Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Tesch Finds Redemption With Marshalltown Win

Jon Tesch led all but the final three circuits of the feature event held at Oskaloosa on Tuesday night, but he made up for that as he led all forty laps of tonight's main event at the Marshalltown Speedway. Tesch would once again find himself in a heated battle with Jason Hughes, the driver who stole the feature win last night.

Earlier in the night the hobby stocks had their feature race of the night. A solid field of nineteen cars started the race as Todd Reitzler motored out to the early lead and never looked back. While the race saw several restarts, nobody seriously challenged Reitzler as he took home the top prize. Kenny Hansen made some good moves late in the race to finish second after starting tenth. Oskaloosa feature winner Nathan Wood finished third, Chad Koch battled his way up to fourth from his fifteenth starting spot, and Dustin Elliott rounded out the top five. The hobby stocks saw the white flag three times as twice the caution flag waved afterwards. The third restart saw both the green and white together to decrease the chances of another yellow coming out.

Thirty-four bmods checked into the pits, but only the top twenty-four started the feature. Kevin Sather had the luck of the draw on his side as he drew the outside front row and immediately jumped out front at the drop of the green flag. A caution quickly came out on the second circuit, and by that time Luke Wanninger had moved up four spots to fifth. Kyle Brown stayed within striking distance with the leader most of the race, but would not have enough to seriously challenge Sather. Sather's win kept his undefeated streak alive at the track. Brown was second, Wanninger finished third, Scott Davis was fourth, and AJ Johnson maneuvered through the field to finish fifth after starting 20th. Fellow tenth row starter Neil Follett followed him across the line to finish sixth.

Dave Atcher made his first appearance at the Marshalltown Speedway a memorable one as he captured the stock car feature win. Atcher jumped out front from his front row starting spot, but Tom Schmitt was making his way to the front as he found himself in second by lap five. Schmitt was slowly cutting the lead down and found himself within striking distance with just a few laps to go. He tried to go low on the final lap, but Atcher's car was too strong on the top side and took home the checkers. Curt Hook finished with a solid third place finish, Mike VanGenderen was fourth, and Clay Deppe rounded out the top five.

Forty laps of horsepower capped off the night as the USMTS modified feature made their way to the track. Kelly Shryock and Jon Tesch led the field to the green flag. Before the cars made it to turn one, a group of cars got tangled up on the front stretch that resulted in five cars dropping out of the race. Tesch would grab the lead on the restart while Shryock went a little too high as the rear of the car dropped off the banking in turn two. He would regain control of the car and keep going, but he lost about four or five spots in the process. Zach VanderBeek advanced into the show by winning a bmain event and was on the move as he found himself up to third in just eight laps. Jon Tesch appeared to be slowly distancing himself from the field until he caught lapped traffic. That opened the door for Oskaloosa winner Jason Hughes to cut into the lead and eventually in the tire tracks of Tesch. Tesch would not be denied this time though as he held off Hughes at the finish. VanderBeek finished third, hometown driver Ryan Gustin finished fourth, and Corey Dripps completed the top five. Shyrock recovered from his early mishap and made it back to fourth before losing two spots on the final lap to finish sixth.

The inaugural USMTS visit to Marshalltown was a successful one. The support classes had a good mixture of track regulars along with some "outside" guys traveling. The event also gave the fans a chance to see hometown drivers Brett Ladehoff, Mike O'Lear, Jimmy Gustin, Ryan Gustin, and Richie Gustin battled it out some of the best drivers in the country. And for the Gustin fans in particular, it was a rare chance to see all three in action in a modified at the same track.

The USMTS travels north to Cresco Thursday night while the Marshalltown Speedway will host it's weekly racing again on Friday night. With the Memorial Day weekend soon approaching, be sure to get out and check out the action this weekend.

- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!

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