Two drivers made their first trips to victory lane this year at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday night. Ron Lauritzen took top honors in the IMCA Modified division, and young Shawn Cooney posted his first career win in the IMCA Late Model class. Damon Murty in the IMCA Stock Cars, Travis Storjohann in the IMCA Northern SportMods, Shannon Anderson in the IMCA Hobby Stocks and Travis Stensland in the Mod Lites all made return visits to the winner's circle.
Travis Stensland started tenth in the 15-lap Mod Lite feature, grabbed the lead from Charlie Brown with five to go, and sailed home to repeat his win from last week. Brown held second place, third was Joel Huggins, Mike Morrill was fourth and Randy Bryan took fifth. Stensland now has three wins at the speedway this season. He holds a slim three point margin over Mike Morrill for the track championship with just two weekly shows remaining.
Shannon Anderson scored a feature win for the third week in a row in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock A main. Anderson didn't have an easy time of it though, as Matt Smith took command at lap six and then kept Anderson at bay as the laps wound down. Lap traffic came into play late, and Anderson was able to take advantage of the situation, passing Smith on the back stretch as the white flag was coming out. Anderson scored the win, and Smith had to settle for the runner up spot. Third went to David Rieks, Leah Wroten came from ninth starting spot to take fourth, and pole sitter Justin Lovig rounded out the top five. Anderson came from tenth position to score his eighth victory this year and enjoys a 52 point lead over Leah Wroten in the track points race.
Up next was the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod main event. Ethan Braaksma took command of the race at lap six and was looking to score a run away, but suddenly exited the track at lap fourteen. This handed the lead over to Cory Rose who was in a fierce battle with Travis Storjohann. The two raced side by side down the back chute in the closing moments, with Storjohann getting the upper hand to score the win, just beating Rose in second. Travis Peterson made it a three-car contest in the final laps, and finished a close third. Fourth went to early leader Jason Hall and Jack Housley completed the top five. This was Storjohann's second win after scoring his first career victory back on July 6. Braaksma is still the point leader in the Northern SportMod class, leading Travis Peterson by seven as the season winds down.
Damon Murty found his way back to victory lane in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car division. Murty started ninth, caught then leader Jeff Wollam and took the top spot away on lap six. The two continued to duel it out the remainder of the race, Murty taking the top shelf, Wollam sticking to the bottom. Murty kept hold of the top spot the remainder of the race, scoring his sixth victory this year at Marshalltown. Wollam had to be content with a close second place finish. Jeff Mueller, Tom Cannon, and Todd Reitzler finished third through fifth in that order in a short field of only eleven Stock Cars that participated last evening. Todd Reitzler is the point leader, holding a healthy 42 point lead over Damon Murty in the race for the championship.
It was a special night for young Shawn Cooney, son of veteran IMCA Late Model driver Todd Cooney. Young Cooney ran with the front runners all race long in the 20-lap IMCA Late Model feature event. He was in the mix up front with Dave Wada, Paul Nagle, and Kyle Krampe until lap sixteen when he made his way into the lead, passing Nagle. From there on, he held that top spot the rest of the way to the checkers and secured his first career win. Paul Nagle finished a close second, Jeremiah Hurst came from tenth starting spot to finish third, fourth was Kyle Krampe, and fifth went to father Todd Cooney. It was an excited and emotional Shawn Cooney in his post race interview with announcer Jerry Vansickel, as he expressed how thrilled he was with this first win. His father Todd Cooney leads Darrel DeFrance by 32 points in the track title race.
Ron Lauritzen made his first trip this year to the winner's circle by taking the win in the 20-lap IMCA Modified contest. Lauritzen took command at lap three and never looked back on his way to the checkered flag. He finished comfortably ahead of second place Todd Kluever. Kluever, from Madison, Wisconsin, made his first trip to the Marshalltown Speedway, started eleventh on the field to finish as the runner up. Jacob Murray rallied back from a slip off the track to finish an impressive third, fourth was Jon Snyder, and Racer Hulin was fifth. Hulin is leading the points contest in the Modified division, as he seeks his first track championship. Tim Ward, who had been leading points was MIA last evening. Ward and rookie Josh May are tied for second, both 27 points back.
It was a bit smaller field of cars last night...94 total, but still a healthy field of competitors on hand. No doubt the little race going on down the road at Knoxville Raceway, the Night of 10,000 Stars at Britt, and the Iowa State Fair had a bit to do with it.
Get out and find a race to attend in support of the sport we all love....dirt track racing!
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