After the rain cut Thursday's Night of 1,000 Stars program short in Britt, my attention was then figuring out where I wanted to go Friday night. I decided to head south to Marshalltown, the closest track to home. Mother Nature tried to thwart action there as she dropped plenty of moisture on the fairgrounds, but promoter Toby Kruse and his crew were able to get the track in shape. The infield and pit area were soggy and muddy.
The night would get kicked off with a special father-son match race. Engelkes Racing was the sponsor for the night, and they had never been on the track in competition together. Robert (father) started on the outside in his stock car while Ryan (son) lined up his sportmod on the inside. They kept it close until the white flag waved, and then Ryan took off to take the win.
After seventeen heat races and a couple bmain events, the stage was set for feature action. First to hit the track would be the dwarf car/mod-lite event. Joel Huggins wasted no time in grabbing the lead from the pole before the caution flag waved early on. Mike Morrill would make his way towards the front as he found himself in fifth when that first caution waved. Two laps later he slid up to the third spot while Jason Masengarb followed him to fourth. With five laps remaining, Huggins had opened up his lead to a straight away. Tim Hennigar, Thursday night's winner in Britt, would slip past Masengarb to take fourth with three laps to go. But nobody was going to catch Joel Huggins on this night as he took home the win. Josh May was second, Mike Morrill third, Tim Hennigar fourth, and Jason Masengarb rounded out the top five. Two Colorado drivers were also in attendance on this night. Brad and Kris Bayne both traveled to Britt Thursday and made the trip to Marshalltown as well. They finished 10th and 17th Friday night.
The IMCA sportmods took their turn on the track. A field of twenty-nine cars were funneled down to twenty-four and Bryan Rodman used his outside front row start to take the early lead. After an early caution, Kyle Brown ducked low on Shawn Simatovich to take over the runner up spot. By lap four Scott Davis had advanced from his sixteenth starting spot up to sixth. Drew Fish and Luke Wanninger made contact on the front stretch and Wanninger would try to move to the inside in turn one. He drifted up in front of Fish, but Fish did not hit the brakes and spun Wanninger around. Fish would later be black flagged for his actions while Wanninger would later retire to the pits after being motioned to the tail for being stopped on the caution.
Davis was able to make his way to third before the red flag came out for Curt Hilmer. Hilmer's car caught a rut in turn one and he rolled violently several times. He would be okay. Point leader Kevin Sather had to start deep in the field after having to transfer out of the bmain. After starting 22nd, Sather sliced his way to sixth. Late in the race, Neil Follett got the jump on a restart to power by Davis on the outside to move into the third spot while Sather passed another car to crack the top five. Bryan Rodman would be the one standing in victory lane when all was said and done as he picked up his first career win. Kyle Brown was second, Neil Follett third, Scott Davis fourth, and Kevin Sather rounded out the top five.
A field of twenty-nine IMCA stock cars were narrowed down as well for their feature that saw pole sitter Tommy Thompson lead in the early going. Damon Murty charged his way up to the top five at the completion of lap three while Clay Deppe replaced Thompson at the front of the field. Murty made his way to third while point leader Dustin Smith was on the move into the sixth spot.
Thompson would lose the runner up spot to Murty a short time later as Smith was continuing his march to the front by also passing Thompson for the third spot. Deppe's lead began to shrink as both Murty and Smith closed in from behind. Deppe's car slipped up the track in turn two, allowing Murty and Smith to race by. Murty's time at the front would be short as Smith also made the pass for the lead with two laps to go. Deppe would exit the track a lap later as the caution came out. Murty would try to stay glued to Smith's rear bumper, but he was unable to do so as Dustin Smith captured yet another feature win. Damon Murty was second, Michael Jaennette third, Rob Schneider fourth, and Eric Flander rounded out the top five.
Twenty-one IMCA modifieds made their way to the track for their twenty-lap feature next. Tim Stevens used his pole to take the top spot, but he bobbled in turn four and lost four spots to hand the lead over to David Brown. After a restart, Brett Ladehoff challenged Brown on the inside as the two raced wheel to wheel for a couple laps before another caution was displayed. A lap after that restart, Tim Murty was able to power his machine by Ladehoff on the outside and then dart to the inside of Brown in turn three to take over the race lead.
Scott Simatovich would be the one to watch late in the race as he made the pass on Ladehoff for second and later got by Murty on the inside for the lead. As the laps were winding down, Randy Havlik would get by Jake Durbin for the fifth spot after Havlik started 18th. Up front it was Scott Simatovich grabbing his first career IMCA modified feature win. Tim Murty settled for second, Brett Ladehoff third, Scott Hogan fourth, and Randy Havlik fifth.
Clint Nelson took command of the IMCA hobby stocks as the green flag waved. Jennifer Hulin made her presence be known as she took over the runner up spot. The fifth and sixth row starters were making a convoy towards the front as they grabbed positions fifth through eighth. Those would include Michael Murphy, Todd Reitzler, Pete Hutzel, and Devin Smith. A caution came out to bunch the field up which allowed Eric Larson to drive by Hulin on the outside to take over the runner up spot. Eric Larson would improve one spot better as he made the pass for the lead later on and take home his first career win. He was followed across the line by Jennifer Hulin, Mike Vibbard, Michael Murphy, and Todd Reitzler.
The final event of the night would be the stock car king of the hill. Only five cars participated and the final would be Damon Murty against Donnie Bown. Bown's car pushed up in turn two and he called it quits as Murty would be crowned the king of the hill.
Mother Nature tried to show her head throughout the late stages of the night but was unsuccessful. The track stayed heavy all night which meant it was a little more difficult for drivers starting at the back to make their way to the front, although several were able to do so. Three first-time winners able to enjoy their moment in the sun in victory lane.
The night was also a somewhat special one for me. Friday night was my 100th race of the season already. Many will call me stupid, many will call me crazy. I just call myself a race fanatic!! If you'd like to see what races I've attended this year, you can check out my personal website at http://www.geocities.com/racefan85/index.html and click on 2009 races.
- Racing may be a hobby, but it's DEFINITELY addictive!!
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