The Marshalltown Speedway was back in action Friday night with nearly perfect conditions as temperatures hovered around 85 with a soft breeze. Fans and drivers alike were ready for some great action to kick off the Memorial Day weekend.
As always the Dwarf cars / Mod Lites were first to run their feature. Mike Kennedy would overtake Colby Oberembt for the lead a couple laps in. Many eyes were focused on the middle of the pack as Tim Hennigar and Mike Morrill were quickly moving to the front. The two worked through traffic nearly simultaneously as they climbed to third and fourth, respectively. Following a restart, both drivers got by Oberembt before another caution. Hennigar would get his car sideways and lose a couple spots, but Oberembt had no place to go and made contact with Hennigar to bring out the fourth caution. From that point on Kennedy was able to hold off Mike Morrill for the win with Josh May third, James May fourth, and Tim Hennigar rebounded to fifth.
IMCA sportmods were up next as they needed a consi race to narrow the field down once again. Rookie Dylan Book paced the field to the green flag that saw him sprint to the lead. In the middle stages of the race Zach Rawlins was gaining momentum using the top side of the track. Following a lap nine restart in which he was third, Rawlins again went to work on the outside and passed Eric Flander for second. After falling victim to a spin and caution earlier in the race, Scott Davis was charging back to the front as he found himself back inside the top five. A caution late in the race bunched the field back up, but Dylan Book was able to hold on to the flag to flag win. Zach Rawlins held of Scott Davis for second while Eric Flander and Austin Lucas rounded out the top five.
While the IMCA stock cars were a little low in number (14), they would provide a little bit of extra excitement. Promoter Toby Kruse had told the drivers in the meeting that all heat race winners would be given the option to go to the tail and race for double money if they won the feature. Point leader Dustin Smith would take that challenge and start at the rear. Tracy Gienger led the early laps while Jeff Wollam, Steve Meyer, and Michael Jaennette duked it out for second. Following a lap three yellow, Smith quickly moved into fifth and a couple laps later grabbed the lead using the inside lane before the halfway point. Trent Murphy, who also started at the back as a result of being too light on the scale following his heat, was also slicing through the field. He seemed to be following Smith's tire tracks as he climbed to fifth. With Smith up front and extending his lead, Murphy went to work and passed Steve Meyer and Jeff Wollam for fifth and then fourth. When the checkered flag waved, the top five would be Dustin Smith, Michael Jaennette, Trent Murphy, Tracy Gienger, and Jeff Wollam.
Pole sitter Daniel Hilsabeck would lead lap one in the IMCA modified feature, but that didn't last long as Richie Gustin made the pass on lap three to lay claim to the lead. At the halfway point they were joined by Scott Simatovich as the top three distanced themselves from the pack. A late caution with two laps remaining kept the field close, but as luck would have it Hilsabeck spun coming to the white flag to end his great run. Gustin would go on to repeat his win from last week while the rest of the top five were Mike O'Lear, Scott Simatovich, Adam Larson, and Chris Abelson.
Twenty-one IMCA hobby stocks would bring a close to the night in their feature event. Adam Rickett jumped to the early lead, but Eric Knutson used the inside line to make the pass on him. Just as Trent Murphy and Dustin Smith followed each other in the stock car feature, Devin Smith would follow Michael Murphy in the hobby stock feature towards the front. Smith would get under Rickett for second, but a caution negated the pass. Once racing resumed Smith was able to work his way by Knutson on the inside groove while Murphy passed Rickett for third. Murphy was unable to hold on to that spot, however, as Todd Reitzler powered by on the outside. Devin Smith would find victory lane once again followed by Eric Knutson, Todd Reitzler, Michael Murphy, and Terry Shaffar.
An entertaining night was made a little more special as friends Chad and Angie Eisele made their first trip to Marshalltown last night. They brought their three-month son Brycen to his first race. It was good to catch up with them and see the handsome young man.
Racing continues next Friday at Marshalltown. For schedule information, check out www.marshalltownspeedway.com.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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