Cayden Carter took charge at the drop of the green and was never seriously challenged on his way to the winner's circle in IMCA Modified action Friday night at Marshalltown Speedway.
From his pole position start, Carter put his #10C into the top spot at the drop of the green while Zach Rawlins and Kyle Brown pursued. The leaders ran in that order until the race's only stoppage came after the completion of the first lap.
The early yellow was displayed when Richie Gustin and Luke Wanninger stopped in the middle of turns one and two. The caution was extended when Gustin got out of his car, walked over to Wanninger's ride and attempted to extract the driver from his car. Track personnel quickly restored order, however both machines were unable to continue.
Although I didn't see the contact that sent Gustin spinning, the passenger side of his car, at the very least, was left with significant sheet metal damage before Wanninger came upon his sideways ride. With multiple cars battling for position at the time, it appeared Gustin was mistakenly under the impression that it was Wanninger who carelessly trucked through the pack to leave his #19G looking like a mangled patio set in the clearance section of Crate and Barrel.
When racing resumed, Carter took to the high side and drove away from an exciting battle for the runner-up spot. Brown worked the top side while Jimmy Gustin and Jon Snyder ran low. Gustin kept pace with Brown and eventually made his way into second just past the midway point of the 20-lapper. By that time, however, Carter extended his advantage to a near-straightaway margin.
With Carter comfortably out front and Gustin in second, Brown went to work on the low side with Snyder and Adam Larson in pursuit. Carter held serve for the remainder of the event to take the impressive win with Gustin a straightaway behind in second. Kyle Brown went back to the top side and held off Jon Snyder for third. Larson was a close fifth.
Jay Schmidt inherited the pole position of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature when Nate Thelen scratched from the event. Schmidt took advantage of his good fortune by leading the first two laps while Tracy Gienger and Michael Jaenette gave chase.
Gienger worked the low side past Schmidt in turn two on the second lap to take charge until caution slowed action on lap five. By that time, fifth row starting Steve Meyer worked his way into the top four and positioned himself to challenge.
On the restart, Meyer went to work on the top side and made his way around Jaenette for third and then was poised to challenge Schmidt for second when the caution flag waved again on lap nine. The top three ran in the same formation until Schmidt got sideways to bring out a final yellow with four laps to go.
When racing resumed a final time, Meyer again went to work upstairs. He kept the leader within his sights, however Meyer was unable to make the pass as Gienger drove to the win. Meyer ran second ahead of Jaenette, Jeff Wollam and Eric Knutson.
Jamie Duinink paced the 18-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature for the first four circuits. Duinink showed the way while third row starting Ty Luellen raced the low groove into contention. Luellen drove the bottom side past Duinink just before the yellow flag waved on lap six.
Luellen survived three more mid-race cautions while Jenae Gustin and Ben Kates battled for second. Gustin raced the top side around Kates for good at the nine lap mark, however Luellen was too strong out front as he drove to the win by a strtaightaway. Gustin ran second ahead of Kates, Eric Elliott and Joel Rust.
Brandon Pruitt led the entire 12-lap distance to score the win in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Pruitt built his lead to over half of a straightaway by the time he encountered lapped traffic on the eighth circuit. Bill Bonnett closed the gap late, but came up a couple car-lengths short at the line to finish second. Brice Udelhoven, Eric Stanton and Austin Luellen completed the top five.
From his second row starting spot, Josh May quickly made his way into the lead of the 15-lap Mod Lite main event. Once out front, May set sail on the top side of the fast quarter-mile to take the win ahead of Mike Morrill and a hard-charging Andy Hennigar. Charlie Brown ran fourth ahead of Dusty Masolini.
Four IMCA Sport Compacts signed in for action, however only three were able to start the feature after Jim Alday rolled his machine in the heat race. He was not injured.
David Moormann led the first four times around for the eight-lap feature before Merv Chandler worked the low side into the lead just past the midway point. Chandler cruised to the win ahead of John Gill.
It was nice to see fellow Positively Racing bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele in Marshalltown. More complete results and their take on the night will be available at the 4dfan Report.
Saturday, it's Armed Forces/Veterans Night at Independence Motor Speedway. In honor of Armed Forces Day, all past and present service men and women will be admitted free to the grandstands by presenting their military IDs. I also received word late today that Karsyn's Krusaders will be on-hand selling shirts. It promises to be another exciting night at Indee. I hope to see you there!
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