After the originally scheduled season opening Frostbuster event was washed out April 2, Marshalltown Speedway was hoping to complete its first event of the season on Friday. The proceedings were delayed after the first six qualifying heats, however, when a fuse blew on a transformer in the infield leaving the track without lights. After a delay of over an hour and a call to Alliant Energy, it was worth the wait as those in attendance were treated to an exciting program that included five exciting finishes.
The first feature of the night was the Mod Lite 15-lapper. Tim Hennigar assumed command in the early stages, but received heavy pressure from Jimmy May and Eric Hendricksen. Josh May entered the mix out front just prior to a lap four caution. On the restart, Hennigar continued to hold the top spot while Josh May was working the high side in his #99. While the leaders battled, Mike Morrill made his way through traffic and into the top three just prior to the midway point.
Over the final half of the event, the top three engaged in a terrific three-car, side-by-side battle, swapping both positions and racing grooves. Although Morrill took charge with only a couple of laps left, May used the high side to his advantage to come away with the win. Hennigar came home third.
In the most dominant performance of the night, Geoff Olson scored the win in the I.M.C.A. SportMod division as they ran 15 laps without a caution. Olson took charge at the drop of the green and quickly distanced himself from his pursuers. Eric Larson settled into second in the early going, but could not catch the leader despite his attempts to gain ground in lapped traffic. Olson took the win by half of a straightaway ahead of Larson. Eric Flander came home third. An impressive 41 SportMods signed in to compete during opening night action.
Pole-sitter Tracy Geinger held the point at the start of the 18-lap I.M.C.A. Stock Car main event. Geinger paced the 23-car field while Michael Jeannette gave chase. Damon Murty, who started a few rows deep in the field, worked the high line into third by the third lap. He continued to run the top groove and made his way into the lead just two laps later.
While Murty led, Trent Murphy and Steve Meyer challenged Jeannette for second. Both drivers worked around Jeannette just prior to a lap nine caution. On the restart, Murty again started to pull away while Dustin Smith began making his way through the field. Smith moved into fourth just before the yellow flag waved one last time three laps later. Smith powered past Meyer and Murphy when racing resumed and pulled within a car-length of Murty, but ran out of time as Murty motored to the victory. Meyer, Jeannette and Murphy completed the top five.
Luke Wanninger took advantage of his pole position start to take the early lead in the 26-car I.M.C.A. Modified feature. Running the middle and low grooves, Wanninger quickly distanced himself from the field as Scott Simatovich, Jay Schmidt and Richie Gustin battled for position behind him. Gustin motored into second on the seventh circuit and started to cut into Wanninger's lead. He pulled even with the leader at the halfway point of the 20-lapper when the leaders encountered lapped traffic. After running the lower grooves of the speedway for the entire event up until this point, Wanninger was forced to try the high side when a trio of backmarkers slowed his pace, allowing Gustin to pull to his inside. Exiting turn four on lap 13, Wanninger got loose on the high side and collected Gustin's #19G sending both into the front stretch wall to put an early end to both of their nights.
Simatovich inherited the point for the restart, followed by Schmidt, Vern Jackson and Jon Snyder. Simatovich held on to the lead while Snyder ran low and Jackson ran high to get around Schmidt, who spun in turn two on the 16th lap to bring out the final caution. Simatovich held off Snyder's challenges during the final four laps to take the win. Jackson, Jimmy Gustin and Todd Conrad completed the top five.
New father Josh Irvine scored his first win of the year in the 12-lap I.M.C.A. Hobby Stock feature. From his pole position start, Irvine took the early lead despite heavy pressure from Nick Murty and Todd Reitzler. Irvine paced the field running the low groove while Murty ran the top of the track and into a challenge for the lead four laps into the event. Murty took the point one lap later and remained out front until his car came to a stop on the back straightaway after the race had already gone to caution on lap seven.
With Murty in the pits, Irvine once again found himself out front as he led the final five circuits to take the win. Reitzler, who remained glued to Irvine's rear bumper throughout the race, finished second. Michael Murphy finished third ahead of Devin Smith and Dustin Elliott.
Despite the unexpected lighting problems and lengthy delay, promoter Toby Kruse and crew did a great job moving the show along as an impressive 139 cars signed in to do battle in 24 events, with the final checkered flag falling at 11:50 p.m.
My racing weekend has just started as the Independence Motor Speedway car show begins at 9 a.m. today (now that it's officially 2 a.m. Saturday), although the practice session scheduled for 2-6 p.m. this afternoon has been canceled. The fairboard and CJ Promotions have been working on replacing fence and guardrails around the outside of the track, however wet spring weather has slowed that process. The guardrails along the fence in turns one and two have not been completed despite the crew's steadfast efforts to get them done by this weekend. Due to that safety hazard, the practice session has been canceled, however it may be made up next weekend. Details about the possible make-up date will be coming in the near future.
After the morning car show, I plan to head south to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the season-opening event of the Deery Brothers Summer Series for I.M.C.A. Late Models. Talking to various drivers and fans, it appears most people expect to see anywhere from 50-70 cars at that show. Also competing will be I.M.C.A. Modifieds and Hobby Stocks. See you there!
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