The time has finally come. Dirt track racing in the state of Iowa kicked off last night at the Marshalltown Speedway as a record number of competitors literally packed into the pit area. Over 200 race teams were signed in to compete in the annual Frostbuster event, including sixty-six IMCA modifieds. The action was fast and furious in the heat races as the track was in superb shape, allowing drivers to run multiple racing grooves on the quarter-mile speedplant. This was evident as southeast Iowa stock car hotshoe Jeff Mueller started last (9th) in his heat and wound up second, only to find out later he would be disqualified in tech.
The first feature of the night would be the dwarf cars, or as speedway announcer Denny Grabenbauer also said "Mod-Lites". This year the "small" cars are able to have the new body styles that Mod-Lites allow in their rules package. Basically it makes the cars look more like race cars rather then the older style "coupe" cars. Seventeen cars were on hand and last year's co-point champion Mike Morrill would end up in victory lane. Andy Hennigar led several laps, but would wind up being the runner-up. Early race leader Tim Hennigar spun by himself, but rebounded nicely as he ended up third followed by Ed Zehm.
IMCA hobby stocks hit the track next with Terry Shaffar and Devin Smith sitting on the front row. They would finish just opposite of their starting positions as Devin Smith took the checkers and Shaffar took second. Smith also won last year's Frostbuster hobby stock feature. Todd Reitzler came home third after starting 11th, Brandon Pruitt fourth, and traveler Adam Armstrong rounded out the top five. Armstrong is from the Beatrice, Nebraska area.
The next feature to roll out on the track would be the IMCA Sportmods. Ankeny's Kevin Sather and Madrid's Scott Davis sat on the front row to pace the field of twenty-three cars to the green flag. Sather jumped out front early and was never challenged very seriously en route to the victory. Last year's IMCA Sportmod National Champion Luke Wanniger made his way from his 7th starting spot to capture second while northern Iowa driver Nate Chodur finished a solid third place finish. Kyle Brown and Davis rounded out the top five.
The IMCA Stock Cars, tabbed the "Class Too Tough To Tame", definitely lived up to that hype. Dustin Smith would make the winning pass about midway through the race and was able to hold off strong charges from Damon Murty and Ryan Gustin. Both Gustin and Murty were running a groove higher then where the rubber was laid down up on the cushion and were able to make up ground every lap. While Gustin did get to the back bumper of Smith, he was unable to capitalize. He tried a slidejob late in the race, but that ended up costing him the second spot as Murty would slip past. Dusty Vis and Michael Jannette rounded out the top five.
The final event of the night was the IMCA Modifieds. Jon Snyder and Chris Abelson found themselves on the front row. Abelson led for several laps before getting too high in turn two and dipping off the backstretch before regaining control and losing several positions. Jordan Grabouski took the top spot away with Troy Cordes following closely behind. It appeared to be a two-horse race until Jay Noteboom found himself in third place. While the gap seemed to be too much to overcome, the leaders caught lapped traffic. Noteboom was gaining every lap and eventually caught up to the top two with only a few laps to go. Troy Cordes dove to the inside coming out of turn four to the checkers, but Grabouski had just enough momentum from the top side to take home the checkers by the slimmest of margins. Noteboom took third while Jimmy Gustin and Ruter rounded out the top five. Gustin and Ruter were nearly half a lap behind the front three. Nate Caruth appeared to be the hard charger, starting 14th and finishing sixth.
While the program did last a bit longer then I had hoped, the racing action kept me entertained throughout the night. Toby Kruse and his crew did a great job getting the track in great shape and it held up very nicely throughout the evening. The new bleachers on the west side of the grandstand were completed and looked to be a vast improvement. Surprised they didn't go higher to accommodate the bigger crowds.
Full results from this race are on my website: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr3.pdf.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive
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