5/4/2019
Marshalltown Speedway
Rust Runs Away with Modified Win
Marshalltown Speedway was the place for racin' on Friday night, as 136 race cars put on a great show for the fans during the Cliff Chambers Memorial show, honoring the former track promoter. The IMCA Late Models opened their 2019 weekly racing and it was Justin Kay taking home the honors in the wide-body class. Joel Rust ran away and hid in the IMCA Modified feature and Kyle Olson captured his first ever Marshalltown Speedway win in the IMCA Northern SportMod class. Shawn Ritter made his first ever appearance in Marshalltown's victory lane as well, in the IMCA Stock Car ranks, David Rieks was a happy camper with his win in the IMCA Hobby Stocks, and Mike Morrill made his second trip to the winner's circle in the Mod Lite division.
Mike Morrill was the first feature winner of the night, taking the win in the Mod Lites. Morrill came from ninth starting spot to take the lead at lap eight of the 15-lap main event. Joel Huggins finished as the runner up, just holding off third place finisher Randy Bryan. Fourth went to early leader Tim Gannon, and last week's winner Joe Glick was fifth. This was Morrill's second feature win of the year.
The IMCA Northern SportMods ran 18-laps for their feature and it was marred with caution flags. In the end it was Kyle Olson weathering all of those yellow flags to take home the win. Olson started sixth but had command of the race by the time lap three was scored. From there on he remained as captain of the ship, capturing his first win ever at the speedway. Brayton Carter had a good showing as he finished as the runner up after starting back in sixteenth starting spot, gave it a few peeks for a way around Olson, but had to be content with second. Cory Rose came from fourteenth starting spot, all the way to a third place finish, and Joe Docekal made it to fourth from a fifteenth start, and it was Tyler Soppe in fifth, all the way from seventeenth starting position.
The IMCA Hobby Stock 15-lap A main went flag to flag with David Rieks leading all but that opening lap on his way to victory. Rieks pulled away as the race wound down, leaving Shannon Anderson to finish a distant runner up. Leah Wroten, who had won last week, finished in third, Nathan Ballard came from eleventh starting spot to take fourth place, and Ray Fees rounded out the top five. Rieks was a happy camper in his victory lane interview.
Another first time win at Marshalltown came in the IMCA Stock Car class as Shawn Ritter lead the 18-lap event from flag to flag. Ritter, who changed from the Modified division, was in just his third outing in his Stock Car, and went home with a victory. He also weathered several cautions during the race, but was never seriously threatened. Steve Meyer, who won the season opener, made great headway to finish as the runner up after starting in fourteenth place. Todd Reitzler took third over visiting driver John Oliver from Danville, Iowa who finished fourth, and rounding out the top five was Dave Atcher.
The IMCA Late Models opened up their season at the speedway for 2019 and in their 20-lap main event it was Justin Kay taking all the marbles. Kay jumped to the immediate lead and would lead all twenty laps to take the easy victory going away. The most interesting battle of the race was between Joel Callahan and Todd Cooney as they fought tooth and nail for position. It was Callahan winning the fight to take second place over Cooney in third. Curtis Glover came from tenth to take fourth, and Jeremiah Hurst completed the top five.
The evening ended with the 20-lap IMCA Modified's A feature. Ronn Lauritzen started on the outside of the front row and shot to the lead when the race went green. He soon had the familiar #19 of Jimmy Gustin hot on his tail, and Joel Rust was coming fast. After a restart for a caution at lap four, Rust took off like a rocket and sailed to the top spot by the time lap five was in the books. From there on, Rust ran away and hid from his competition, and flew under the checkers to take the win. Tim Ward took the runner up position, getting around third place Jimmy Gustin in the final lap. Fourth went to tenth place starter Jeff Aikey, and early leader Lauritzen, took fifth.
The next race at the Marshalltown Speedway will be on Thursday, May 9 for the Dale DeFrance Thursday Night Thunder Memorial. Grandstands open at 5:30 and the first green flag drops at 7:30. There will not be racing on Friday, May 10.
Article Credit: Joyce Eisele