The IMCA Modifieds are the headliners of this event and on Friday night they would run two sets of heat races using a points system that rewarded positions gained and penalized positions lost to set the lineups for Saturday night with a huge $10,000 paycheck awaiting the winner. Forty-seven drivers signed in, down from the count that would have been here if this event had been able to be run in September when it was originally scheduled, but still the field was solid and diverse with three drivers even making the long pull over from the state of Pennsylvania. The racing in the first set of heats was very entertaining highlighted by back to front charges by both Ricky Thornton Jr. and Richie Gustin.
The second set of heats would close out the night, but with more racing ahead of me this evening (weather permitting) I chose to start my two and a half hour drive home instead. Checking the results this morning I see that Jordan Grabouski stands as the top point getter ahead of Gustin, Joel Rust and Jeff Aikey setting up what should be a fantastic feature lineup for tonight's finale.
The three other divisions in action for the weekend run full shows each night and it would be the IMCA Hobby Stocks first to the track on this night for twenty laps of action. After battling each other last weekend in Memphis, Missouri, division rookies Kaden Reynolds and Miciah Hidelbaugh would start from the front row in this one with Reynolds taking the lead on lap one. A caution for debris would slow the field on lap four and the restart lineup would have Dylan Nelson in third and Jason Fusselman in fourth, impressive in that they had started from tenth and eleventh respectively.
Reynolds would maintain the point though as Nelson dropped Hidelbaugh to third and the caution would fly again at lap ten when David Simpson spun in turn one and was smacked by an oncoming Austin Hoeft.
On the restart Nelson would put the slider on Reynolds and when the new leader took a shot in the rear from the old one, steam started to flow from under the hood and the front tires glistened with radiator fluid. With the engine sputtering more with each lap, Nelson tried to nurse it to the end but after Reynolds drove under him in turn two on lap seventeen Nelson headed to the pits just three laps shy of a victory.
The other fifth row starter Solomon Bennett was now up to second, but he could not reel in the leader before the checkers waved as Reynolds won for the twelfth time in this his first full season in a Hobby Stock after dominating in the Micro Mod division. Hidlebaugh would hang on to the third spot, with Fusselman fourth and Wayne Gifford completed the top five at the checkers.
The IMCA Northern Sport Mods were up next with six of the twenty-four starters coming from the state of Wisconsin. Rookie driver Dylan Van Wyk and now two-time IMCA National Champion Tyler Soppe would start from the front row for the twenty-lap distance and it would take three tries to get a start on this one before the rookie took control. One of those Wisconsin based drivers, Jason Roth quickly moved from sixth to second and was the only driver that could keep pace with Van Wyk while my attention was on two drivers making a big charge from the back of the field.
Cody Thompson had started from the tenth row and by mid-race he was up to fourth while Brayton Carter was on the move as well now running sixth after starting sixteenth. With eight laps remaining Roth slowed with mechanical issues and the caution would bring Van Wyk back to the field for the restart. Southwest Iowa hot shoe Josh Sink would spin in turn one on the first try and once back to racing both Thompson and Carter continued their run to the front passing both Austin Kaplan and Tyler Inman.
By the time they got there though the go-kart graduate from Oskaloosa was too far out front to catch as Van Wyk continued his impressive debut season with his third feature win. The defending All Iowa Points champion Thompson finished second while Carter kept his current All Iowa Points title hopes alive with the third place run. Kaplan and Inman filled out the top five.
The Stock Cars were up next for twenty laps and while this one had a few too many cautions than you would normally want to see on a chilly night, let's just say that the final two laps made it all worth while. David Atcher would spin in turn one on the first try at a start and on the second try the front row starters Josh Mroczkowski and Jason Cummins were joined by Todd Reitzler to cross the stripe three wide scoring lap number one. We are used to seeing Reitzler in his own #22R, but tonight he was in the car that has been driven by Shawn Ritter this season, but with a #56T on it instead of either Reitzler's or Ritter's number and on lap two that new car/driver combo would again be side-by-side with the Wisconsin invader Mroczkowsi at the line.
Finally on lap three we had a clear leader at the line and it would be Reitzler who would hold that lead until the caution waved for a Hannah Chesmore spin on lap five. On the restart the newly crowned IMCA Stock Car National Champion Jordan Grabouski would sail around Reitzler to take the lead by inches at the loop on lap six. That would be important as going into turn one Cummins would bicycle his car with the left side high in the air and when it came back down on all fours he veered to the right causing Jarred Daggett to spin to avoid contact.
The restart would put Grabouski completely out front and he would hold a somewhat comfortable lead until lap fourteen when Elijah Zevenbergen would have something break on the right front of his car racing down the front stretch causing him to nearly go up and over entering turn one.
The field was reset again with the leader out front and two-by-two behind him and when Grabouski paced the field high into turn three and then turn left to drive down the banking while accelerating he drove across the nose of Jimmy Gustin causing the leader to get sideways in front of the entire field. The accordion effect then went into play with two of the drives restarting near the back, Daggett and Kevin Rose suffering the most damage as everybody else got their starting spot back for the next try at a green.
This time the leader took a more direct line through three and four and we were back to racing with Damon Murty now making the moves. Murty who had started seventh and faded to mid-pack early was now on the fly using his favored high line around the Marshalltown Speedway high banks and with just a few laps remaining he was now second and closing on the leader. One more caution would wave though with just two laps to go when the final two cars on the track, Atcher and Chesmore would tangleChesmore through a couple of the infield billboards.
down the front stretch sending
We were now set up for a thrilling green-white-checkers close to this one and when the green flag waved Murty put the slider on Grabouski to take the lead as the white flag waved. "Grabo" was not about to give in though as he drove under Murty in turns one and two only to have Murty cross him over going down the back stretch. With Murty now protecting the bottom entering turn three for the final time, Grabouski went to the top and as Murty drifted to the cushion in four, Grabouski aimed his nose to the bottom and with that momentum he would drive past Murty down the front stretch to beat him by inches at the checkers. Announcer Jerry Van Sickel reported that the transponder scoring had the difference at just 0.094 seconds for the win. Gustin was right behind the leaders waiting for a mistake as he finished third. Reitzler held down the fourth spot while Benji LaCrosse came from the fifth row to finish in fifth.
With that I rolled up the sleeping bag, took off the gloves and three coats and hit the road for home with plenty of adrenaline flowing for the late night drive. Don't forget that if you are headed to Marshalltown tonight the racing action starts at 5 p.m.
My destination tonight is the 2019 edition of Shiverfest at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. For most of the last fifteen days today's forecast had called for sunny skies and near normal temperatures, but with a tropical system now pushing north and east out of the Gulf there is a chance that some light showers might fall during the afternoon. Hopefully it won't be enough to stop the fun at this long time traditional event!Hayrack rides through the pits start at 3 p.m., Trick-or-Treating with the drivers is at 4:15 with hot laps at 5:00 and racing to follow. Hope to see you there!
And don't forget that we still have one more weekend of racing left in Iowa with the 3rd Annual Turkey Dash in Columbus Junction!
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