G Money takes 10Gs and World Nationals title

The Marshalltown Speedway held Night #2 of the World Nationals Saturday night.  The headliner of the evening was the $10,000 to win IMCA Modified feature with also a full program of IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks. By the end of the show, not many were surprised who the winners were that stood in victory lane.

The first feature to hit the track was the 20-lap A main for the IMCA Northern SportMods.  Jared VanDeest led all laps in the caution free race to snare a World Nationals title.  VanDeest took the checkers well ahead of runner up Ethan Braaksma.  It was a close finish for third through fifth place with Jake McBirnie winning the battle and taking third.  McBirnie, who started ninth, held off fourth place Johnathon Logue, and a close fifth went to Clintonville, Wisconsin driver, Jason Ebert. VanDeest is no stranger to the winner's circle at Marshalltown, making this his fifth visit to victory lane in 2018 at the High Banks.

Dylan Nelson captured a World Nationals win in the IMCA Hobby Stock main event.  Nelson started third on the 24-car grid, and took command at lap five, never to look back on his way to the win.  Eric Knutson had an impressive run, coming from sixteenth starting spot to take the runner up position.  Third place went to the previous night's winner, Chanse Hollatz, fourth was Andrew Burg, and Aaron Rudolph completed the top five.  Nelson took his third win at Marshalltown in 2018.

Damon Murty, who has claimed the topside of the High Banks at Marshalltown as his own this season, was in top form Saturday night in winning the IMCA Stock Car feature.  Murty started fourth on the 24-car line up for the 20-lap main event, swung to his favored topside of the track, and had the lead at lap six.  Murty road the rim of the speedway to another victory, winning on cruise control.  Following a distant second, was the Murty team car, piloted by Kyle Brown.  Kyle Pfeifer, Hill City, Kansas finished third, fourth went to Friday night's winner, Jeff Mueller, and pole sitter, Travis VanStraten,  Hortonville, Wisconsin, rounded out the top five. Murty stepped into victory lane at Marshalltown for the eighth time in 2018.  

The grand finale was the 50-lap IMCA Modified feature, with a prize of $10,000 awaiting the winner. Ten drivers had locked themselves into the main event through points earned during Friday's  qualifying.  The starting 24-car field was completed through C qualifiers, and a Final Four last chance race. 

The impressive starting field of cars was brought to the frontstretch and out of car introductions were made to the large crowd on hand.  

Richie Gustin earned the pole starting position for the race, and when the green flag flew, he shot to the lead.  Gustin was still leading when a caution at lap six waved.  By this time, Jordan Grabouski, the hot shoe from Beatrice, Nebraska was running in second place and eager for the restart.  However, Gustin shot off to the lead once again.  Grabouski challenged Gustin once, sliding around him, only to have Gustin counter back and regain the lead.  A final caution flew with just two laps remaining, giving the contenders another opportunity to overtake Gustin in the final moments, but he was never seriously threatened, and swept home to take the win comfortably ahead of the field.  Grabouski held on to take the runner up spot, Cayden Carter took third place, Tim Ward was fourth, and Benji LaCrosse, a former World Nationals winner, finished fifth. Gustin copped his third win at Marshalltown this season.

The Saturday night program drew 155 drivers to the high banks at Marshalltown.  A few new drivers showed up in the support classes, and through attrition or other circumstances, some that had been in attendance on Friday night, were absent. Still, it was an impressive 155 cars in competition on the final night of the World Nationals.

Kenny Wallace was racing at the World Nationals this year.  As many of you know, he is quite the entertaining personality!  The former NASCAR racer from Missouri, known to many as "Herman" was racing the #99 car owned by his long-time friend Ricky Lemmens and a team car to Wisconsin racer Mike Mullen.  Wallace finished fourth in the Final Four last gasp race, to start 24th in the A main and finished 16th in the feature.

The track was wide and smooth last evening, and thankfully for the fans, the dust that rose was blowing away from the grandstand.  The winning drivers praised the track conditions,  

The racing season at the Marshalltown Speedway has now drawn to a close for the 2018 season, but looks forward to more racing action in 2019.

Who knows where our next racing adventure may be, but stay tuned as we may just have a few races left in us for 2018.   

  

World Nationals Night #1 wins to Mueller, Luellen, and Hollatz

Night #1 of the World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway was run on Friday night.  A huge field of 178 cars filled the pits to over flowing. The crowd was slow to fill in, but come race time, there was a good contingency of fans in the stands.  Drivers from twelve different states were on hand to try their hand on the high banks at Marshalltown.

The IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks all ran a full program and the IMCA Modifieds ran qualifying heats to try and lock themselves in to the top 10 in points for Saturday's $10,000 win finale.

The first feature of the evening was the 20-lap IMCA Northern SportMod main event. With 42 cars checked into the class, two B mains were needed to whittle the starting field down to 24 cars. Jordan Bartz from Shawano, Wisconsin won the first B and Boone, Iowa's Jake McBirnie was victorious in the second.

Blaine Webster started on the outside front row and jumped to the lead as the race went green.  Webster was still leading when the race was red flagged at lap eight when Colton Nelson, Osceola, Iowa driver, flipped off of the track and landed in turn four.  Thankfully, Nelson was okay.

When the race resumed, it was now Austin Luellen that had marched from twelfth starting spot, to trail the leader Webster for the restart.  It was just one lap later that Luellen took command of the ship, and from there on held it the remaining distance to the flying checkers and the win.  Jared VanDeest finished as the runner up, just beating out Curtis VanDerWal in third.  Fourth went to Beatrice, Nebraska driver, Lance Borgman who had started in fourteenth, and Ethan Braaksma completed the top five.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks fielded 33 cars, and they required a B main to complete their 24 car starting grid for the 20-lap feature. Aaron Rudolph won that consy.

Dylan Nelson took advantage of his pole starting position and immediately took the lead.  Nelson was looking poised to take the checkers as the race wound down, but Chanse Hollatz had other ideas.  Hollatz had moved up from his eleventh starting spot and had been chasing Nelson much of the race.  A caution flew late in the race which put Hollatz on the leaders tail for the restart. With just two laps left, Hollatz made the decision to slide to the top of turns 1 and 2, and it was the right move.  Hollatz took the lead, and kept it to the finish.  Nelson had to settle for the runner up spot, Gene Nicklas finished third, and Kyle Parizek just beat out Leah Wroten as they went fourth and fifth respectively.

The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars had 39 cars in competition, requiring two B mains to set their 24-car feature event. Jason See and Tom Cannon took those wins.

Jeff Mueller started fourth and wasted little time in getting to the top spot.  Mueller had command at lap four, and from there on out, led the remainder of the laps to secure the win easily.  The fight for second and third was a close one with Kyle Brown in Dallon Murty's Stock Car,  just beating out Damon Murty as they finished in that order.  Not far behind was track champion Todd Reitzler in fourth, and Dave Atcher rounded out the top five.

An impressive field of 64 IMCA Modifieds did battle. They were vying for a top 10 in points acquired through passing points and their finishing position of two sets of heats---the second heat a complete inversion of the first.  Those drivers locked in for tomorrow night's $10,000 to win World National's 50-lap feature are: Richie Gustin, Cody Laney, Jordan Grabouski, Tim Ward, Darin Duffy, Chris Abelson, Terry Phillips, Cayden Carter, Kurt Kile, and Kelly Shryock.

There will be another complete show Saturday night for the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, IMCA Hobby Stocks along with the $10,000 to win IMCA Modified headliner.  The green flag is scheduled to drop at 6 p.m.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly at 2018 Super Nationals

The 2018 running of the IMCA Super Nationals was certainly one that those in attendance will never forget...us included.  We were there the entire time, and Mother Nature was sure doing her best to kill the entire show.  It didn't happen.  The 2018 Super Nationals is in the books.

Monday, Labor Day and the first day of the scheduled Super Nationals did not dawn with optimism. Rain, rain, and more rain, but we headed to the track despite it all.  The call to move the IMCA Deery Brothers show to Thursday was made.  The jet dryer was on the track from 1:45 to 2:45 and then the green machines hit the track.  It is approximately 3 hours after it stops raining that racing can get started.  However, a shower about 3:15 delayed that a bit, though the John Deere's stayed on the track.  The green flag dropped at 5:26 and the racing for day #1 was completed at 11:24.

Tuesday, Day #2 and racing began at 1:53.  The call was made early that the IMCA Sport Compacts which were to run their entire show that day, would be dropped from this year's Super Nationals since there was no other slot available to make up their program.  The forecast was sounding horrible.  The racing was clicked off efficiently but then the rain began once again at 5:39 p.m.  Torrential rain!  A decision was to be made at 10 p.m. if racing would pick back up, but Mother Nature was relentless, and there was no more racing Day #2. 

Day #3, Wednesday and there was more mud and water than we've every seen at the Super Nationals in our 31 years of attendance, and it was still raining!  Finally we heard that the jet dryer was on the track....thanks to racing family letting us know as we waited it out in our hotel in Ames.  The first heat hit the track at 6:02 p.m. and we raced until 12:13 a.m.

Thursday, Day #4 and the hard decision was made to cancel the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model show that had been moved from Monday.  The pits were a mess and just no where to put the popular wide-bodies and their haulers.

Thursday was a long day, starting at 8 a.m. with some brief hot laps, and ending 16 hours and 45 minutes later at 12:45 a.m. on Friday morning.  But....the Super Nationals were all caught up!

Friday, Day #5 and what a welcome relief!  No rain, things were drying up, racing began right at 2 p.m., and the day's scheduled show was completed at 11:14 p.m.!

Day #6 and the Big Dance finale!  Beautiful blue skies greeted us and despite all of the ugly first few days, it was hard to believe how quickly the time had flown by and here it was the final day of 2018 Super Nationals. The opening cermonies began at 2 p.m. and the first race hit the track at 3:10 p.m.  The final checkers flew at 11:28 after the IMCA Modified Big Dance.

                                                         The Winners!

The first 2018 Super Nationals champion was crowned on Friday when talented Hunter Marriott, won the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational for IMCA Modifieds.  Marriott finished well ahead of second place Richie Gustin.  Kelly Shryock, Ethan Dotson, and Chris Abelson rounded out the top five.

Drivers from the IMCA Hobby Stock, Northern SportMod, Stock Car and Modifieds put a feather in their caps when each division crowned a Race of Champions.

Cory Madden became the tenth different Hobby Stock ROC winner in their 10-year history.  Colby Fett took the ROC win in the Northern SportMod division, southeast Iowa driver John Oliver, Jr. bested the field in the ROC race for the Stock Cars, and Jason Wolla, defending IMCA National Champion in the Modified class, won the ROC Modified portion.

Then it was time to go dancing!  The IMCA Hobby Stocks were up first. It wasn't a surprise that Shannon Anderson, who started inside row three of the 3-wide starting field, was already leading at lap one.  Anderson led the entire race to score his 5th IMCA Hobby Stock Super National's victory.  Cory Madden finished second, Eric Stanton came from 27th starting spot, to take third, and Zach Olmstead, Overton, Nebraska, and Columbus, Nebraska racer Jeff Ware completed the top five.

Jake McBirnie was on a hot streak in the second half of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMod division, and he continued that winning form by capturing his first Super National's title.  Joe Docekal, Doug Smith, Austin Luellen, and Chase Rudolf rounded out the top five finishers.  McBirnie became the fourteenth different Super Nationals champion in the Northern SportMod division in its fourteen year history.

You can almost bet that anytime the IMCA Stock Cars hit the track, there will be some great competitive racing and their Big Dance did not disappoint. Kyle Strickler, yes....Kyle Strickler in a Stock Car, led the first lap.  By lap two however, it was the Chelsea Charger, Damon Murty riding in the captain's seat.  Todd Reitzler, who had battled all season long with Murty at the Marshalltown Speedway....the two putting on some outstanding battles....drew into the runner up spot and set his sites on catching Murty.  Beatrice, Nebraska's Kyle Vanover threw his hat into the ring to challenge Reitzler and took over the runner up spot at lap nineteen.  Meanwhile, Murty was checking out. A caution at lap 28 with just two laps left in the race, was no hindrance to Murty as he pulled away on the restart, keeping it to the checkers.  Murty, who has won most every other title...including National Champion, finally got the one prize that had eluded him.  Kyle Vanover held the runner up spot, Todd Reitzler was third, fourth went to Abe Huls, and Devin Smith was fifth.

Then came the Modified Big Dance to close out the 2018 IMCA Super Nationals.  What a 33-car field of talented drivers!  Jeff Aikey, best known for his piloting of an IMCA Late Model, but who has been having fun lately racing the modified, was the lucky guy to sit on the pole for the start of the 40-lap grand finale.

Aikey grabbed the immediate lead as the race went green, and had no trouble in leading ever lap of the 40-lap race.  Two early yellows flew, but on the restart, Aikey motored off with ease.  It was a thing of beauty to see him gliding through heavy lap traffic seemingly effortlessly, on his way to the win.  Second place finisher Cayden Carter had a very impressive run, as he closed in on the leader late in the race, but had to be content with second place at this year's Super Nationals.  Ryan Ruter finished in third place, Ethan Dotson raced from thirteenth starting spot, to finish fourth, and Jason Wolla took fifth place.

Aikey, who has won six previous Super Nationals crowns in the Late Model division, now joins Kevin Pittman as only the second driver to earn a title in two different divisions.  Aikey now holds the record...seven...Super Nationals titles.

Yes, this was a Super Nationals to never be forgotten, though many may wish they could.   The BAD was the need to cancel the IMCA Sport Compact and the IMCA Deery Brothers Late Model portion of this year's Racin' Vacation.

The UGLY was the relentless rain that just kept coming.  It was also the awful mud that the haulers, campers and fans had to fight.  I doubt there was a pair of water proof boots left in the area.

The GOOD.  Yes, there was good.  The good was the fact that the show got in thanks to the hard work, nearly around the clock for some, in preparing the racing surface.  It paid off with a great track, praised by the drivers, on that final night. We've said it before, and we will say it again....only at Boone.  The staff is a well oiled machine. Yes, hard decisions have to be made in order to get the show in, but it will get in. 

The good was also the catching up with racing friends we are fortunate to call racing family. This year, we added more to the clan.  Some we see only at Super Nationals time and it is a great reunion and fun times. And yes, the GOOD did outweigh, the bad and the ugly!

A few more races are planned for us before we hang it up for the season.  This Friday and Saturday, we plan for the World Nationals at the Marshalltown Speedway.  Hope to see some of you there!

Prelude to the IMCA Super Nationals....Round 1 and Round 2

The Prelude to the Super Nationals at the Boone Speedway began on its scheduled Saturday night September 1, but due to Mother Nature, it did not end until Sunday afternoon, September 2.

Drivers from all across the country, plus Canada and Australia were among the 285 cars in the IMCA Modified, IMCA Stock Car, IMCA Northern SportMod, and IMCA Hobby Stock classes testing the track for the upcoming 36th running of the IMCA Super Nationals beginning on Labor Day.

The IMCA Northern SportMod class ran their 25-lap A feature first, and it was no stranger back in Victory Lane.  Hometown boy Jake McBirnie started seventh and was in command at lap six, never to look back.  Lucas Lamberies from Clintonville, Wisconsin chased McBirnie for much of the race, but could do no better than finish a distant runner up.  Johnathon Logue started twelfth, and finished third, just getting by fourth place finisher Cody Thompson, and Overton, Nebraska's Jacob Olmstead drove his hot rod from sixteenth starting spot, to finish fifth.

McBirnie had previously won six features at the Boone Speedway in 2018, and taking the Prelude honors earned him his seventh trip to the winner's circle.

The IMCA Stock Cars put on their usual fast and furious bout of action on the track in their 25-lap Prelude feature.  Andrew Borchardt, from Plymouth, Iowa snatched the lead from his fourth starting spot to lead lap one.  Borchardt continued his run at the front of the pack, but he soon had Norfolk, Nebraska's Justin Addison applying pressure with Addison taking a brief lead, only to have Borchardt charge back into the top spot.  Also throwing their hat into the ring were Elijah Zevenbergen and Troy Jerovetz.  Zevenbergen surged to the second spot as the laps wound down, tried several peeks in the corners for a way around leader Borchardt, but it wasn't to be.  Borchardt never wavered on his run to the checkers, and swept to the win.  Zevenbergen finished in second place, third went to Troy Jerovetz, Brandon Czarapata, a former Super Nationals Champion, flew from nineteenth starting spot to take fourth, and Jeff Mueller came from twenty-first, to finish in the top five.

Borchardt, is a rookie in the IMCA Stock Car division, having previously piloted a Hobby Stock.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks had just begun their 25-lap main event on Saturday night, when Mother Nature threw a fit.  With two laps, the race was halted, and the decision made to postpone the remainder of that race, plus the Modified feature until Sunday noon, but then moved  to 4 p.m.
Round two of the Prelude began on Sunday with the IMCA Modified 25-lap feature, and once again, Mother Nature played her hand.

Jordy Nelson took advantage of his pole starting position, and grabbed the immediate lead when the race went green.  By lap five, Richie Gustin passed Steven Bowers to take over second place, and then set his sights on Nelson.  It took but two more laps before Gustin got the job done, taking over the top spot.  Then....Mother Nature decided to favor the track with yet another rain shower.  The race was yellow flagged, and the John Deere green quickly whipped the track back into racing condition.
When the race returned to green, Gustin maintained his command of the race, eventually pulling away to take the feature in easy fashion.  Jordy Nelson finished as the runner up. Steven Bowers held the third position, and Cody Laney just nipped Jimmy Gustin at the finish line as they took fourth and fifth respectively.

Gustin continues to live up to his nickname, "G" Money", taking yet another $1,000 prize home to Gilman, Iowa.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks picked up where they left off, with two laps down in their 25-lap feature.  Dylan Nelson was leading from his pole starting spot, when the race began.  Second place runner Eric Stanton was immediately pestering Nelson, and after a couple of serious attempts, made the pass on the backstretch to lead as lap eight was scored.  From there on, Stanton drove off to score the easy victory.  Brett Vanous finished in the runner up position, and in the final circuits fifteenth place starter Zach Olmstead, Overton, Nebraska, surged through the pack to finish third.  Beatrice, Nebraska's Jesse Vanlaningham finished in fourth after starting twelfth, and Craig Clift from Sioux City, was fifth from starting eleventh.

Tomorrow, September 3, the 36th Annual IMCA Super Nationals begins its traditional Labor Day week run.  The Deery Brothers Late Model Summer Series will run a complete show, and crown the first of the Super Nationals Champions.  The IMCA Northern SportMods and the IMCA Hobby Stocks will begin their qualifying for their big dance on Saturday.  The first race is scheduled for 2 p.m.

It's been quite the eventful last two days of racing at the Boone Speedway for their Prelude to the Super Nationals.  Downpours have been common as Mother Nature is pounding the area and the entire state with round after round of torrential rains. What with the forecast for more rounds coming for this week of racing at Boone, check their website at www.raceboone.com as well as the Boone Speedway Facebook page for any update changes that may occur as the weather dictates.  Hope to see some of you there!

Rust and Reitzler tame the high banks at the Showdown in Motown

It was the Showdown in Motown on Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway as the high banks sprang back into action.  Race cars from ten states and Australia came to try their hand at taming the fast quarter mile.

The Mod Lite feature found Joe Glick taking a trip to victory lane.  Glick started on the pole and led all laps on his way to the win.  Mike Morrill challenged Glick early on, but at the end of the 15-lap feature, finished a distant runner up.  Morrill and third place finisher Jason Masengarb put on the best challenges on the track as they fought back and forth before the checkers fell.  Charlie Brown finished fourth and Jeff Stensland rounded out the top five.

The Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks were an added bonus to the program and a series championship was determined at the checkers.  Pat Graham was the victor for both the night's race, and the traveling Dirt Truck Series.  Graham led the race from start to finish, weathered two caution flag restarts, and held off Miles Michehl to take the checkers and the win.  Michehl finished second in the race, as well as in the Truck Series.  Third place finisher was Rick Clark, fourth went to Bill Davis, Jr., and Bryan Spangler was fifth.

Jared VanDeest won the final regular season race at the Marshalltown Speedway, and continued his winning way by taking the feature in the IMCA Northern SportMods.  VanDeest started fourth and snatched the lead from Colton Nelson on lap four.  By lap nine, he had Johnathon Logue to contend with.  Logue continued pestering VanDeest, trying several slide jobs, but to no avail.  VanDeest held the lead to take the flying checkers and the win.  Logue had to be content with the runner up spot, Travis Peterson came from eighth to finish third, fourth was Tyler Soppe, and Colton Nelson was fifth.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks ran 20-laps in their main event. Two Columbus, Nebraska racers, Colby Kaspar and Jeff Ware sat on the front row for the start of the race.  Kaspar claimed the immediate lead, but by lap two, fourth place starter Eric Stanton had split the two Nebraska drivers, and was into second place.  Stanton showed his dominance, and took over the lead at lap three, never to look back on his way to victory.  He finished well ahead of Jeff Ware in second place.  Third went to Chanse Hollatz, Des Moine's Matt Smith was fourth, and Lincoln, Nebraska's Rowan Mason raced all the way from sixteenth starting spot, to finish fifth.

Track champion Todd Reitzler showed his prowess once again in the IMCA Stock Car 20-lap main event, leading all laps in the caution free race.  Reitzler finished well ahead of second place Damon Murty and third place Elijah Zevenbergen, who battled back and forth through much of the race. Veteran racer Jeff Wollam finished fourth, and Steve Meyer came from eleventh starting spot, to finish fifth.

The top prize of the night was $1,000 to win the IMCA Modified feature.  Oskaloosa, Iowa's Ron VerBeek claimed the lead from his outside front row starting spot as the race went green.  As the 25-lap main event neared the ten lap mark, VerBeek had big time company in Darin Duffy and Joel Rust breathing down his neck.  A couple of laps later, Duffy established the lead with Joel Rust following him to run second.   At lap thirteen, Rust flew to the top spot, and from then on, pulled away to take the comfortable win.  Darin Duffy held on to second place, holding back eleventh place starter Tim Ward as the checkers flew.  Seventh place starter Cody Laney, from Torrence, California finished in fourth place, and Ron VerBeek fell back to finish in fifth.

Next up at the Marshalltown Speedway will be the World Nationals on September 13-15.  Thursday, September 13 will be a practice night only for all classes.  Friday, September 14, will be qualifying for the IMCA Modifieds plus a full show for the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks.  Saturday night, September 15 the Stock Cars, SportMods, and Hobby Stocks will again run a full program, and the Modifieds will be running for the $10,000 to win feature.  Racing begins at 7 on September 14, and 6 on September 15.

Last night, shortly after returning home, the torrential rains began...4.33 inches over night!  The forecast is sounding like a lot more "R" in the forecast. Please Mother Nature, be kind! We hope to get in tonight's Prelude to the Super Nationals as well as enjoy the 36th running of America's Racin' Vacation that begins on Labor Day.  Hope to see some of you there!