Friday night, the Marshalltown Speedway held their annual Showdown at MoTown special. There was a nice crowd on hand to watch the 100 cars in competition. Chris Abelson made the high side of the track work to perfection as he sailed to the IMCA Modified feature win. Damon Murty did the same in a thrilling IMCA Stock Car victory. Joey Schaefer went to victory lane in the IMCA Northern SportMod main event, and Scott Pippert led from start to finish in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Also on tap was the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks, with Brad Moyer being the victor.
The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks kicked off the night's feature racing and it was Brad Moyer going to the winner's circle after the 15 lap main event. He held back Jeff Frevert in second place, and Lou Sipolt in third. Fourth went to Bret Moyer and Bryan Spangler was fifth. Brad Moyer led the entire 15 laps on his way to victory. As a note, Damon Murty was piloting the #23 Truck last evening. He was running third, when a cut tire took him out of the game.
Joey Schaefer made his way to victory lane from his sixth starting spot in the IMCA Northern SportMod feature. He caught and passed Johnathon Logue, and took command on lap fourteen with a pass down the backstretch. Sam Wieben came flying around the topside and overtook Logue in the closing moments, as they went second and third respectively. Track champion, Travis Peterson was fourth and Jared VanDeest took fifth.
Scott Pippert led the entire 20 laps of the IMCA Hobby Stock A main to take the win. Pippert took advantage of his pole starting spot, and never looked back on his way to victory. A hard charging Chanse Hollatz took second place, and Eric Stanton was a close third. Fourth went to Baxter's Clint Nelson, and veteran Bill Bonnett was fifth.
The 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature event was exciting from start to finish with several cars all vying for the top spots. Todd Reitzler grabbed the lead as the race went green, with the "Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty in hot pursuit. Michael Jaennette threw his hat in the ring and about the same time, Jeff Mueller and Elijah Zevenbergen both made their presence known as well. Murty made his way to the lead as the jousting for position behind him continued. Then Jeff Mueller took command of the top spot at lap eleven.
At lap fourteen, the race was red flagged when Michael Jaennette rolled violently off the top of turns three and four when his right rear slipped off the rim of track. Thankfully he was okay....the car, not so much. Mueller held down the lead when the race went green, and was digging on the low side in an attempt to hold back Murty. Meanwhile, Murty was running his preferred top of the track, as the laps wound down. The final corner proved to be Mueller's bad luck and Murty's good fortune as he surged off of turn four and made it to the checkers first. He has made that last moment topside momentum work more than once at the high banks this year! Mueller had to be content with second, third went to Todd Reitzler, Elijah Zevenbergen, the hot shoe out of Ocheyedan, Iowa, was fourth and Kyle Everts came from twelfth starting spot to finish fifth.
Chris Abelson started eighth and reeled in a flying Josh Gilman. He took charge at lap thirteen of the 25 lap IMCA Modified final feature of the night, and pulled away. The race was halted on lap twenty-three, when Canadian driver Kody Schlopp took a tumble off of turn four. Thankfully, he was not injured. He suffered life threatening injuries just a couple of years ago with a long recovery, after I believe a snowmobile or ATV accident. When the race went back to green for the final two circuits, Abelson once again drove off from the competition. He finished well ahead of second place Clint Luellen. Third went to eighteenth place starter Joel Rust, Kelly Shryock came from seventeenth starting spot to finish fourth, and Tim Ward completed the top five. Abelson went home with $1,000 for the win and is a qualifier for the 2018 Fast Shaft's All Star race.
The Marshalltown Speedway isn't done yet for the 2017 season. Next up is the 11th annual World Nationals with $10,000 to win for the IMCA Modifieds. A practice night is on the schedule for Thursday, September 14. The Modifieds will have qualifying on Friday September 15, along with full shows for the Stock Cars, SportMods, and Hobby Stocks. The grand finale for the Modifieds and the $10,000 prize will be on Saturday, September 16. The Stock Cars, SportMods, and Hobby Stocks will run another complete show. For more information, check out www.marshalltownspeedway.com.
Tonight, it's off to Boone for the Prelude to the Super Nationals. We anticipate lots and lots of cars, taking a chance (sometimes a great idea, other times, not so good) and getting in a little practice before the start of the 2017 Super Nationals starting on Labor Day. Then we catch a breath for just a day, and then will start our annual six day run of America's Racin' Vacation. We look forward to seeing the drivers, cars, the pageantry, and racing friends from far and wide.
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