was third, early leader Thomas Egenberger was fourth, and Sam Wieben finished a close fifth.

Shannon Anderson won the IMCA Hobby Stock feature for the third time this season.  Anderson came from row six and had to go four-wide at one point in order to get to the lead.  From there on out, he put distance between himself and the competition, and took another easy win.  Lady racer, Leah Wroten was the runner up, holding off Eric Knutson in third.  Justin Wacha was close behind in fourth, and Dillon Million rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Stock Cars put on their usual hard fought main event.  Damon Murty, no stranger to the High Banks, put his #99D to the front by lap five, and was able to fend off any challengers to take his first regular season victory of 2017, after also being the Frostbuster winner.  Todd Reitzler ran close behind Murty for much of the 18-laps, but had to settle for second place.  David Brandies, from Wilton, started in row six, and made a good charge through the field to finish in third.  Fourth went to Steve Meyers, who just beat out Jay Schmidt in fifth. The class did have some issues with cautions early on in what announcer Jerry Vansickel called a "caution carnival", but they eventually put those yellows to rest.

Jenae Gustin looked poised to take the win in the IMCA Modified 20-lap feature, as she led the troops from the topside of the track.  However, Cayden Carter, who started in row six, capitalized on Gustin's slight slip when her right rear dropped over the cushion. He quickly dove under her to take over the top spot. He was able to hold that lead  to the the checkers flying and the win.  Gustin had to be content with second.  Joel Rust took third, Todd Shute started seventeenth, and finished fourth, and Adam Larson was fifth. Carter won for the second time this week in his new VanderBuilt chassis as he took the checkers at the Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday night...in a plain black car.  Tonight, he had it wrapped and looking spiffy. The car is "perfect" so far, as he also won both his heats at the two tracks. Quite the debut of the new chassis that is a new undertaking by successful racer Zack VanderBeek from New Sharon, Iowa.

The night ended with the 20-lap feature for the IMCA Late Models.  This was one of those races, that isn't over until it's over.  Tyler Bruening led the race from the get go, and appeared to be on his way to victory even as the white flag flew.  However, a last corner pass and dash to the checkers found Todd Cooney the man going to the winner's circle.  Following second place Bruening was Kyle Hinrichs in third, Jeremiah Hurst was fourth and Andy Nezworksi took fifth.

There were three red flags throughout the night.  Two of those came during one of the Mod Lite heats in two separate incidents.  Larry Sorenson rolled his ride in corner four, and Bryan Compart flipped it after hitting the berm, got airborne, and landed on the embankment just out of turn two.  Both drivers were okay.  Then in one of the heats for the Modifieds, Rob Toland found himself upside down in his #99 Modified ride for the evening, coming to rest just prior to the flagstand.  He was okay, but we noticed he did not start the Late Model feature, in his usual ride.

What a field of cars last evening!  Car counts were 12 Micro Sprints, 17 Mod Lites, 19 Late Models, 19 Hobby Stocks, 22 Stock Cars, 30 SportMods and a great field of 34 Modifieds.  A couple of eastern Iowa tracks got rained out, and we noticed a dozen or more drivers that normally race on Fridays that way, came for some fun at Marshalltown.

As mentioned earlier, it was an emotional night with the passing of Dale DeFrance and the tribute to him prior, but to see the entire crowd rise to it's feet, waving to Darrel DeFrance as he took the checkered flag on two occasions, was really heartfelt...and definitely showed the way of racing family.

Have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend, and remember the reason for the holiday.

Anderson, Jackson, and Fellows stay perfect at Osky

The Southern Iowa Speedway FINALLY had Mother Nature smile on the Monster Half Mile last night, after the two previous Wednesday's were wash outs.  What a night it was, with 113 race machines checked into the track as the Shottenkirk Sprint Invaders and the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks joined the regular classes, for a seven-class night of racing....on a wide and smooth race surface.

The IMCA Sport Compacts have seemed to pick up steam this year, as there was another good field of cars...15 little powerhouses on hand.  Daniel Fellows, Keokuk, made it look pretty easy in winning his third in a row this season...keeping his perfect streak alive.  Fellows started eighth and had the lead by lap four, and never looked back.  He finished well ahead of second place Levi Heath, third was Jake Benischek (in his first appearance this year), fourth was James Roose, and Bryan Claussen completed the top five.

The IMCA Stock Cars....yes, the "Class too Tough to Tame", were up next, and they once again showed just why they have that moniker tagged on the division.  Nearly from the start, they were running in a five-pack of cars for the lead.  Positions in those five cars would swap back and forth several times as Todd Reitzler, Derrick Agee, Mike Hughes, Nathan Wood, and Cayden Carter raced hard.  Nathan Wood got his #52 to the lead at lap eleven and was appearing to have established his dominance.  However, Cayden Carter wasn't done yet!  Carter was in hot pursuit, Mike Hughes close behind.  Carter kept hounding Wood the final laps, and as so often happens at Osky, that final lap was the determining factor.  Carter swung to the outside of Wood on the final corner, and made it to the checkers first. Wood finished, no doubt, a disappointed runner up.  Mike Hughes was third, fourth went to rookie to the class this season, Dustin Griffiths, and Todd Reitzler was fifth.  The race went flag to flag.

The Sprint Invaders had 29 machines in attendance for their third try at getting a race in at the track. They had to run a B main to weed their starting field to 20 cars.  Hometown boy, Tyler Groenendyk, won the consy race.  They also ran what they call a "Shake Up" dash with the top two qualifiers from each of the four heats running for six laps.  The winner of the dash was Jon Agan....who drew the #5, which put him starting fifth in the feature and moved the father/son duo of Carson and Terry McCarl to start the 25-lap feature on the front row.

The two McCarl's kept their coveted positions for the first ten laps of the race, but the #18 of Aussie, Ian Madsen was reeling in the duo.  By lap twelve, Madsen had taken command. He then stretched out a comfortable lead and took the win comfortably over young Carson McCarl.  Veteran Terry McCarl (T-Mac) was third, Jamie Ball came from eleventh starting spot, to finish fourth and Chris Martin was fifth after starting fourteenth.  The race was run quickly and went caution free.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature also went flag to flag in their 16-lap main event.  The familiar blue #1V of Curtis VanDerWal started eighth, but took over the lead from Carter VanDenBerg by lap five.  It was all over then, as he stretched out a good sized lead, winning easily over VanDenBerg, who was second.  Third place was Logan Anderson, fourth went to Jason McDaniel and Cory VanZante, was fifth.

The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks ran for the second time this year, fourteen strong...and for the second time, it was veteran racer, Steve Jackson taking the win.  Jackson's luck continued from drawing the pole of his heat, to drawing the #1 spot in the feature.  He took the lead immediately, but it wasn't all easy peasy for him as Bret Moyer overtook him for the lead.  However, it was short lived as Jackson grabbed the top spot back at lap six, and from there on, sailed off into the sunset for the win.  Bret Moyer kept the runner up spot, Dan Gordon started tenth, and finished third, fourth went to Corey "from just across the street" Stout, and Eric Lundstrom rounded out the top five.

It was Shannon Anderson returning to Victory Lane in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature.  Anderson started tenth, and had to run down the front runners...taking only six laps to do so.  He never gave up that top spot, the rest of the way to the checkers and the win.  Veteran racer, Bill Bonnet, Knoxville, Iowa, came from ninth, to take second place, Aaron Martin finished third, fourth went to Michael Kincaid, and Thomas Stevens was fifth.  Anderson continues his perfect record at the track this year.

Twenty laps of IMCA Modified racing closed out the night's program.  Early leader Todd Inman had his night end just a handful of laps into the race, when he ended up smacking the number two wall. Jason Murray took over the lead when things got back under way, but it was quickly a three-wide duel going into corner two on the start between Murray, Cayden Carter and Colt Mather.  Carter came out the victor on that deal.  He too set sail, leaving his competitors....UNTIL the driver out of Ainsworth, Iowa, in the #43 car, Derrick Stewart set his sights on the 10cc in the lead.  Stewart put his ride to the top of the cushion, and began reeling in Carter.  His valiant effort fell short however, and though it was an impressive run, Stewart had to be content with finishing second behind the winner Carter. Colt Mather was third, and Todd Shute and Brandon Banks rounded out the top five. Carter debuted his new car, a "VanderBuilt" race car that I understand is a new undertaking by Zack VanderBeek.

Be sure and check out the other Positively Racing bloggers take on the night's races.  Head honcho Jeff Broeg had his night plenty full with announcing all night along, with but a respite now and then from Bill Wright during the Sprint Invaders portion.  However, I'm sure he will have plenty of interesting items to blog about from all the racing.  Also on hand was super fan Ed Reichert, who is often seen in our neck of the woods, coming down from Wisconsin to enjoy a race.  Brian Neal, and I believe Eric Arnold were in attendance as well, all representing PR.  Looks like we were all hungry for some racing!  Oops....and Barry Johnson as well...taking some swell pictures!

Hats off to promoter Mike VanGenderen and crew for the great job on the race track last evening.  It was wide and smooth, and cars were running all sorts of lanes.  It was good to get back to some mid-week racing after the previous two weeks of rain outs and cold weather.  Hopefully, the last of those rain outs is now behind us.

Munson wins first SportMod feature at Boone

We were back at our Saturday night home at the Boone Speedway last night. Beautiful weather and some good racing!  There were 110 cars checked in in the six classes that competed.  

Charlie Brown won his first Mod Lite feature of the season.  Brown led the caution-free race from start to finish to earn his victory.  Bryan Zehm started tenth, and finished as the runner up.  Joe Glick came from eighth starting position to take third place, fourth went to Josh May who started tenth, and Randy Bryan rounded out the top five.  

The IMCA Northern SportMods followed up with another flag-to-flag race.  Their 18-lap main event was won by an elated Mike Munson.  Munson held off second place finisher Chad Ryerson to take the checkers.  Randy Roberts finished third after starting tenth, fourth went to early leader Robert Moore and Adam Shelman was fifth.  This was Munson's first SportMod win at the track. Munson started racing the SportMod after moving from the Stock Car class a number of years ago.  

The 11-car field of the IMCA RaceSaver Sprints were scheduled to run a 20-lap feature, but this one had it's problems.  A sixth caution at only lap nine...this one a red flag when Colin Smith rolled in corner four, and already fifteen minutes into the main event, the time limit of a lap a minute was fast approaching.  They were then told they would race to the next yellow or the checkers, whichever came first.  They did manage their longest non-stop run of the evening, but the race still ended at lap fifteen and was called complete.  

Michael Houseman, from Des Moines was declared the winner of the RaceSaver Sprint feature.  Moore started ninth and stamped his name into the books as a first time winner at Boone.  Michael Moore, week number one winner, was second.  Third went to CJ Houseman, Nathan Mills was fourth, and Bob Hildreth was fifth.

Eric Elliott returned to Victory Lane after a couple of year's absence at the track in the IMCA Modified 20-lap event.  Elliott, who  had to restart at the tail, due an early caution, fought his way back through pack.  He got the lead with just a couple of laps remaining, and took the checkers by a comfortable margin.  Josh Truman started twelfth and had a great run to finish as the runner up.  Third went to Josh Gilman, who came from sixteenth starting spot, fourth was eleventh place starter and defending track champion, Mike VanGenderen, and Al Wolfgram completed the top five.  Elliott went back-to-back for his weekend, as he had also won the feature at the Marshalltown Speedway the previous night.  He appears to have his spiffy looking new ride figured out!

The IMCA Stock Car winner was Trent Murphy.  Murphy battled his way through traffic from his sixth row starting spot, to take the checkers.  Donavon Smith made a late race charge to take second after starting fifteenth.  Third was early leader Brandon Pruitt, Jay Schmidt started twelfth and finished fourth and pole starter Cody Gustoff was fifth.

The 2016 track champion, Eric Stanton won the 12-lap Hobby Stock feature, closing out the night's racing.  Stanton finished comfortably ahead of second place Ryan Wells.  Early leader, Jack Phillips was third, followed by Solomon Bennett in fourth and Dean Hartwig in fifth. There was a red flag situation in this feature too.  Lap one found Aaron Rudolph rolling just before turn three, at one point on top of Ross Marshall's ride.  Rudolph was okay but his chance at three-peating was not to be.  

There were twenty-one IMCA Modifieds in the house last night, not a bad count considering the big show over at the Farley Speedway that lured many local drivers to try for the unheard of $50,000 to win.  The SportMods were running for $20,000 to win.  A check around social media shows that it was North Carolina racer Kyle Strickler taking the money in the Modified feature and Waseca, Minnesota's Jared Boumeester just beat out Boone's Jake McBirnie in a photo-finish in the SportMods.

We were glad to get back to seeing racing this weekend, plus we also managed a Preschool graduation for our granddaughter, a soccer game for her, and two baseball games for our grandson.  We had a full weekend for sure!  On this Mother's Day weekend, as my mother always, said, "Go and do while you can!" Happy Mother's Day!

Reitzler takes his first Stock Car win at Marshalltown

It was another excellent Friday night of racing at the Marshalltown Speedway.  Pleasant weather added to the enjoyment of the drivers and the fans alike.  A nice field of 111 cars came to play despite the "big show" going on over in Farley, as well as several other weekly shows in the area.

We arrived at the track just in time to see the second heat of Modified racing.  We had an earlier commitment to see our granddaughter graduate from Preschool in Norwalk.  We wouldn't have missed it for the world, but it sure was good to get back to some dirt track racing after missing all racing last weekend due to "whatever we had".

Veteran driver Mike Morrill earned his way into Victory Lane in the Mod Lite division.  Morrill, who started eighth, finished comfortably ahead of second place Randy Bryan.  Bryan had to realign at the tail of the field after a lap one incident, and worked his way to the runner up spot.  Third went to sixth place starter Joel Huggins, Bryan Zehm came from twelfth place to finish fourth, and tenth place starter Josh May completed the top five.  

Travis Peterson took his first win of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMod class in a close fought 18-lap battle throughout the field.  Peterson was able to fight past Ryan King to take the lead with just a lap remaining, to take checkers.  Kyle Olson slipped by King in the waning moments to finish second, King falling to a close third place finish.  Fourth was Sully, Iowa's Cory VanZante who had started twelfth, and Thomas Egenberger, who was an early leader, fell to fifth. Petersen is a second generation driver, as his father Duane also use to wheel a race car around the dirt ovals.  

Bill Bonnett, veteran racer and former IMCA National Champion, captured the win in the IMCA Hobby Stocks.  Bonnett started fifth, and had the lead at lap two.  He was able to hold off two hard chargers at the finish line. Eric Knutson started tenth and finished as the runner up, and Shannon Anderson came from twelfth to finish a close third.  Fourth went to defending track champion Eric Stanton, and lady racer Leah Wroten started nineteenth and rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Stock Cars put on their usual excellent show in their 18-lap main event.  Damon Murty looked destined to take home another of his many wins as he led from the drop of the green.  However, it was the 22R of Todd Reitzler, who decided to dust off the topside side and "run where they ain't", and made it work!  The final few laps saw Reitzler reel in the leader, and burst past Murty for the win.  Murty had to be content with second, third went to Steve Meyer, last week's winner Jeff Mueller was fourth, and Michael Jaennette was fifth. I believe this was Reitzler's first time winning at Marshalltown.

Eric Elliott won the IMCA Modified 20-lap feature, his first since last May.  Elliott started seventh and took the lead just before the half-way point of the race.  From there on, he kept that top spot all the way to the flying checkers.  Zach Rawlins finished a strong second, holding back third place finisher Trent Jackson who had started ninth, and Jake Strayer and Ryan Leeman finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The evening ended with the running of the 20-lap feature for the IMCA Late Models.  Most of the race was a three-car breakaway battle up front with Todd Cooney, Darrel DeFrance and last week's winner Justin Mitchell.  Cooney was the victor of the three, as he took home the win.  DeFrance took the runner up spot and Mitchell was third.  Ben Seeman was fourth and Kyle Hinrich was fifth.  

There was a heart-stopping moment in the first heat of Late Models.  Gage Umbarger appeared to be dead in the water on the front stretch, with cars bearing down on him.  With no where to go, cars piled up, "Hollywood" Jason Hahne getting the worst of the deal as he flipped violently.  Thankfully, he was okay, but the car was not as fortunate.  Also involved was former IMCA Late Model rookie, Paul Nagle, and Tyler Bruening,  After the clean up, the field of Late Models had the four cars eliminated from further competition for the night.

The track turned black by the end of the night and drivers were picking their line.  Some made the top line work to their advantage, while others worked down low.  It made for some excellent racing through out the night.

Bad weekend with no racing

For a few of you who may be wondering why there have been no blogs for Friday night racing at Marshalltown and Saturday night at Boone....it's because we BOTH got a terrible bug!!  Be it gastroenteritis, food poisoning or Norovirus, we wouldn't wish it on anyone!!  Absolute worst we've ever had it.  Now, this Sunday afternoon, we are just beginning to feel like we might just live to enjoy life again!

I do have some racing updates about both races though thanks to Speed Shift TV from Friday night, plus racing staff and friends from both tracks, keeping me updated, and the power of the internet line ups, and results.

Friday night at Marshalltown, looked to be some fantastic racing...as I watched from my bed.  There were 34 modifieds on hand with a stellar field of drivers.  Kyle Brown would lead this one from lap two to take home the feature win. Jesse Hoeft made the haul down from Forest City in northern Iowa, to take second place.  Jacob Murray took third, fourth went to Laurel's Racer Hulin, and Tyler Droste was fifth.  Brown said in his Victory Lane interview, just how much fun the track was on Friday night.

Jeff Mueller was another winning driver who exclaimed about how great the track was at Marshalltown.  Mueller won the IMCA Stock Car event and looked strong in doing so.  Mueller started sixth, and led from lap three on his way to victory.  Donavon Smith started in the row behind Mueller, and ended up a close second.  Third went to Michael Jaennette, fourth was fifteenth place starter Steve Meyer, and Dave Atcher completed the top five.

Shannon Anderson took the win in the IMCA Hobby Stock class.  Anderson battled it out with Eric Stanton much of the race, but Stanton had to settle for second.  Eric Knutson took third, Justin Wacha started eighteenth and finished fourth and Clint Nelson rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature winner was Doug Smith.  Smith, in his Rage Chassis, took the lead at lap twelve and never relinquished it to the checkers.  Jared VanDeest was trying all he could do to catch the leader, but had to be content with the runner up spot.  Sam Wieben was third, early leader and Frostbuster winner, Ethan Braaksma was fourth and Jake McBirnie fifth.

Joe Glick won the Mod Lite A main after inheriting the lead from Travis Stensland.  Stensland was leading when he dropped his driveshaft handing the lead over to Glick on the restart.  Bryan Zehm took second, third was Josh May, followed by Joel Huggins and Doug Byers in fifth.

The long-awaited return of the IMCA Late Models to weekly racing at the Marshalltown Speedway was welcomed by the fans.  Cedar Rapids driver, Justin Mitchell led the race from start to finish to capture the win.  Seventh place starter, Jason Hahne was the runner up, and hometown boy, Darrel DeFrance was third.  Fourth was Ben Seeman and Ryan Griffith was fifth.

Racing next Friday, May 12 has hot laps scheduled for 6:55 and racing at 7:30

After the rainy weekend last week, it was back to racing at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night.Two drivers already took their second win of the year, while another driver, long absent from the winner's circle, happily returned. There were 118 cars signed into the pits.

Bryan Zehm claimed his second feature of the season in the Mod Lite division.  Zehm, who started eighth, took over the lead after Charlie Brown and Mike Kennedy took themselves out of the game after fighting for the top spot.  After inheriting the lead on the restart, Zehm sailed home to victory. Josh May finished second, Joe Glick third, fourth went to thirteenth place starter, Joel Keenan, and Kevin Grisham was fifth.

Defending track champion Johnathon Logue got back to his winning ways in the IMCA Northern SportMod feature.  Randy Roberts came from twelfth place to finish as the runner up, third went to eighteenth starter, Chad Ryerson, fourth was Tom Egenberger, followed by Dusty Masolini in fifth.

The "New Kids on the Block" this season for weekly racing, the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars had 14 cars checked in.  Their feature was led from start to finish by Tyler Thompson from Des Moines. Thompson started on the pole and never looked back.  A caution at lap 11 involved several cars, calling for a restart, but never deterred him on the way to victory.  Completing the top five were Michael Johnston, Michael Houseman, Bob Hildreth and Michael Moore respectively.

Jimmy Gustin won the IMCA Modified feature.  Gustin led from the drop of the green flag to take his first win at Boone this season.  Mike VanGenderen ran Gustin down, but was not able to muster more than second place.  Eric Elliott was third, and after a lot of jockeying for position, it was veteran Denny Pittman finishing fourth ahead of Russ Dickerson in fifth.

A driver who has raced many laps around the Boone Speedway finally made it to Victory Lane in the IMCA Stock Car feature.  Veteran racer Craig Carlson dominated in winning his first feature after many year's absent in the winner's circle.  Josh Daniels finished second, Justin Nehring was third, Donavon Smith came from deep in the starting field to finish fourth, and Kevin Opheim was fifth.

The second racer to claim his second feature of the year at Boone came out of the IMCA Hobby Stock class.  Aaron Rudolph kept working his way through the field and to the front, eventually take over that #1 spot and was able to take the checkers.  Solomon Bennett took the runner up spot, hometown driver Dustin Graham was third, followed by Chris Cox and Todd Bass in fourth and fifth.

Racing continues at Boone next Saturday, with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:30.

We keep asking ourselves if we HAD to have this yucky stuff, WHY couldn't it have been the weekend before, when most all racing around was a wash out.  Now, we missed out on the beautiful racing weather for the past weekend.  It was the first weekly racing we have missed at Marshalltown or Boone in years and years.

Anderson and Fellows repeat at Osky

Wednesday night, the Southern Iowa Speedway held their second night of 2017 weekly racing, and with 82 cars checked into the pits in the five competing classes, it made for some excellent competition. There was extra money on the line last evening, thanks to the night's sponsor, Modified racer, Shawn Ritter and his Shawn's Hay Grinding business.  The Mods paid $800, Stock Car and SportMods, $450, Hobby Stocks $350 and Sport Compacts, $250.

The IMCA Sport Compact class had the largest contingency on hand with 19 cars checked in.  Last week's winner, Daniel Fellows started eighth and by the time the first laps was counted, he had the lead.  He would lead all twelve laps of the feature event, and take his second victory in as many weeks.  Finishing second, was visiting Omaha, Nebraska area racer, Denny Berghahn who had started tenth, Barry Taft came from ninth starting spot to finish third, followed by Beatrice, Nebraska's Dillon Richards in fourth and Cody VanDusen in fifth.  Fellows said in his post-race interview that his former racing experience has been in go-karts and dirt bikes, and now has ventured on to the Sport Compacts.  He does not look like a rookie!

Nathan Wood came away with the win in the IMCA Stock Car feature.  He passed Louis Lynch before lap one was scored to take the lead.  From there on, he never looked back, leading all laps to take the win.  Todd Reitzler started fifth, made it to Wood's bumper, but had to settle for second.  Derrick Agee  took third after starting seventh, fourth went to last week's winner and eighth place starter, Mike Hughes, and rookie to the class, Danny, "The Dude", Thrasher made it to fifth after starting eleventh.

Curtis VanDerWal got back to his winning ways in the IMCA Northern SportMod division, and chalked up yet another of his numerous wins at the Monster half-mile.  Carter VanDenBerg led much of the race and looked destined to win.  However, VanDerWal reeled him in and was able to make the pass with just three laps remaining, and VanDenBerg had to settle for the runner up spot.  Third was Colton Livezey, followed by Logan Anderson in fourth and last week's winner Jason McDaniel in fifth.  The race went flag-to-flag.

The IMCA Modified's had a nice field of 16 cars, with some strong competitors in the house.  Veteran racer, Kelly Shryock took the point spot from his outside pole starting position almost immediately.  From there on it was "catch me if you can", as he wheeled his way to another of his many victories.  Both Todd Shute and Hunter Marriott gave the leader some peeks, but nothing worked.  Marriott got around Shute in the final laps, as they went second and third respectively.  Last week's winner, Colt Mather started seventh, and finished fourth, and Cayden Carter completed the top five.  When interviewed in Victory Lane after the race, Shryock said he stayed higher on the track than the others, where it seemed to be the smoothest and to his liking.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks closed out the evening's program with their 15-lap event.  It was no surprise to see Shannon Anderson, a six-time IMCA National Hobby Stock Champion, once again in the winner's circle.  Anderson, no doubt, will be a force to be reckoned with if he continues to be a weekly racer at the speedway. Anderson started eighth and had the lead at lap four.  The race was halted at lap five when rookie racer, Saif Grafke in the #65 car took a tumble in turn two.  He was okay.  When racing picked back up, Anderson drove off from the field and took the easy win, repeating from last week.  Pole sitter Mike Kincaid finished second, Brad Stephens came from tenth starting position, to finish third, followed by Bill Bonnett and Aaron Martin in fourth and fifth.

For those of you who have not been at Osky this season, you may be glad to know that the huge tractor tires are no longer in the corners. Smaller tires have been buried upright in the corners and so far, this appears to be a good choice.

Jason Minnehan, Churdan, Iowa made the long haul down to Osky from the northwest part of the state to compete in the Stock Car division.  Jesse Hoeft, always a strong runner in the Modifieds, made the trip down from Forest City and Shane Demey made the trip over from Denison, Iowa to race.

Next Wednesday, May 10, the Sprint Invaders join the regular classes, for some added racing action. Hot laps are 7 with racing at 7:30.