There were new winners in the IMCA Late Model, Modified, Stock Car, and Northern SportMod classes on Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway. The Hobby Stock and Mod Lite classes saw repeat winners back in Victory Lane.
Travis Stensland led the 15-lap Mod Lite feature from start to finish, and took the win in dominating fashion. He finished more than a straightaway ahead of second place Josh May. Bryan Zehm was a close third place finisher, fourth went to Joe Zrostlik, the Late Model racer driving Mike Kennedy's car, and Joe Glick was fifth. This was Stensland's second feature win of the year, but only his first in his own race machine. Earlier this year he won when he piloted the rent-a-ride #95 of Mike Kennedy. The race went green to checkers.
There were many exciting battles in the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature, as cars went three-wide through the pack. Jake McBirnie grabbed the lead at lap seven and had to hold off some fast charging cars behind him to seal the win. Johnathon Logue started eleventh and challenged McBirnie for the top spot, but had to be content with a second place finish. Travis Peterson finished a close third, and holds his point lead in the class, and Jared VanDeest was fourth. This was McBirnie's first win at Marshalltown this season.
It was Shannon Anderson winning again in the IMCA Hobby Stock class. Anderson started ninth, and took the lead from Luke Bird at lap three, never to look back. He finished well ahead of second place Justin Wacha, Leah Wroten, was third, fourth was Luke Bird, and Ryan Wells completed the top five. This was Anderson's seventh win of the year, and just one shy of perfect on the season. The only other winner was veteran Bill Bonnett, back on May 12th.
The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars lived up to their name once again. The final few laps was a fight to the finish and a toss up as to who would win. Damon Murty, Donavon Smith and Jeff Mueller were jousting for position, with Murty holding down the top spot, but Donavon Smith's hanging tough on the low side paid off on lap seventeen of the eighteen lap feature, when he was able to slip under Murty on the backstretch, to take the lead. He would hold it to the flying checkers and the victory. Jeff Mueller surged by Murty in the final moments as they went second and third. Russell Damme ran up front much of the race, and finished fourth. This was Donavon Smith's first win at the track in 2017.
The fast and furious pace continued in the caution free 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Jimmy Gustin grabbed the number one spot away from pole sitter Gatlin Leytham at lap six, only to have Jenae Gustin knocking on his door immediately. Jenae would then take command a lap later while a pack of cars were duking it out for positions two through six behind her. Meanwhile, one of those cars was Joel Rust, who had opted for the high side route and was making it work. He worked his way into second place and was able to grab the top spot as lap sixteen went into the books. Rust was then able to put a bit of breathing room between himself and his contenders when he took the checkers and the win. Jenae Gustin, who started ninth, held second place, Jake Strayer was third, fourth went to Tim Ward, and point leader Jesse Hoeft started twelfth and finished fifth. Rust started eleventh on the field to take his first win of the year at Marshalltown.
The night's racing ended with the 20-lap IMCA Late Model feature. This was another flag to flag race that was led the entire distance by winner John Emerson. Todd Cooney reeled in Emerson in the closing laps, but could only manage a runner up spot. Third was Jeff Aikey, and Paul Nagle and Joe Zrostlik were fourth and fifth.
Todd Cooney is the point leader in the IMCA Late Model division, Jesse Hoeft holds his lead in the IMCA Modifieds, Donavon Smith, despite just winning his first feature last night, is the IMCA Stock Car leader, Travis Peterson still claims the Northern SportMod lead, while Shannon Anderson has a good sized lead in the Hobby Stock Class, and Josh May overtook Mike Morrill for the point lead and is now up by 2 points.
Find a race to attend and support the sport we all love!
No comments:
Post a Comment