I'd be crazy to say I had anything to do with what happened Friday night, but I did have a Leroy Jethro Gibbs moment Friday morning. For those of you who aren't NCIS fans, I had a gut feeling Friday morning, which led me to send a Facebook message to IMCA SportMod driver Sam Wieben.
A change of plans for the day on Friday also led to a change of plans Friday night. With my evening schedule empty, I messaged 14-year-old Wieben to ask if he was planning on racing at Marshalltown Speedway that night. He replied to confirm that was indeed the plan, so I told him I'd be there to see him get his first feature win.
After a healthy number of top-three finishes this season, the current leader in IMCA Northern SportMod national rookie points was still in search of his first career win. He recently started collecting heat wins and was getting ever-so-close to that elusive win. Friday night just felt like it was "time."
At the drop of the green in the 18-lapper, Wieben chased front row starters Travis Peterson and Gatlin Leytham. Peterson took the lead with Wieben pursuing from the low side. Just prior to a lap five caution, Wieben ducked beneath Peterson to take the top spot.
With Wieben out front, Peterson restarted in second to the inside of Racer Hulin, who made his way into the top three from a fifth row starting spot. When the green flag waved, Hulin chased the leader until he worked the top side into the lead at the completion of the seventh circuit. Hulin held the point until he uncharacteristically spun to the low side of turn two on the 15th lap to bring out the final yellow.
When the green flag waved a final time, Wieben ran the low side to perfection to score the win ahead of Ty Luellen and Jake Strayer. Points leader Scott Davis and Joel Rust completed the top five.
As humble in victory lane as he is in person, Wieben was less than animated during his interview with announcer Jerry Vansickle. In the pits afterwards, when asked why he wasn't showing a little more emotion, Wieben stated he was "still taking it all in." Don't worry, Sam. Save that emotion for another win. Friday night's win was the first of many! By the way, I'm still confused how I "jinxed you to the win." If that's the case, I hope I'm your bad luck charm for the rest of the season!
In other action, a trio of features ran green to checkers without a single caution. Among them, IMCA Stock Car driver Trent Murphy led the distance in that 18-lapper.
From his third row starting spot, Murphy quickly made his way to the front of the pack to snag the lead by the end of the first lap. Running the high side, Murphy pulled away from Trevor Titus, while Michael Murphy raced through traffic from his fourth row start.
With his older brother setting the pace, the younger Murphy ran the low groove past Titus for second on the fifth circuit, then attempted to chase down his sibling. With Trent up top and Michael down low, the gap shortened to a car-length before Trent pulled away to a more comfortable lead.
The gap briefly closed when the leaders encountered lapped traffic over the final four circuits, however Trent held on for the win over Michael. A race-long battle for third allowed the leaders to sneak away by a straightaway before Tracy Gienger worked the low side past Titus and Jeff Wollam. Gienger powered to the third place finish. Steve Meyer, who started in the fifth row, came home fourth ahead of Derek Reimer.
Travis Brandt took the early lead in the 15-lap Mod Lite main. While he set the pace, ninth starting Josh May made quick work of the field to settle into second after just two laps.
Running the top side, Brandt held the point while May worked both high and low to keep pace with the leader. While they battled, the front pair pulled to a straightaway margin over the rest of the pack at the midway point.
With just three laps to go, May swept to the inside of Brandt to take command off of turn four, then pulled away to score the victory in the caution-free event. Brandt ran second ahead of a hard-charging Mike Morrill. Andy Hennigar and Randy Bryan completed the top five.
The other feature with no stoppages was in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Pole-sitter Duayne Herb held the early lead in that eight-lapper while Merv Chandler gave chase from his second row starting spot.
Chandler worked the low side past Herb in turn two on the third lap to take command, then drove to his 12th win of the season on the Marshalltown quarter-mile. Herb ran second ahead of Travis Losenicky, Travis Ross and Trent Orwig.
A wild start to the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw a five-wide battle (yeah, those never end well), along with the points leader being forced to make up a whole lot of ground after getting collected in a mishap.
After pole-sitter Dustin Lynch took charge, the race was on not far behind him as a group of his pursuers went five-wide in turn two in a battle for position. Because nobody wins on the first lap (try as they might), the five-wide formation turned sour as the field made its way out of turn three and into four. Although there was some paint exchanged and some drivers weren't moving southward to eastward in a fluid motion, everybody continued on. That is, until Lynch looped his machine in front of the pack in turns one and two. That left Josh Saunders out front until caution slowed action on lap three.
When racing resumed, Eric Larson, who started in the fourth row, was on Saunders' rear bumper. Larson chased the leader until he worked the low side to the front at the midway point. Larson drove away from Saunders to take the victory with Tyler Prickett coming home third. Points leader Scott Pippert, who was caught up in a mishap on the first lap, raced back through the 20-car field to run fourth ahead of John Watson.
Luke Wanninger drove the low groove to the front in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. From his third row starting spot, Wanninger raced past Kyle Brown to take control on the first lap. He pulled away while Jimmy Gustin maneuvered through traffic from a fourth row start.
With Jon Snyder up top and Ronn Lauritzen working the low side, Gustin hugged the tires and made it a three-wide battle off turn two for second. Gustin escaped down the back stretch with the position, however he ran a full straightaway behind the leader with little more than half of the race to go.
While Gustin worked to cut into the lead, Wanninger raced through lapped traffic to take the win by half a straightaway. Snyder crossed the line in third, a full straightaway behind Gustin. Adam Larson and Kyle Krampe completed the top five.
Following feature action, a King (Queen?) of the Hill event was held for eight competitors in the IMCA SportMod division. When all was said and done, Jenae Gustin took home the bonus money after beating Racer Hulin, Jared Van Deest and Jake Strayer in the bracket challenge.
Thanks to the folks in Marshalltown for another fun night of racing. Saturday, it's back to Independence Motor Speedway for the 13th night of weekly racing. It's Veridian Credit Union Night at the Races as we enter our last month of weekly competition for the season. On Sunday, I'll be at Benton County Speedway in Vinton before returning to Independence on Monday for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and $1,000-to-win IMCA Modifieds. If you plan to hit the WoO show on Monday and want to get grandstand tickets in advance, be sure to take advantage of early ticket sales this weekend. They will be available at the track on Saturday and I will have what's leftover in Vinton on Sunday.
Have a great weekend and I hope to see you at the races!
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