It was Toby K's Hideaway Night at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday, with the IMCA Sport Compacts joining the IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Northern SportMods, Hobby Stocks, and STARS Mod Lites.
New faces to Victory Lane came out of the IMCA Modified class along with the Sport Compacts, while all other classes saw returning visitors to the winner's circle. It was also a historic night with two classes having father-son finishes....or in this case, son-father finishes.
The IMCA Sport Compacts kicked off the feature racing with their 12 lap feature event that went flag to flag. Jake Benischek started tenth on the starting grid, and had the lead by the time lap two was scored. He then lengthened his lead....and was gone from the rest of the pack, taking the easy win. Kolby Sabin started sixth, and finished as the runner up. John Gill came from eighth to finish in third place, Timothy Hanson started ninth, and finished fourth, and it was Mark Smith completing the top five. This was Benischek's first win of the season at the speedway.
Dillon Raffurty put another notch in his belt by winning the 15 lap IMCA STARS Mod Lite feature. Raffurty started fifth, and took command of the lead on lap three, never to look back. He finished well ahead of second place Josh May. Third went to Dustin Ford, Michael Raffurty took fourth, and Doug Byers was fifth. After a caution on the original restart, the race went caution free. This marked the sixth win for Raffurty this season. He made the tow up from Kansas City, Missouri regularly to run at the High Banks. Josh May has the track title wrapped up sporting a huge 79 point lead.
The IMCA Northern SportMod feature was next on the schedule. It did not start off well! On the initial start, the race went red when Joe Luethje went up and over turn one. Thankfully, he was not hurt. There was yet another yellow for the start of the race, but after that, the race would continue caution free.
Brian Schrage started fifth, and held down the top spot early in the race, but by lap nine, it was Schrage's son Austin chasing his dad's rear bumper. Dad Brian held off his son as long as he could, but with two laps remaining in the 18 lap feature, it was son Austin taking command. The race would end with Austin Schrage taking the checkers first, with father Brian chasing him across the finish line to score the runner up position. Jenae Gustin came from twelfth to finish third, fourth went to Travis Peterson, and early leader Brady Hilmer was fifth. Austin Schrage started tenth, and repeated his win from last week. He also regained the point lead last evening, as Johnathon Logue was a DNF after suffering damage in a racing incident.
Kaden Reynolds just keeps chalking up the wins this year in the IMCA Hobby Stock class, as he added to those numbers once again. Reynolds started eleventh, and ran down early leader Kyle Parizek, taking over the top spot at lap eight. From there on, he skimmed the top of the track as he pulled away to another win. Jeremiah Andrews ran at the front of the field all race long, and scored a second place finish. Early leader Kyle Parizek finished third, fourth was twelfth place starter John Watson, and Luke Schluetter rounded out the top five. This was the eleventh feature win for Reynolds this season, plus he also won the Frostbuster special. Reynold's has the track title well in hand as we go into season championship night next week.
The IMCA Modifieds came to the track next for their 20 lap main event. Ethan Braaksma started on the outside front row, and immediately claimed the lead. Two cautions, one at lap eight for a stray track tire running loose, and another late in the race at lap seventeen, proved to be no issue for Braaksma as he shot back off into the lead. He would lead all laps on his way to his first win of the year. Point leader Ronn Lauritzen started ninth and finished second. It was a shoot out for the next positions in a tight battle, with pole sitter Jake Pike taking third, Joel Rust in fourth, and Tim Ward came from eleventh starting spot, to finish fifth. Lauritzen holds a 24 point lead over second place, as he is looking to claim the track title in the Modified division.
The night cap was 20 laps of IMCA Stock Car feature racing. Kenzie Ritter held down the lead at lap one, then Dave Atcher was the leader at lap two, and lap three found Steve Meyer in command. Meyer was enjoying his run at the front until lap nine, when he now had a pair of #99's on his tail....Dallon and Damon Murty. Meyer fended off a lap twelve slide job by Murty out of turn two, but another out of turn four, put Dallon Murty into the lead. Just a couple of laps later, the other #99 of father Damon Murty had taken over second place, and was giving chase to his son. Son won out on this night, with Dallon Murty scoring the win, and dad Damon Murty having to settle for the runner up spot...in the second son/father finish of the night. Tyler Pickett was in the hunt all race long, and finished third. Fourth went to twelfth place starter, Dylan Thornton, and Steve Meyer was fifth. This was Dallon Murty's fifth regular season win. Pickett holds a slim 2 point lead over Dallon Murty in what will no doubt be a race to see come next Friday night as they duke it out for the track title.
The Stock Cars had more than their share of troubles last evening. Numerous cautions would fly...one a red flag when it appeared last week's winner Jeff Wollam suffered a mechanical failure causing a fracas in turn one that sent Jay Schmidt tumbling off the corner. He was okay, but the car was battered.
Next Friday night, August 27, is Larry Wollam Memorial Season Championship night at the track. This racing season has flown by, but with special programs yet to come, and of course, with the IMCA Super Nationals just around the corner, there is still a lot of racing to be found. Find a race to attend, and help keep dirt track racing alive and well.
No comments:
Post a Comment