Since its inception the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel at the Stuart Speedway has been a bucket list event for me. No, this doesn't feature a Late Model or Sprint Car touring series, it is a special event that not only highlights the Stock Car and Hobby Stock divisions, but the title sponsor gives out some goodies to the support classes as well making for an entertaining evening where I get to see some drivers tow in from tracks that I have either never been to, or just rarely visit. Plus, if you have been a reader of the Back Stretch in the past, you know that I am more than happy to make a nearly three hour trip to see any show that is being presented by promoter, race director and track prep guru Mike Van Genderen.
Dallon Murty has dominated this event over the years and when he drew the pole position for the thirty lap Stock Car main event it looked like a sure bet that he would continue to be the only winner on the list. However, Dallon was behind the wheel of his Dad's #99D tonight after a less than stellar performance in his own car at Marshalltown the night before and when he was passed for third on the final lap of his heat race, the "Game Changer" looked like he might be vulnerable. And that would continue at the drop of the green of the headliner as fellow front row starter Buck Schafroth beat him back to the line to lead lap one and then Oregon native Dillon Solum soon dropped Murty to third as he then prepared his challenge on the leader.
That battle for the lead was classic Stuart Speedway action as Solum threw two sliders at Schafroth in turns one and two only to have "Buck Wild" ward him off with a crossover until lap seven when Solum did a "short slider" in turn one and then shut the door on Schafroth to take the lead. As soon as this lap was scored the caution would wave for Brad Derry's spin in turn two and on the restart, everything changed up front.
With Solum and Schafroth both drifting to the top in turn two, Murty found a bite off the bottom and went past both of them down the back stretch to take his first lead and then he would lead the remaining twenty-three laps and through another three restarts to score the win. In fact, his scariest moment came as he was coming to the white flag when fluid from Bryan Snell's car at the top of turns three and four caused Murty to slide up and into the concrete barrier, but the caution for the fluid allowed him to regroup and lead those final two laps for the $2,000 victory.
 |
| The pass for the lead, Dallon Murty to the inside of Dillon Solum and Buck Schafroth - Barry Johnson photo |
Schafroth would finish second, Mike Albertson made it a three car battle for that runner-up spot late as he finished third, Solum gave the best performance that I have seen from him in person here even though he slipped to fourth at the checkers and Josh Daniels was one of the few using a low line on both ends as he came from the ninth row to finish fifth.
 |
| Dallon owns The Duel - Barry Johnson photo |
The Hobby Stocks were doing battle for a $1,000 top prize and a couple of Nebraska drivers that I have not seen before, Joe Beller and Dillon Thompson impressed me with heat race wins earlier in the night. But all eyes would be on another Nebraska driver, Dillon Richards from Beatrice who started his 2025 season with a trip to Arizona and who came into the night with nineteen feature wins in twenty-five nights and he is currently the leader in our All Iowa Points.
Dillon was not pleased when drew the #11 for the feature race, knowing that there was very fast drivers in front of him and two of those would be front row starters Cody Williams and Andrew Burg. Williams, who made the tow in from Minneapolis, Kansas, would lead the opening lap before Burg took the point on lap two and he would set a quick pace as Richards used the top side to claw his way into the top five by mid-race.
Cautions on laps seventeen, twenty and twenty-one would see Richards get up to third for the final restart with just four laps remaining and he would use an upper groove that still had some life in it to allow him to sail around Burg with two laps to go to for his twentieth win of the season in an impressive fashion. Burg would hold off persistent challenges from Kolby Sabin to finish second while Minnesota driver Blake Luinenburg would also find the high line useful to come from tenth to fourth. Cody Williams would complete the top five.
Earlier in the evening the feature race action started off with the Outlaw Mini-Mods where Ben Kraus made the pass on Bobby Daniels on lap four and then cruise to victory. The race was red flagged on lap eleven when young Hayden Glover got loose on the turn two cushion and when he over corrected his car climbed the embankment behind the back stretch and he ended up on the gravel road that runs to the north of the speedway. Hayden was okay after the harrowing ride and I still can't see how any Mini-Mod could replicate the accident even if they tried as that embankment is probably four times taller than the height of these race cars.
From his looks to the way he ran the cushion, you could tell that runner-up Bradyn Gustin is the son of Ryan while Bobby Daniels, Justin Winkler and Lucas Daniels filled out the top five.
In the fifteen lap Sport Compact feature your current All Iowa Points leader Michael Gardner drew the pole position and appeared to have this one well in hand. But on the final lap, and with a lapped car looming ahead, I'm not sure whether the leader hesitated or if something went amiss on his race car as both Blake Fineran and Colbin Funke caught him and passed him with Fineran taking his first win here at Stuart. Funke came from tenth to second at his hometown track as Gardner slipped to third with Mark Smith and Daniel Clayton closing out the top five.
Brayton Carter was the third of four current All Iowa Points leaders in action tonight and he would start from ninth in the twenty lap Sport Mod main event that would see Taylor Kuehl race out to the early lead. Jenae Gustin would apply the pressure on Kuehl through the first six laps until she went too high entering turn one on lap six and with Gustin now back to eighth in the running order, Kuehl now seemed well in control.
Behind her the racing for position was intense and at the mid-race point Carter made his way past Cam Reimers to take the second spot. Kuehl was still the captain of the ship when the caution waved on lap sixteen and on the restart with Carter, Reimers and Matt Avila going at it behind her, it looked like Taylor might hold on as, after contact, Carter had dropped briefly to fourth. He had battled his way back to second though as the white flag was about to wave before the caution was needed again when Cody Center spun in turn one.
On this restart there would be no stopping Carter as he would make the pass on Kuehl to take the white flag first and then ease away on the final to score his fourteenth Sport Mod win of the season with seven of them coming in the past nine days! Kuehl was impressive in second, Avila edged out Reimers for third and Caleb Woodard charged from the eleventh row to finish in fifth.
You can find the weekly updates of the All Iowa Points at this link and if you are clicking this the week of May 12, 2025, you will see that Izac Mallicoat was the fourth current points leader in action tonight as he started the twenty-lap Modified feature from the outside of row one and was never headed on his way to victory. Both Todd Shute, a former All Iowa Points champion in 2008, and former IMCA Super Nationals Champion Cody Laney would make runs at the young driver only to have Izac hold them off for the win. Shute would be the runner-up ahead of Laney, Kyle Brown started ninth and finished fourth while Drew Janssen filled out the top five.
After whistling through the heat races in record time, there were more cautions than you usually see here through the features, likely due to the extra money on the line, so the final checkered flag waved around 10:30 and let's just say that those late night drives get harder and harder once you get into your sixties. Nonetheless the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel will be circled on my calendar again in 2026 and don't be surprised to see me back at Stuart again sometime this season.
Up next for me will be the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders traditional Memorial Day weekend return to 34 Raceway west of Burlington on Sunday May 25th. Come on back and visit the Back Stretch again soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment