Since Lee County Speedway was off due to the Lee County Fair, I made my way to Marshalltown Speedway Friday night to fill in for scorer Mary Brown. Although I'd been to Marshalltown for Frostbuster and Deery Series events the last couple years, it was my first visit to the speedway for a weekly racing program in over three years.
Fifteen IMCA Modifieds were on-hand to do battle on the high banks. Zach Rawlins and David Brown led the 20-lapper to green before Kyle Brown snuck past his father to take charge early. The younger Brown paced the field while Jimmy Gustin was reeling in the leaders on the high side from a fifth row start.
As Brown led and Gustin made his way through traffic, Jon Snyder and Luke Wanninger closed in on the leader as the top four drivers battled up front. The leaders broke free and ran nose-to-tail at the midway point, a bumper's width separating each position, before Wanninger made his way to the front.
Once out front, Wanninger drove away from the pack to score the impressive win. Snyder came home second ahead of Kyle Brown and Gustin. Wanninger was running a crate motor so Snyder also earned the 40-point winner's share for his efforts.
Pole-sitter Garrett Eilander led the early stages of the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock main. While Eilander paced the field, Eric Larson gave chase and Scott Pippert started making his way through the pack from a fifth row start.
Pippert worked the low groove into contention and swept past the leaders at the approximate midway point to drive to the victory. Larson made his way around Eilander to finish second. Eilander and Brice Udelhoven completed the top four.
From a third row starting spot, Racer Hulin took to the high side early in the IMCA SportMod feature. While Jake Strayer and Sam Wieben exchanged time out front, Hulin drove into contention a few laps into the event before taking over just shy of the midway point. Hulin pulled away to take the impressive victory ahead of Strayer. Wieben and Nick Roberts rounded out the top four.
Trent Murphy took the early lead in the IMCA Stock Car feature to drive to the win ahead of Steve Meyer, Damon Murty and Michael Jaennette.
Mike Morrill held off late pressure from Josh May to take the Mod Lite win. Dusty Masolini and Joel Huggins ran third and fourth.
Merv Chandler won, for what I heard was the ninth time, in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Travis Losenicky chased Chandler to the checkers ahead of Duayne Herb and Neil Nabholz.
I apologize for the brief recap, but if you've ever scored a race, you understand how much of the action you actually miss. Thanks to promoter Toby Kruse for asking me to fill in tonight. It was a great time and I have to add, the crew at Marshalltown does an incredible job. I haven't worn a radio and headset at a race track on a regular basis since I stopped scoring races weekly in 2007. I have to admit that's one thing I don't miss and wasn't looking forward to on Friday. There's a lot of chatter that generally goes on behind the scenes and during each event, but the gang in Marshalltown keeps the radio chatter to a minimum. Toby and his crew are as professional as it comes from the first green flag to the final checkers.
Not only was I impressed by how the crew kept the show moving, but I was equally impressed with flagman Al Wolfgram. He's on top of things as much as any flagman I've worked with and made my job in the tower that much easier. The entire group at Marshalltown was great to work with and I hope to get the chance to visit again before the end of the season.
Saturday, it's night number 11 of the 2012 season at Independence Motor Speedway. The Independence Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the night's event and a number of area businesses plan to have representatives on-hand. Join us for another night of Fast Family Fun before the Buchanan County Fair gets underway next week. Have a great weekend!
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