It was a beautiful night for racing at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday. All six regular divisions were back in action for a full night of competition with 109 checked in.
Jason Masengarb made his trip from Colona, Illinois pay off, by winning the Mod Lite feature. Masengarb took the lead with just a couple of laps in the books and never relinquished it from then until the checkers flying. He finished well ahead of second place Charlie Brown. Joel Huggins was third, fourth went to tenth place starter Josh May, and Joe Glick was fifth. It took just Masengarb's second appearance at the track to get a win under his belt. Masengarb told announcer Jerry Vansickel in the post race interview that he builds the Joker chassis he was piloting.
Another driver getting his first win at Marshalltown after trying for five years, was Johnathon Logue in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Logue did it the hard way, coming from eleventh starting spot, and having to catch and pass some tough competition. Matt Petrzelka led in the early laps, and by lap ten of the 18-lap race, Logue had reached his bumper. Logue pestered him until finally taking over the top spot with just two laps remaining, and maintained that lead to take the win. Travis Peterson made the move around Petrzelka in the closing moments as they finished second and third in that order. Doug Smith was fourth, and Jared VanDeest, who started near the back of the field, was fifth. It was hard to believe that Logue got his first ever win at the Marshalltown High Banks as he has had numerous wins at other tracks.
Shannon Anderson went back to back for wins in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Anderson started twelfth and worked his way to lead by lap six. A yellow with just three laps remaining drew his competitors close on his heels, but he was not hindered on his way to win #4 at the track this season. Early leader Ryan Wells finished as the runner up, third went to eleventh place starter Eric Stanton, fourth was Tyson Overton and Justin Wacha completed the top five. Anderson, a multi-time IMCA National Champion in the division, already has racked up many wins this season...in the teens I know for sure. He already has a bounty on him at the Southern Iowa Speedway, and perhaps more tracks will be doing the same deemed his domination this season, as he looks to be on his way to yet another National title.
Damon Murty repeated his win from last week in the IMCA Stock Car class. Murty started sixth, went to the topside, and motored into the lead by lap three. Donavon Smith gave it everything he had in trying to catch Murty, but had to be content with second, after starting ninth. Dave Atcher and Kyle Everts battled back and forth for position much of the race, with Atcher taking third, Everts, fourth and Steve Meyer was fifth.
Jimmy Gustin saw his nice lead disappear when a yellow flew at lap seven of the 20-lap IMCA Modified A main. By this time, he had his hands full as visiting driver Darin Duffy had made it to second after starting eleventh, and Joel Rust, who had started even deeper in the field, was closing in on the front runners. The three top cars duked it out, swapping positions until Duffy finally established the top spot for good, and sealed the win. Rust took the runner up spot, Jimmy Gustin was third, Jesse Hoeft finished fourth, and Jake Strayer was fifth. This was Duffy's first trip to the Marshalltown track this year and his first win there in many years.
During a heat race for the IMCA Modifieds, cars got tangled as they came down the front straight. Ending up the worst for wear, was the 505 of Racer Hulin. Hulin's spiffy looking ride held up safety wise and he was unhurt, but it wasn't as pretty when rolled back onto it's wheels and towed to the pits.
The evening ended with 20-laps of IMCA Late Model racing. Todd Cooney made it three in a row as he dominated in the main event. Cooney led with just over a handful of laps in, and then pulled away to take the easy win. John Emerson started ninth, and took second, third went to early leader Ben Seeman, Paul Nagle was fourth and Darrel DeFrance rounded out the top five.
The drivers were once again saying how much they liked the track last evening. Some quotes from winning drivers in Victory Lane were, "Nice smooth, fast track", and "some promoters need to take track prep lessons from Marshalltown".
Next up at the Marshalltown Speedway is the Miller Lite 50 for the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Models and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds, on Tuesday, June 6. The IMCA Stock Cars are also scheduled. Hot laps are 7 with racing to follow.
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