Brian Eppert gets first SportMod win

There was a great car count at the Boone Speedway on Saturday night - 164 by my figures - and that was with another special race going on up in Webster City not all that far away. The farming session had the kids tossing rubber chickens at costumed clowns, a candy toss and drivers tossing Frisbees into the stands with prize coupons attached. A lot was thrown into one night--just a little trial run for some upcoming antics during Super Nationals we've heard. We were pleased to see another rookie grab his first win on Saturday night too. This time, it was sealed in the books in the SportMod division.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature went to Jeff Stensland for his second win of the season. Within the first couple of circuits, it was Tim Hennigar and Troy Hudson getting tangled together at the bottom of turns one and two and ending their run. Stensland was then in charge of the pack of the mighty little powerhouses, and held the lead the rest of the way to the checkers. Bryan Zehm followed Stensland to the checkers to finish in second, third went to Mike Kennedy, earlier race leader, David Schmalzried finished in fourth, and last week's winner Colby Oberembt finished in fifth.

The IMCA Northern SportMods had 39 cars on hand thus requiring TWO B mains which advanced only two cars each. Those were won by Randy Roberts and Ty Luellen. There was a false start at the drop of the green in the A main when pole-sitter Mike Stark got a little anxious and jumped the gun...sending him to restart the beginning of the race two spots behind his original place. When the race then started at the drop of the next green, Brian Eppert took the lead and motored smoothly on to victory; the race going caution free the remainder of the laps. We were pleased to see Eppert take the victory in this his rookie season in the SportMod class. Those first time wins are always a special treat to witness. Ray Lundry from Maynard, Iowa, in just his second appearance at the track, finished in second place, while third went to Eric Elliott, fourth to Adam Shelman and fifth to Rick Ringgenberg.

The IMCA modifieds ran their 20-lapper next in a flag-to-flag run. Kelly Lyons took flight in his #27 from the pole position and flew home to his second victory of the year. Lap traffic slowed Lyon's progress very little but did allow Jake Durbin to close in on the final laps, but Durbin could do no better than second. Third went to Randy Havlik, fourth to Adam Larson who came from starting fourteenth, and fifth was Todd Shute who came from the tenth starting spot.

In the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature--which was action packed through out the field--it was Jerry Gifford putting his name in the books for the fourth time this year. Gifford led most of the race but it was a fight for position behind him. Jay Schmidt, Wayne Gifford and Rod Richards were duking it out for second through fourth and farther back in the field, cars were going three and four wide. A little bumping and "just racing" shook the top runners up a bit in the late laps. Gifford took the win with Donavon Smith, point leader, coming from starting eleventh to take the runner-up place. Third was ninteenth place starter, Trent Murphy who fought through the traffic with a nice finish, fourth went to Wayne Gifford, and fifth to Rod Richards. Jay Schmidt fell back a bit to finish sixth.

The first of two A features for the IMCA Hobby Stock class saw Scott Lograsso under the checkers flying first. It was mentioned on a racing forum that Lograsso was later disqualified, but with that being said, and until I receive official notice of such, I will not change the finish. *Stay tuned for an update if it should happen. Lograsso held the lead from about lap four, keeping it to cross the finish line first. Curt Reed finished second (or perhaps first, we shall see) third was point leader Michael Murphy, fourth, Craig Graham and fifth, Rob Allison.

*At some point on Monday, the official results were noted as being changed. This reflected that Scott Lograsso was disqualified, thus handing the win over to Curt Reed. Second then went to Michael Murphy, third to Craig Graham, fourth to Rob Allison and Tyler Pickett was fifth.

The second Hobby Stock feature saw frequent visitor to victory lane, John Watson grab another win,--his seventh of the regular season and throw in the Frostbuster, and that makes eight wins at the track this year. Watson took the lead just past the half way mark of the 12-lap feature and pulled away. Aaron Rudolph finished in second place followed by Brandon Brinton in third. A visitor from far northwestern, Iowa, Shane Klaasen who calls Little Rock, Iowa home, took the fourth place and Tony Cox finished in fifth.

Two more weeks of regular season racing remains at the Boone Speedway, the final night being September 3rd for the season championships. Then on Labor Day, Monday September 5, it will be the start of a six-day run of the 29th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals. It is non-stop racing that if you haven't experienced, you really should try it so you can at least say you've, "been there, done that". Until next time, happy racing!

Boone - 8-20-11

8-20-11 - 164 cars

Modified - 28 cars

Heat 1 - 3Z Randy Havlik
Heat 2 - 27 Kelly Lyons
Heat 3 - 58 Denny Pittman

B Main - 3 advance

1. 51 Tyler VandeKamp
2. 5M Matthew Meinecke
3. 19R Todd Reed - Parkview, IA
4. 71 Dennis Laveine - West Burlington, IA
5. 5D Devin Havlik
6. 33D Scott Hogan
7. 1X Steve Streeter - Medera, CA

Feature

1. 27 Kelly Lyons
2. 18 Jake Durbin
3. 3Z Randy Havlik
4. 2L Adam Larson
5. 5 Todd Shute
6. 10M Jeremy Mills
7. 28R Russ Dickerson
8. 93 Cale Sponsler
9. 58 Denny Pittman
10. 19 Jimmy Gustin
11. 62 Greg Cox
12. 22T Tyler Prochaska
13. 24 Robert Avery
14. 94 Fred Schimmels
15. 28 Jamie Anderson
16. 26 Steve Glenn - Hamilton, MO
17. Matthew Meinecke
18. 12C Kent Croskey
19. 20W Shay Woods - Humeston, IA
20. 51 Tyler VandeKamp
21. 19R Todd Reed - Parkview, IA
22. 56 Jeff Marriott - Chillicothe, MO
23. 1JX Jeff Streeter - Madera, CA
24. 49T Tim Stevens

SportMod - 39 cars

Heat 1 - 22B Brian Eppert
Heat 2 - 196 Ray Lundry
Heat 3 - 33 Tim Rupp - Cherokee, IA
Heat 4 - 9E Eric Elliott

B Main #1 - 2 advance

1. 3R Randy Roberts
2. 9X Austin Lucas
3. 11 Beau Kaplan
4. 20T Mike Tanner - Kansas City, MO
5. 13T Taylor Mussellman
6. 22J Jeff Blume
7. 21ZC Cody Cleghorn
8. 81 Max Leonard - Ladora, IA
DNS: 24 Brian Miller
6 Darren Huntley

B Main #2 - 2 advance

1. 32L Ty Luellen
2. X4 Jason Purvis
3. 5B Tom Burke
4. 52M Dustin Miller - Pattonsburg, MO
5. 22X Troy Oliver
6 56 Joe Simbro
7. 99K Kody Havens - Wiota, IA
8. 3 Stacey Clark
DNS: 63 Daniel Tasler

Feature

1. 22B Brian Eppert - First feature win
2. 196 Ray Lundry
3. 9E Eric Elliott
4. 3s Adam Shelman
5. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
6. 93 Mike Stark
7. 66 Cody Hennings
8. 23JR Nick Roberts
9. 81D Scott Davis
10. 2G Geoff Olson
11. 57 Lynn Brockett
12. 3R Randy Roberts
13. 505 Racer Hulin
14. 86 Cory Rose
15. 33 Tim Rupp
16. 77 Jack Myer
17. 27 Tim Love
18. 59 Tara Longnecker
19. 1TO Tyler Olson
20. 3L Clint Luellen
21. 9X Austin Lucas
22. 96 Lucas Lundry - Maynard, IA
23. X4 Jason Purvis
24. 32L Ty Luellen



Stock Car - 29 cars

Heat 1 - 24 Eric Brown
Heat 2 - 22 Wayne Gifford
Heat 3 - 45 Larry Crocheck

B Main - 3 advance

1. 56 Lonnie Hodges
2. 41X Brad Schebel - Essig, MN
3. 04 Don Vis
4. 556 Terry Cornelison
5. 5 Keith Miner
6. 93 Michael Jaennette
7. 27 Gary Bass
DNS: 3s Bryan Snell

Feature

1. 9 Jerry Gifford
2. 35 Donavon Smith
3. 25 Trent Murphy
4. 22 Wayne Gifford
5. 23HR Rod Richards
6. 19J Jay Schmidt
7. 24 Eric Brown
8. 19A Alan VanGorp
9. 75 Curt Hook
10. 45 Larry Crocheck
11. 25J Josh Daniels
12. 271 Randy Brands, Boyden, IA
13. 12+ Ryan Rose
14. 3H Ty Hill
15. 15X Bob Daniels
16. 04 Don Vis
17. 68P Aaron Parmer - Humeston, IA
18. 41X Brad Scheibel
19. 05 Seth Bowen
20. 31 Jason York
21. 27M Mike Munson - Boxholm, IA
22. 56 Lonnie Hodges
23. 94 Steve Meyer
24. 50 Robert Stofer


Hobby Stock - 39 cars

Heat 1 - 13G Craig Graham - Webster City, IA
Heat 2 - 7B Eric Stanton
Heat 3 - 47 Scott Pippert - Elberon, IA
Heat 4 - 901 Shane Klaasen - Little Rock, IA

Feature #1

1. 83S Scott Lograsso - crossed first but was dq'd in tech. Win goes to Reed
Lograsso was scored as last.
2. 4C Curt Reed
3. 25M Michael Murphy
4. 13G Craig Graham
5. 12A Rob Allison
6. 5A Tyler Pickett
7. 51 Matt Webb
8. 74J Dean Hartwig
9. J4 John Yaw
10. 20N Justin Nehring - Storm Lake, IA
11. 26T Jeremy Tilley
12. 911 Darin Rothfus
13. 14 Matt Wahlert
14. 77C Andy Coffman
15. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
16. 22 Chris Jensen
17. 36S Mike Smith
18. 2J Ralph Jones
19. 47 Scott Pippert
20. 67 Ed Mahlstedt

Feature #2

1. 4W John Watson
2. 38R Aaron Rudolph
3. 24B Brandon Brinton
4. 901 Shane Klaasen - Little Rock, IA
5. 1BC Tony Cox
6. 7B Eric Stanton
7. 32X Kyle Robinson - Cherokee, IA
8. 99 Jeff Knight
9. 8B Robert Smith
10. 27R Clint Rothfus
11. 9 Andrew Arends
12. 20T Richard Yaw II
13. 85 Seth Janssen
14. 12M Matt McDonald
15. 16B Jay Arends
16. 17 Lee Farmer - Bethany, MO
17. T71 Marcus Kyle
18. 32 Bill Atcheson
19. 96 Mark Hidlebaugh

Mod Lite - 29 cars

Heat 1 - 46ZL
Heat 2 - 57 Lynn Brockett
Heat 3 - 99 Josh May

B Main - 3 advance (only 3 showed on track and was checkered and not run)

1. 82 Charlie Brown
2. 89 Travis Stensland
3. 23 Mike Parcel
DNS: 33 Gayle Worthington
73 Jason Smithson
15 Andy Hennigar
00 Phillip Reeves
64 Randy Bryan

Feature

1. 20 Jeff Stensland
2. 46Z Bryan Zehm
3. 95 Mike Kennedy
4. 01 David Schmalzried
5. 0B Colby Oberembt
6. 88 James May
7. 99 Josh May
8. 11R Jason Whitehead
9. 1 John Gardner
10. 3C Duane Coffman
11. 8 Dusty Masolini
12. 5X Matthew Goodin
13. 89 Travis Stensland
14. 82 Charlie Brown
15. 93 Tim Milner
16. 76 Terry Sorenson
17. 4L Larry Sorenson
18. 11 Michael Stoker
19. 57 Tim Hennigar
20. 4+1 Troy Hudson (new car tonight with a "5" on it)
21. 9 Rick Taylor
22. 46 Kevin Grisham
DNS: 09 Joel Keenan
23 Michael Parcel

VanDenBerg grabs win in his OWN car this time

Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway was the scene of their weekly racing program. A little added entertainment included a dozen of the Vintage cars racing open-wheeled cars of yesteryear as well as the '50's era full bodied cars. A few sprinkles fell from a "boiling" overhead cloud, but it quickly moved on and caused no problems in the racing.

Two A mains were run for the visiting Vintage racers. They were divided into two groups. The open-wheeled division went to the 3R "super modified" of Austin Russell. This brought back memories of what we first saw running at the Knoxville Raceway "way back when". The full bodied feature...those of the '50's...went to John Schroyer in his 1957 Chevy.

The Mod Lite's ran next in their 18-lap feature. Tim Hennigar dominated in taking the win, leading all laps and pulling away. Mike Morrill finished in second, Andy Hennigar in third, fourth went to Jeff Stensland and fifth to Randy Bryan.

Randy Embrey returned to the track in his IMCA hobby stock. After taking the checkers last week, and then being disqualified for not having enough weight hung on his crate motor, (25# minimum, 30# maximum) he opted to return and redeem himself in his now legal ride. He once again took the checkers first and this time, was officially declared the winner as he lead all 12 laps of the A main event. He had tight action chasing him with the next three finishers battling it out. Kevin Fee took the runner up position over Michael Murphy in third, Scott Pippert in fourth and Clint Nelson rounded out the top five.

A nice field of 29 IMCA Northern SportMods came to play, requiring a B main to complete the 24-car starting field for the A main. The father-son duo of Zach and Tom Rawlins fought it out for the top spot in the early going but soon it would be the #7 of Carter VanDenBerg moving up to challenge from his 9th starting position. VanDenBerg snatched the lead and pulled away for his second win of 2011 at the track. VanDenBerg had won his first feature back on August 5, and at that time, had jumped in a borrowed car, that of Brett Lowry. This time, he sealed the win in his own car. Tyler Droste followed the winner up through the field to nab the runner up spot. Jenae Gustin had a nice run to take third, fourth was Tom Rawlins and fifth was Scott Davis. It appears that Scott Davis has now taken over the point lead by himself after previously being tied with Cayden Carter. Carter encountered an abrupt stop against a dirt mound on the backstretch, sending him to the tail to restart and finishing far behind the leaders.

The 18-lap IMCA stock car feature saw some fierce battling between Jay Schmidt, Damon Murty and Trent Murphy. Those drivers were opting for running top side in corners three and four for the most part but Murphy then dove to the bottom to overtake Schmidt for the lead. Schmidt went in a little hard after going to the bottom in turns one and two, lost momentum, allowing Murty to take over the runner up spot. At the checkers, it was Murphy winning his fourth of the year, Murty taking second, third went to Schmdit, fourth to Kevin Rose and Todd Reitzler was fifth.

The finale for the evening was the 20-lap IMCA modified feature. Pole sitter, Andrew Kinser showed some muscle early as he lead the charge during the early laps. A caution would then bunch the field changing things up and Jon Snyder, flying to the lead with Adam Larson in tow. Snyder continued running the highline until late, he opted for the bottom in turn one...the tail kicked out and he ended up sideways, collecting third place runner Ronn Lauritzen who was close on his heels. Adam Larson was now at the helm with Jammin' Jimmy Gustin pedaling hard behind him. Larson went on to the win, his fourth of the year at Marshalltown, and Gustin had to settle for second on this night. Third went to last week's winner, Josh Truman, fourth to visiting driver, Jacob Murray from Hartford, Iowa, and Todd Conrad was fifth. Snyder now holds a slim four point lead over Gustin for the track title in the modified division, making for a shoot out in the last couple of night's racing left.

Yes, just two nights of regular season racing remains at the fast quarter-mile. The season has flown by for sure. Don't forget the Havoc on the Highbanks set for September 23-24 though. Full results and information can be found at www.marshalltownspeedway.com. Happy racing!

Meinecke wins his first modified feature

It's always nice to see someone get their first win, and Saturday night at the Boone Speedway, we did just that when a rookie to the IMCA modified ranks put it in the record books. There was a good field of 159 cars on hand with new drivers in several classes. There was also a little added entertainment on the night as well when several drivers stuffed themselves into cardboard racers, and ran a foot race to the checkered flag. Hobby stock driver, Tony Cox took the win in that contest. The local Walmart also donated around 15 bikes that were given away to lucky youngsters.

The Dwarf/Mod Lite feature found Colby Oberembt taking his third win of the season. Oberembt, sporting a new body on his ride, led all but the first of the 15-lap race.
Matthew Goodin took the second position, while third went to the 4+1 of Troy Hudson. Hudson started thirteenth on the field and chased the leaders down. Fourth went to Joel Huggins and fifth to Tim Hennigar.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature found an early battle between Brian Eppert, Nick Roberts and Brian Miller. Roberts grabbed the lead about lap twelve and was then able to pull away from the competition--taking his first win at the track in 2011. Brian Miller got around Eppert as they finished second and third respectively. Geoff Olson came from starting in row five, to take fourth place, and Scott Davis, the point leader, rounded out the top five.

The 20-lap IMCA Modified feature was next on the schedule. You couldn't miss the bright neon colored #5M of Matthew Meinecke who shot to the lead from his pole starting spot...and led the entire race to the checkers. Meinecke, who fended off the challenges of Joel Bushore, is a rookie to the modified ranks, having previously raced in the SportMod division. Congratulations to him on this achievement in just his first year in the class. Bushore retained the second spot and third went to Jake Durbin who fought around Cale Sponsler late in the race as they finished third and fourth in that order. Jimmy Gustin completed the top five.

The Class too Tough to Tame, the IMCA Stock Cars, always gives the crowd some thrills. This was one of those instances when it's never over until it's over held true. Just when you thought you knew who was going to win, a mishap would throw that out the window. Several leaders, Dave Baugh, Jerry Gifford and Jay Schmidt amongst them, all saw their hopes dashed. One of the most spectacular occurrences was when Josh Brauckman got sideways low in corner one, rolled and Dave Baugh launched up and over the rolling car...very high in the air...and came down on all four tires. Both drivers were okay thankfully, with only major repairs to look forward to. A second incident happened when Jay Schmidt, leading, and challenger Trent Murphy got together, ending both their nights as well. The green remained out during that skirmish, and the lucky driver to avoid it all was Donavon Smith, who took over the lead and motored home to the win. Jerry Gifford took the runner up spot ahead of Steve Meyer in third, Ryan Rose in fourth, and Ryan Leeman was fifth.

It's been a while since two A features were required for the IMCA Hobby Stock class...back in late May. With 38 cars on hand (I believe that is perhaps the "magic number" for TWO features) the cars were split into the two A main events and no B mains were run.

Hobby main #1 went to Michael Murphy, a driver who has visited victory lane NINE times this season. If I was a betting person, I might just put my money on him taking a Super Nationals championship this year...he knows the track well! Even starting back in row five, he worked his way methodically through traffic, passed then leader Brandon Brinton on lap seven of the 12-lapper, and pulled away for another convincing win. Second place went to one of several visiting drivers on the night, the #49 of Cody Knecht out of Whittemore, Iowa. Brandon Brinton took third place, fourth went to veteran Dean Hartwig, and fifth was Curt Reed.

Hobby feature #2 went to Aaron Rudolph who captured his first win of the year. Rudolph led all but the first lap of the race. He fended off John Watson who challenged for the lead with Tony Cox nipping at his heels. The race ended with Rudolph crossing the finish line in first, a little shuffling behind changed the expected finish a bit, as Cox took second ahead of Eric Stanton in third, and somehow, Watson ended up being pushed across the line to finish fourth. Veteran driver making his first appearance on the track this year, Chris Jensen, finished in fifth.

There are still three more weeks of regular season racing remaining at the Boone Speedway before the Super Nationals scheduled for September 5-10. Many more races remain on the calendar around our area as well. Check out the calendar on www.positivelyracing.com for a race you may want to take in. Happy racing!

Boone - 8-13-11

159 cars

Modified - 27 cars

Heat 1 - 93 Cale Sponsler
Heat 2 - 19 Jimmy Gustin
Heat 3 - 33M Mike Molle

Feature

1. Matthew Meinecke - 1st modified win
2. 87 Joel Bushore
3. 18 Jake Durbin
4. 93 Cale Sponsler
5. 19 Jimmy Gustin
6. 24 Robert Avery
7. 33M Mike Molle
8. 28R Russ Dickerson
9. 10M Jeremy Mills
10. 58 Denny Pittman
11. 57V Mike VanGenderen
12. 22T Tyler Prochaska - Iowa Falls, IA
13. 94 Fred Schimmels
14. 27 Kelly Lyons
15. 12c Kent Croskey
16. 83G Josh Gilman
17. 77C Craig Carlson
18. 4 Tony Hilgenberg
19. 5D Devin Havlik
20. 02 Brian Law
21. 14M Matthew Kiner - Aurora, NE
22. 28 Jamie Anderson - Mason City, IA
23. 00x Jim Cooper
24. 3Z Randy Havlik
25. 3 Cody Taylor - Waukee, IA
DNS: 12E Mark Elliott
4R Mike Reichart


SportMod - 34 cars

Heat 1 - 57 Lynn Brockett
Heat 2 - x4 Jason Purvis
Heat 3 - 24 Brian Miller
Heat 4 - 81d Scott Davis

B Main - 4 advance

1. 505 Racer Hulin
2. 41 Jeremy Embrey
3. 64X Brandon Leeman
4. 3L Clint Luellen
5. 33 Tim Rupp - Cherokee, IA
6. 9E Eric Elliott
7. 196 Ray Lundry, Maynard, IA
8. 02 Mike Goldberry
9. 36 Matt Pittmam
10. 77 Jack Myer
11. 93 Mike Stark - West Des Moines
12. 22J Jeff Blume
13. 29B Ben Wilson
DNS 56 Joe Simbro

Feature

1. 23Jr Nick Roberts
2. 24 Brian Miller
3. 22B Brian Eppert
4. 2G Geoff Olson
5. 81D Scott Davis
6. 41 Jeremy Embrey
7. X4 Jason Purvis
8. 3s Adam Shelman
9. 59 Tara Longnecker
10. 57 Lynn Brockett
11. 72 Rick Ringgenberg
12. 505 Racer Hulin
13. 27 Tim Love
14. 3R Randy Roberts
15. 63 Daniel Tasler
16. 99C Rocky Caudle
17. 777 Jayme Duinink
18. 3L Clint Luellen
19. 6 Darren Huntley
20. 64X Brandon Leeman
21. 96 Lucas Lundry
22. 22X Troy Oliver - Des Moines, IA
23. 48 Blake Coant
24. 3 Stacey Clark

Stock Car - 35 cars

Heat 1 - 9 Jerry Gifford
Heat 2 - 19J Jay Schmidt
Heat 3 - 23HR Rod Richards

B Main - 4 advance

1. 22 Wayne Gifford
2. 04 Don Vis
3. R31 Ryan Leeman
4. 55 Cory Bushnell
5. 31 Jason York
6. 68P Aaron Parmer - Humeston
7. 76 Norman Belew
8. 6 Adam Hilgenberg - Waukee
9. 20x Dustin Wannarka - Winnebago, MN
10. 56 Lonnie Hodges
11. 5 Keith Miner
DNS 556 Terry Cornelison
25X Bob Daniels
3H Ty Hill
2L Jon Lang

Feature

1. 35 Donavon Smith
2. 9 Jerry Gifford
3. 94 Steve Meyer
4. 12+ Ryan Rose
5. R31 Ryan Leeman
6. 25J Josh Daniels
7. 19A Alan VanGorp
8. 45 Larry Crocheck
9. 36 Tom Suess - New Ulm, MN
10. 28W Don Wear
11. 04 Don Vis
12. 99 Tony Arnold - Sloan, IA
13. 22 Wayne Gifford
14. 19J Jay Schmidt
15. 25 Trent Murphy
16. 22S Toby Smith
17. 23HR Rod Richards
18. 05 Seth Bowen
19. 22X Josh Brauckman
20. 81B Dave Baugh
21. 55 Cory Bushnell
22. 93 Michael Jaennette
23. 50 Robert Stofer
24. 24 Eric Brown

Hobby Stock - 38 cars

Heat 1 - 24B Brandon Brinton
Heat 2 - 7B Eric Stanton
Heat 3 - 83S Scott Lograsso
Heat 4 - 38R Aaron Rudolph

Feature #1

1. 25M Michael Murphy
2. 49 Cody Knecht - Whittemore, IA
3. 24B Brandon Brinton
4. 74J Dean Hartwig
5. 4C Curt Reed
6. 00H Adam Hagen
7. 13G Craig Graham - Webster City, IA
8. 21 Myles Michehl - Ft. Dodge, IA
9. 99 Jeff Knight
10. 96 Mark Hidlebaugh
11. 83S Scott Lograsso
12. 78 Tim Hadley
13. 66 Andy Mahlstedt
14. T71 Marcus Kyle
15. 16B Jay Arends
16. 26T Jeremy Tilley
17. 10 Adam Suhrbier - Ft. Dodge
18. 31X Dustin Wipf
DNS: 2J Ralph Jones

Feature #2

1. 38R Aaron Rudolph
2. 1BC Tony Cox
3. 7B Eric Stanton
4. 4W John Watson
5. 22 Chris Jensen
6. 19B Jim Brown
7. 3 Matt Hudspeth
8. 63 Cory Tasler
9. J4 John Yaw
10. 67 Ed Mahlstedt
11, 27R Clint Rothfus
12. 9 Andrew Arends
13. 14 Matt Wahlert
14. 5A Tyler Pickett
15. 8B Robert Smith
16. 12M Matt McDonald
17. 911 Darin Rothfus
18. 2 Nick Meyer - Whittemore, IA
19. 2R Jordan Riesberg - Dawson, IA


Mod Lite - 25 cars

Heat 1 - X50 Joel Huggins
Heat 2 - 99 Josh May
Heat 3 - 89 Travis Stensland


Feature

1. 0B Colby Oberembt
2. 5X Matthew Goodin
3. 4+1 Troy Hudson
4. X50 Joel Huggins
5. 57 Tim Hennigar
6. 99 Josh May
7. 20 Jeff Stensland
8. 46Z Bryan Zehm
9. 95 Mike Kennedy
10. 89 Travis Stensland
11. 01 David Schmalzried
12. 64 Randy Bryan
13. 88 James May
14. 8 Dusty Masolini
15. 3C Duane Coffman
16. 11R Jason Whitehead
17. 46 Kevin Grisham
18. 73 Jason Smithson
19. 76 Terry Sorenson
20. 4L Larry Sorenson
21. 33W James Mitenberger - Des Moines
DNS: 41Z Ed Zehm
11 Michael Stoker

Truman takes modified win at Marshalltown

Two new drivers reached victory lane on Friday night at the Marshalltown Speedway--coming out of the modified and stock car classes. The youngsters also enjoyed a race of their own as they "motored" down the frontstretch in their cardboard cruisers. The participants were delighted with the trophies they came away with.

The Mod Lite division ran their A main right after the cardboard cruiser competition was completed. Tim Hennigar wasted no time in getting to the front, grabbing the lead by lap two. Hennigar would lead the remainder of the race and win his third feature at the track for 2011. Josh May gave it his all, but only managed a close second place finish. Third went to Mike Morrill, fourth to Randy Bryan and James May rounded out the top five.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks ran next. The beginning of the race found the #52 car of Josh Saunders shoved off of the backstretch, gathering weeds, and taking a bumpy ride. Saunders was able to gather the car back under him, and continue on, but many positions behind. Randy Embrey took the checkers in this 12-lap feature, leading the entire race. Kevin Fee chased Embrey and visitor Devin Smith came from tenth spot, to apply some pressure as well. At the finish, Fee followed Embrey to finish in second, Smith in third, Eric Knutson finished fourth and Michael Murphy in fifth. However, after a post-race tech, Embrey was disqualified for the engine being too light on his crate motor. This handed the win over to Kevin Fee and moved the other drivers all up a position as well. Fifth would then go to Eric Larson.

The IMCA Northern SportMod feature had some great close racing up front. Brett Lowry led much of the race but the competition behind him drew closer and closer as Racer Hulin and Cayden Carter applied the pressure. The final couple of exciting laps found those three cars jockeying for position. On the final lap, Carter would make the pass and take the win, his sixth this year, while Lowry held on for a runner up finish and Racer Hulin finished in third. Fourth was Jenae Gustin and Scott Davis took fifth.

Steve Meyer came away with his first IMCA Stock Car feature win of the year. Meyer led the entire race but what a race it developed into when Meyer, Tracy Gienger and Jay Schmidt went head-to-head for the top spot. That intense battle ended when Schmidt would suddenly be off power and exited the track. Trent Murphy then moved into the picture as did Jeff Wollam. The 18-lap event ended with Meyer taking the top spot, Gienger in second, third went to Trent Murphy, fourth to Jeff Wollam, and Damon Murty finished a distant fifth.

The 20-lap IMCA Modified feature proved to be a thriller. Josh Truman shot his #47 ride to the front right away with Richie Gustin giving chase. Gustin would briefly take the lead, but a yellow flag flew, sending him back to restart in second. The remainder of the race would see Truman and Gustin battling for the lead. Truman ran high, Gustin low. Gustin had many opportunities to do one of the infamous slide jobs in front of Truman coming out of turn four, but opted out of that choice, giving the fans some great intense racing enjoyment for the final race to the checkers. Truman took the win, his first at Marshalltown this year, Richie Gustin finished in a close second. Third went to Jimmy Gustin who earlier had lost several positions when avoiding an on track incident, fourth was Danny Fetter and Scott Simatovich finished in fifth.

Racing continues at the Marshalltown Speedway next Friday night when it will be the annual Cliff Chambers Memorial. Chambers was a former promoter of the track. Full results and other information on the track and upcoming events can be found at the track website, www.marshalltownspeedway.com. Happy racing!

Murty wins stock feature, Sponsler gets modified win at Boone

Saturday night, August 6, we returned to the Boone Speedway for another night of regular racing in all five divisions. We noticed that there were a few puddles here and there, and we were told that they had had a considerable amount of rain on Thursday, nearly 1.5 inches, and that it had also rained steadily on Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. That extra rain on the track and not being able to work it properly as they do for those days leading up to Saturday night racing, proved to bring some uncommon holes in the corners.

We had been checking the radar during the heat racing, as off to the west, the clouds had been building. Nice to have the sun go behind the nearing bank of clouds, but we were not liking the looks of what that might bring to the racetrack. The officials had also been taking into account the approaching "stuff", and just as soon as the final B main was run, the first A main, the Dwarf/Mod Lites, were brought to the track.

The old saying, "The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry", held true as the first couple of laps brought TWO red flags for the Dwarf/Mod Lite feature. The first was when the 41Z of Ed Zehm tumbled over coming out of turn four. He was able to fire it up and drive off into the pits. One lap after the restart, the second red flew! This time it was for the 09 of Joel Keenan who put his ride on it's lid at the top of turn one. Thankfully, he too was okay.

Last week's winner, Joel Huggins, was leading on the restart after the second red flag. He would continue that lead to the checkered flag, taking his second win in as many weeks. Andy Hennigar chased and tried to catch the leader, but had to settle for the runner up spot. Point leader Josh May finished in third, fourth went to Randy Bryan and Mike Kennedy was fifth.

The 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature started nearly as the Dwarf's had started, though this would just be a yellow flag, when numerous cars piled it up in the bottom between turns one and two. The results left crumpled sheet metal, some dangling from cars, but most able to continue. This wouldn't be the only contact made through the duration of the feature, and by the end of the race, there was a lot of body work to be done.

By lap three, Eric Elliott had weathered the incidents, and was leading the race. Clint Luellen was attempting to reel Elliott in and third place runner, Racer Hulin, who had started back in row nine, was closing fast as well. Time ran out for any of those two challengers to get any closer and the finish remained as stated--Elliott won, Luellen took second, and Hulin third. Fourth went to Austin Lucas and point leader Scott Davis came home in fifth.

Next up, the IMCA Modified 20-lap SCHEDULED feature. This too would have several cautions as well as another red flag. The red occurred when the #27 of Kelly Lyons tumbled over in turn four. Thankfully, he too was okay, but again, more costly repairs for numerous drivers, Lyons included, were mounting up! A nasty rut/hole in between turns three and four was the culprit in many instances. Former track champion, Cale Sponsler had made his way to the lead as the laps wound down. A time limit was accessed around lap sixteen, and, as went the night, another yellow flew, and the race was called complete. Sponsler won, Jake Durbin finished second, Fred Schimmels was third, fourth went to last week's winner Randy Havlik and point leader Russ Dickerson rounded out the top five.

A nice field of 28 stock cars came to compete, resulting in a b main to whittle the starting A main to 24 cars. Randy Killen sealed his spot in the feature line up by winning the consolation race. Terry Cornelison led the field through the first seven laps, but that ended when he found himself riding the frontstretch wall on two wheels at the flagstand--causing flagman Nick Brueklander to alertly step out of the flagstand. By lap eight, it was "The Chelsea Charger", Damon Murty taking the helm and he would take it home to the checkers. This was Murty's first win at the Boone Speedway this year. Alan VanGorp came from row five, to follow Murty across the finish line in second. Third went to Trent Murphy, fourth was Eric Brown, and longtime racer, Robert Stofer finished in fifth.

The final race, the IMCA Hobby Stocks ran their 12-lap A main next to complete the night's racing. So far, nothing more than a few random sprinkles had dared to fall at the track, though the lightning had been flashing all around for a while. The first lap brought a bit of excitement when Robert Smith had trouble controlling his car after a mishap, but the green flag stayed out. Cory Tasler led the race from the start, which was beginning to look like finally a flag to flag feature. It wasn't to be when a car blew on the frontstretch, resulting in a green-white-checkered finish. Talser took the win, his first of 2011, with Boone's Tony Cox following him to finish in second. Third was multi-time winner John Watson, fourth was point leader Michael Murphy and Aaron Rudolph finished in fifth.

So ended another night at the Boone Speedway, thumbing it's nose at the approaching rain. We can only hope that this continues to hold true, especially during the fast approaching Super Nationals coming up September 5 through the 10th. Information on the Super Nationals can be found at www.raceboone.com as well as full results and point standings and other information. Happy racing!