It was a busy Tuesday night of racing action at the Stuart Speedway as eight drivers in each of three divisions, the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks, locked themselves in to tonight's Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel. The quick quarter-mile was in prime racing condition on the night producing plenty of three and four wide action with eight of the ten feature races running green to checkers!
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| Four-wide Sport Mods from left to right Josh Appel, Chris Burke, Mike Dullard and Colby Heishman - Barry Johnson photo |
Two qualifying features for the Sport Mods were up first with the top four finishers in each locking in to Wednesday's $2,500-to-win Dirt Duel. In this first twenty lapper rising star Izac Mallicoat would lead the way for the first eight laps before falling victim to a perfect slide job from third starting Dylan Van Wyk. A rash of three cautions in the final half of the race kept the field bunched together and while Van Wyk went relatively unchallenged to take the win, the battle behind him was intense running three-wide to determine the final three transfers and in the end it was Colby Fett coming from ninth to second, Cam Reimers from eighth to third and Jake Sachau held on for fourth. Mitchell Morris came up one spot short of a transfer after starting tenth.
The second Sport Mod qualifying feature was a classic battle between two drivers from east of I-35 as Shane Paris and Brayton Carter seemed to never be more than a car length apart from each other most of the race. Switching lines and throwing sliders at each other saw Paris hold the advantage at the line the first sixteen laps, but when Carter was finally able to complete the pass with three to go he would pull away to claim the win. Paris will regroup for Wednesday after his runner-up finish while current All Iowa Points leader Logan Anderson chased them in for third. Brett Vanderheiden made it a three car battle for the lead in the early laps and he would make the show in fourth while Missouri's Tim Eaton finished in the fifth position.
There were four cautions in the first Sport Mod feature and three in the second, but the remaining eight races would all go green to checkers as promoter Mike Van Genderen kept the track in prime condition with some well timed watering on another day that saw high temperatures and low humidity here in central Iowa.
The first qualifier for the Stock Cars saw young phenom Dallon Murty start from the pole position and while he would lead all twenty laps, it was far from a "walk away". Minnesota's Derek Green kept the heat on Murty and on lap seventeen he had a big run off the top of turn four. As Murty went around the slowing car of Bill Atcheson on the outside, Green aimed for the inside and as Atcheson started to edge toward the infield Green had to go even lower thus pinching off his momentum and ending his one best shot at making a run at the leader. Dallon would take the win over Green with his father Damon Murty coming home in third. Illinois traveler Abe Huls would lock himself in finishing fourth while Michael Jaennette will have to go through the qualifying process tonight after finishing in fifth.
The second Stock Car main belonged to Chanse Hollatz as the driver from Clear Lake started from the pole and stayed just ahead of Elijah Zevenbergen the entire distance. The battles for the final two qualifying positions kept the crowd's interest in this one as close quarters action included some beating and banging with drivers trying to lock in for Wednesday's $3,000-to-win finale. At the checkers it would be Buck Schafroth taking third after starting from eighth. Eastern Iowa veteran Joe Zrostlik would take the final transfer in fourth and Missouri hot shoe Austin Bouzek will have to qualify again tonight after finishing fifth.
Twenty-five Hobby Stocks signed in so the two qualifying races was more about the opportunity to start in the first four rows for tonight's $1,500-to-win Duel as unless some more drivers show up tonight, all will run the finale. Jack Phillips would lead the first two laps in the first qualifier before Dylan Nelson took the lead. Nelson had started fifth, but he wasn't the only driver on the move as Jeremy Purdy was riding the high line coming from eighth to challenge for the lead. Purdy would drive around Nelson to take the lead on lap seven and he would hold it to the checkers to take the win. Nelson was the runner-up while Jason Kohl capped off a frustrating night where he was taken out a couple of times by qualifying in third. Eric Stanton would finish fourth with Tom Killen Jr. fifth.
There was no touching Braden Richards who paced the field for all eighteen laps to win the second Hobby Stock qualifier. Aaron Rudolph was not far back throughout, but could never mount a challenge as he finished in second and Brandon Cox finished where he started in third. Tanner Dixon found redemption as he came from twelfth to finish fourth after being black flagged while leading his heat race due to fuel spilling out of his car. Solomon Bennett filled out the top five.
Sport Compacts and Mod Lites ran full shows on Tuesday night and in the twelve lap Sport Compact feature Braxton Wallace picked up his first career feature win in dominating fashion winning by more than a straightaway over Mark Smith who had worked his way up from seventh. Owen Richards crossed the line in third, but after he failed tech that moved Andrew Mills into the third spot. Harold Robb Sr. and Curtis Masterson would complete the top five.
Bakersfield, California, driver Kaden Cochrun dominated the Mod Lites on this night winning both the heat race and the feature without a challenge. The Raffurtys from Kansas City, Dillon and Michael finished second and third respectively with Josh May and Nathan Wolfe completing the top five.
There was still some bonus racing to be had as the Manufacturer's Race for both the Sport Mods and the Stock Cars would complete the evening. Izac Mallicoat would charge from fourth to the front early in the Sport Mod event, but there was Brayton Carter coming up fast on the top line after starting eighth and he would cruise to the lead on lap four. It was all Carter from there as the defending All Iowa Points champion held his second victory lane photo, including a dog no less, on the night. Mallicoat, Dylan Van Wyk, Cory Pestotnik and Jake Sachau were the top five.
Can anybody beat the Murtys in the Stock Cars? It will be a tough task tonight as father and son, Damon and Dallon finished first and second in the eighteen lap Manufacturer's Race and it wasn't easy as Damon had started fourth and Dallon came from seventh. Michael Jaennette came from eighth to third, early race leader Bob Daniels finished fourth and Derek Green had another impressive run in fifth.
After all of the action on Tuesday, you definitely do not want to miss Wednesday's finale of the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel at the Stuart Speedway with hot laps at 6:45 and racing to follow. And if you are not able to attend in person, you can also tune in at RaceXR. IMCA Modifieds and the Outlaw Mini Mods will be there tonight as well.
I will be filling in for Tony Paris who will be off calling some harness racing so, just like when I grab the mic at a Sprint Invaders show, the notebook will be left in the car. It will come back out on Thursday though when I have to decide between two great shows available to fans in southeast Iowa. The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars will be at 34 Raceway in West Burlington and the Hoker Trucking SLMR series will bring Late Models back to the Super Half-Mile in Eldon for the first time in many years. Two "must see" shows on a Thursday night within forty-five minutes from my home, have I mentioned how lucky I am to be a race fan in Iowa?
Get out and support the tracks of your choice!
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