Another chilly day was on the agenda for Friday, April 10th as the regular season kicked off at the Marshalltown Speedway. In fact it seemed to be a little colder then last week, mainly due to the north wind. But that didn't keep the cars away from the pit area as a weekly event record 172 cars graced the quarter-mile speedplant. The night started with a tribute to a person who had recently passed away. Ten racecars waited on the front stretch until after the national anthem and then were given three laps to run as fast as they could in memory of the person.
First up on the card were the dwarf cars/mod lites. While they may be the smallest race car on the track, they still provide the fans with a lot of exciting racing action. Tonight was no different as the feature was run without a caution. In fact, track announcer Denny Grabenbour noted that their feature was run in a little under four minutes. Defending track co-champion Mike Morrill would pull out the victory over the tandem of Tim and Andy Hennigar.
IMCA sportmods were called to the track next for their main event. Kevin Sather took advantage of his pole redraw en route to the win. Sather led every lap, although he was contested a few times by Luke Wanniger. Wanniger settled for second, followed by Scott Davis, Joel Bushore, and Jake Strayer. Sather also won last week's Frostbuster feature. Strayer was the one to watch as he had to transfer out of a Bmain and started 20th. A great field of 40 sportmods were on hand.
Up next were the IMCA stock cars. Trent Murphy and Shawn Hoskins were the lucky recipients of the redraw as they started on the front row. While the high groove seemed to be the place of preference, it was Murphy who would take the lead early and never relinquish. Steve Meyer challenge Murphy several times, but just couldn't get enough power off the corners to complete the pass. Meyer would take second followed by Dustin Smith, Hoskins, and Michael Jeannette. Coincidentally, that is two fifth-place finishes at Marshalltown this year for Jeannette.
The IMCA modifieds were next on the track. They used up every bit of track that they could find in comparison to the other classes. Many cars were slicing from top to bottom or vice-versa. Joey Schaefer kept the pattern going as he would take the checkers from the pole. He held off challenges from Ryan Ruter and others by utilizing the top side of the track. Ruter was using both lanes of racing room to get to the runner up spot. Jon Snyder also used both lanes to finish third after starting 11th. Jimmy Gustin battled his way from his 17th starting spot to finish fourth and was followed across the line by Scott Simatovich.
The final event of the night was the IMCA hobby stocks. Again, the redraw proved to be important as pole-sitter Chad Koch would take home the trophy. He had to hold off challenges from Terry Shaffar and Devin Smith. Shaffar and Koch battled side by side for a few laps before Koch distanced himself on the high side of the speedway. Smith utilized the top groove to get around Shaffar on a restart, but it was too late to catch Koch at the line. Smith wound up second, Justin Lichty battled up to third, Shaffar fourth, and youngster Michael Murphy rounded out the top five.
The racing action concluded around 11pm. The speedway yielded complaints from last week's event lasting until midnight. Hopefully promoter Toby Kruse and his staff will be able to keep the show moving along and finish at a decent time week to week. Could be a little challenging though if he continues to have 170 cars in the pit area. Not a bad problem to have if you ask me.
Results can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr10.pdf.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Burlington Frostbuster in the Books
On Saturday April 4th, I had a few different choices as to where to travel for a race. It was either Boone, Davenport, or Burlington. I was skeptical about the weather for Boone, and didn't really want to pay the price at Davenport for only two classes. So Burlington it was.
With a very strong wind out of the east I was very happy that the track faces southwest and that the grandstands were blocked from the wind for the most part. Five classes were set to kick off the season at 34 Raceway. Twenty-three IMCA modifieds hit the track for the first feature of the night. Josh Foster took the early lead but yielded a challenge from Lonnie Heap. While several caution flags slowed the action, Scott Hogan was able to slowly move his way to the front after getting the horrible luck of the draw with a twelfth starting spot. Hogan seemed to pick off a car every lap late in the race, but didn't have enough time to catch Foster at the finish. Heap settled for third, Dusty Kraklio fourth, and Missouri driver Adam Birck rounded out the top five.
IMCA Stock Cars hit the track next for their twenty-lap feature event. John Oliver Jr looked to be on his way to the win but received a challenge from Jason Cook's machine. Oliver Jr and Cook raced side by side for a couple laps before Cook took the advantage on the bottom groove and pulled away for the checkers. Following behind them was a four-car battle for third place. Abe Huls prevailed at the end followed by Jim Redmann, Darin Thye, and Jeff Mueller.
While I'm not much of a sprint car fan, I will admit that the few 305 sprint car races I've seen have been pretty good. Many fans like to see sprint cars wreck but keeping the drivers safe. No sprint cars rolled at Burlington, but a few cars did go over the banking in turns one and two. Bobby Mincer took advantage of such a situation when pole-sitter Marty Stephenson didn't hit the proper marks and went over the banking on the initial start. Mincer would go on to lead every lap and capture the Frostbuster checkers.
Fourteen hobby stocks put on a good show for the fans. Dean Kratzer and Tanner Thomann battled side by side for the last few laps before Kratzer sped to the finish. Thomann settled for a hard-fought second, Derek St Clair third, Doug Fenton fourth, and Tony Whitte rounded out the top five.
I'll admit that I did not stay for the last feature of the night (front-wheel drives). With a three-hour trip home and threatening weather on the way, I wanted to get home before the "blizzard" made it's presence felt. Fortunately I made it home and only had to deal with rain. This morning (Sunday) I woke up to a whole different story! Lots of snow.
Here are the results from this blog: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr4.pdf.
Next weekend I'm hopeful to make a couple first trips to Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois and 24 Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. Both tracks will hold USMTS events. Then on Sunday, I-35 Speedway in Mason City, Iowa will have their season opener.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!
With a very strong wind out of the east I was very happy that the track faces southwest and that the grandstands were blocked from the wind for the most part. Five classes were set to kick off the season at 34 Raceway. Twenty-three IMCA modifieds hit the track for the first feature of the night. Josh Foster took the early lead but yielded a challenge from Lonnie Heap. While several caution flags slowed the action, Scott Hogan was able to slowly move his way to the front after getting the horrible luck of the draw with a twelfth starting spot. Hogan seemed to pick off a car every lap late in the race, but didn't have enough time to catch Foster at the finish. Heap settled for third, Dusty Kraklio fourth, and Missouri driver Adam Birck rounded out the top five.
IMCA Stock Cars hit the track next for their twenty-lap feature event. John Oliver Jr looked to be on his way to the win but received a challenge from Jason Cook's machine. Oliver Jr and Cook raced side by side for a couple laps before Cook took the advantage on the bottom groove and pulled away for the checkers. Following behind them was a four-car battle for third place. Abe Huls prevailed at the end followed by Jim Redmann, Darin Thye, and Jeff Mueller.
While I'm not much of a sprint car fan, I will admit that the few 305 sprint car races I've seen have been pretty good. Many fans like to see sprint cars wreck but keeping the drivers safe. No sprint cars rolled at Burlington, but a few cars did go over the banking in turns one and two. Bobby Mincer took advantage of such a situation when pole-sitter Marty Stephenson didn't hit the proper marks and went over the banking on the initial start. Mincer would go on to lead every lap and capture the Frostbuster checkers.
Fourteen hobby stocks put on a good show for the fans. Dean Kratzer and Tanner Thomann battled side by side for the last few laps before Kratzer sped to the finish. Thomann settled for a hard-fought second, Derek St Clair third, Doug Fenton fourth, and Tony Whitte rounded out the top five.
I'll admit that I did not stay for the last feature of the night (front-wheel drives). With a three-hour trip home and threatening weather on the way, I wanted to get home before the "blizzard" made it's presence felt. Fortunately I made it home and only had to deal with rain. This morning (Sunday) I woke up to a whole different story! Lots of snow.
Here are the results from this blog: http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/apr4.pdf.
Next weekend I'm hopeful to make a couple first trips to Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois and 24 Raceway in Moberly, Missouri. Both tracks will hold USMTS events. Then on Sunday, I-35 Speedway in Mason City, Iowa will have their season opener.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
First Official Dirt Track Race in Iowa for 2009 is in the Books
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
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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