There was a $1,000 on the line for the IMCA Modified winner on Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway, and it was no surprise that the driver they call "G Money" would show up for a chance to take home the money. Two new drivers visited Victory Lane, and one for his first career win, on a beautiful night for racing at the High Banks.
Mike Morrill made it look easy as he won the Mod Lite feature in easy fashion. He started sixth, and had the lead before lap one was in the books. From there on out, he stretched the lead and took the comfortable win, his fifth of the year. Finishing a distant runner up was ninth place starter, Travis Stensland, third went to Kaden Reynolds who had started tenth in his Micro Mod ride, fourth was Charlie Brown, and Joe Glick was fifth. The race went green to checkered. Morrill once again gave his winner's plaque to a lucky youngster in the stands.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks took to the track next for their main event. Eldora, Iowa's David Rieks wasted no time in getting his # 78xx machine to the lead. He started tenth, and had the lead by lap two, never to relinquish it. Shannon Anderson tucked into second place at lap four, chased Rieks the rest of the distance around the rim of the track, but had to be content with second place this night. Third went to Leah Wroten, and Gene Nicklas and Garrett Eilander completed the top five. Though he has come close previously to taking a win this year, this was the first time ever that Rieks had stepped into Victory Lane at Marshalltown.
Travis Storjohann began the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature from the outside front row, snatched the immediate lead only to have a yellow fly at lap two. Two more early yellows wouldn't deter Storjohann's race to the checkers however, as he hit his marks each and every lap and sealed his first career win. He held off a hard charging Joey Schaefer, who started fourteenth, took a couple of peeks low for the pass, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Third was Travis Peterson, fourth went to Adam Shelman, and Sam Wieben was fifth. Storjohann has made great strides in his racing program this season.
The IMCA Stock Cars never disappoint at Marshalltown. Their 18-lap feature was action packed from start to finish. Front row starters Todd Inman and Kyle Everts battled hard for the lead early. Everts got the advantage for the first handful of laps before Inman took command. By lap eight, Jeff Mueller had made his way into second place and was ready to challenge for the lead, as was Todd Reitzler who was hot on Meuller's bumper. Reitzler, who had brought out a yellow at lap three when he spun in turn four while attempting a pass for position, had to tag the field for the restart, and was now on a mission! Inman continued to lead but slipped off of turn two a few laps later, but returned to the track losing less than half a lap to the leader. This handed the lead over to Mueller, with Reitzler in hot pursuit. Mueller and Reitzler flirted with the devil at the top of the track as they ran the rim. At lap sixteen, Mueller suddenly slowed as they raced by the flag stand, Reitzler taking over the lead. Tom Cannon, who had been running third, was caught up in the sudden off power situation, and he took a slow roll off of turn two, bringing out the caution. When the race restarted with two laps remaining, Reitzler was the captain of the ship, and he maintained the position to the flying checkers and the win. It was a close one at the line for second and third, with Todd Inman nipping Kyle Everts. Fourth went to veteran Jeff Wollam and Dave Atcher was fifth. Reitzler visited the winner's circle at Marshalltown for the third time this year. Reitzler stated in Victory Lane that he loves running at Marshalltown, and loves running the high line around the High Banks.
It was Todd Cooney for the IMCA Late Model 20-lap feature win once again. Cooney started eighth and had the lead by lap five. He took command shortly after the only caution of the race at lap four had flown, snatching the lead away from then leader Curtis Glover. Crowd favorite, and home town boy Darrel DeFrance chased Cooney from lap six to the finish line, but could only finish a distant second. Tom Hurst, last week's winner finished a close third, fourth went to Paul Nagle and Curtis Glover was fifth. This was Cooney's fourth win in 2018.
The IMCA Modifieds were running for $1,000 to win in a draw/redraw format. The driver known as "G Money", Richie Gustin from Gilman, Iowa, lived up to that title, He took home the prize as we've often seen him do when there is extra pay on the line. Gustin started tenth, over took then leader Racer Hulin at lap seven, and sailed off to the easy win. Todd Shute came from ninth starting spot, and finished as the runner up, followed closely by twelfth place starter, Ronn Lauritzen in third. Racer Hulin was fourth, and Jimmy Gustin came from twelfth, to finish fifth. Although Gustin has won in the past at the track, this was his first win at Marshalltown this season. A check of my records shows that his last win in the Modified class at the track was back on June 19 of 2015, which came as a big surprise, even though he is not a regular competitor weekly.
Many drivers were flirting with fate last evening by running the rim of the track, and some got bitten. Several drivers went over the top of the track during the evening's racing, Another scary incident happened during a heat race for the IMCA Late Models when Luke Pestka took a nasty roll off of turn three, landing outside of the racing surface. He was okay thankfully. SportMod racer Frank Packer, who is on his annual trip back to Iowa from his native Australia, looked strong as he led his heat race. He then erupted into a ball of flame after taking the white flag....his night of fun done.
Racing continues next Friday, with hot laps at 6:50 and racing at 7:30. Hope to see some of you there!
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