It was KMJ Performance Free Grandstand Night and Iowa Seamless Gutter VIP Night at the Marshalltown Speedway Friday. It was one of those days of wondering and watching for announcements due to the weather forecast. Would there be racing or not? But the track made the call to proceed and the races were on. We were watching the sky and the ever changing clouds all night. When the sun peeked through and it looked like we were out of the woods, we had a brief moment of relief. But then this is Iowa, and the weather changed on a dime as the racing wrapped up. Luckily, nothing more than a shift in the winds...a STRONG wind, and a drop in the temperature happened before the racing was completed in record time at 9:02 p.m.
Three new faces would visit Victory Lane, Paul Nagle in the IMCA Modifieds, Jay Schmidt in the IMCA Stock Cars, and veteran racer Vern Jackson in the IMCA Northern SportMods. Kaden Reynolds made it three in a row in the IMCA Hobby Stocks, and Dillon Raffurty matched his win from last week in the IMCA STARS Mod Lite division.
Things kicked off with the IMCA STARS Mod Lite 15 lap feature. Doug Byers led the opening laps but tenth place starter Dillon Raffurty, moved swiftly through the field and into the lead by lap three. It was all Raffurty's race from there on out, as he swept easily to the win. Following a distant second place was Josh May, third went to Mike Kennedy, Austin Gray was fourth, and Doug Byers was fifth. Raffurty repeated his win from last week. Raffurty, along with two others of the same last name, have been making their way up from Kansas City to race at the High Banks.
Next up was 18 laps of IMCA Northern SportMod racing. This one would go flag-to-flag and be led the entire distance by veteran racer Vern Jackson. A big slide out of corner four looking at the checkers by tenth place starter Johnathon Logue came up short, and he had to settle for second place. Third went to Kaylin Lopez, fourth was Tony Olson, and Izac Mallicoat completed the top five. This was Jackson's first win at Marshalltown...and his first in many years at the track. Jackson, a veteran racer use to pilot an IMCA Modified, and is now back racing in the SportMod division. I believe this is his first ever SportMod win at the High Banks.
The IMCA Hobby Stocks also ran their 15 lap main event caution free. Ben Newhouse led the opening laps with William Klosterman slipping by for the lead on lap three. Meanwhile, tenth place starter Kaden Reynolds had already moved into third place. It took just two more laps before Reynolds took over the reins, flying into the lead. From there on, he pulled away, and took the easy win....his third in as many weeks, and his sixth of the season...plus the Frostbuster win. William Klosterman finished a distant second, Ben Newhouse was third, Carter Koop, the Rockwell, Iowa racer, was fourth, and Jeremiah Andrews was fifth.
The winds were shifting and the clouds looked more ominous as the IMCA Stock Cars came to the track for their 18 lap A main. Scott Rice took the lead from his outside front row starting spot, but it didn't last long as Kyle Everts took over at lap two, with Grinnell's Jason Hall following in third place. On lap seven, the red flag came out when Scott Bailey took an easy rollover in corner one, and thankfully, was not hurt. When the race restarted, it was still Everts at the helm, Hall in second, and Rice in third. Jay Schmidt had been throwing his hat into the ring early on as well, moving from seventh starting spot, and by the halfway mark was running fourth. Moments later, had taken over the lead, getting around Everts. Schmidt then drove off to secure the win comfortably over second place Everts. Jeff Wollam started eighth, and finished third, early leader Scott Rice was fourth, and Independence, Iowa's Mitchell Evens rounded out the top five. Schmidt, the Tama, Iowa racer who use to be a regular at the track, but now has other commitments on many Friday nights, took the popular win...his first stepping into Victory Lane at the track since August of 2019...according to my unofficial record keeping.
As the sky grew more angry, the final feature of the night, the IMCA Modifieds were up for their 20 lap feature. Jacob Murray and Paul Nagle would lead the field to green. Nagle immediately grabbed the lead as Murray settled in to run second. Ronn Lauritzen stared eighth and took over second from Murray with just three laps remaining in the contest. In the closing circuits, Nagle pulled away and took the easy win, with Lauritzen trailing a good distance to take the runner up spot. Murray held on to finish third, Tony Hofbauer was fourth, and Gat Leytham was fifth. This was Nagle's first Modified feature win at the speedway. This feature went caution free to end the night's show...beating Mother Nature and completing the show shortly after 9 p.m.
We were happy to have son Chad, and grandson Brycen and granddaughter Brenna join us for the night. It was a rare night when there was nothing scheduled on their sports activities calendar. We were also happy and thankful that the weather...somehow...held, and nothing more than the strong change in wind directions and the cooling off occurred before racing was completed. There was a smaller car count that helped get the show completed quickly, as well as far fewer cautions than normal. There was a big show going on in Minnesota last evening, that took away some of the Marshalltown regulars and I'm sure the questionable weather kept some away.
There is a lot of racing to be found in our area. Check the calendar at Positively Racing, and find a race to attend. Help support dirt track racing.
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