Six track champions were crowned Friday night at Marshalltown Speedway as the North 3rd Avenue Dairy Queen Rally Whalum Season Championship took place.
First onto the track was the IMCA Friesen Performance Northern SportMods, and as a result of a draw the “field” was reversed – six laps were added making the main event 22 laps long, meaning points leader Brayton Carter would start from the back of the pack.
When the race went green, Ryan Lehman, who started from the outside of the front row, took the lead. On lap three, Will Wolf lost a wheel and the yellow flag was waved, but Carter had already worked his way up to third place. When the race resumed, Carter quickly made progress again and took the lead at the end of lap five. From there, Carter took the checkered flag, the win, and the 2024 Truck Championship. It was Carter’s fourth win of the season, having also won the Frostbuster. Lehman persevered to take second place, with Colton Livesey third, Keith Simmons fourth, and Hunter Clement rounding out the top five.
In IMCA Stealth STARS Mod Lite, points leader John Padilla, who had all but locked up the track title, made a call without a draw, choosing to reverse the entire field and start from the back of the pack in a race that lasted 23 laps.
Mike Pershing and Michael Mann, both from Colchester, Illinois, were lucky enough to start from the front row. Mann led the first lap, Pershing took the lead on lap two, and Jason Massengharb, from Corona, Illinois, took the lead on lap three. Massengharb held the lead down the straight until the yellow flag came out on lap 13. By this time, Padilla had worked his way up to second place and was battling with Josh May. When the race resumed, Massengharb held the lead until he was briefly overtaken by Padilla on lap 18. He quickly came back and reclaimed the lead. He never relinquished the lead the rest of the way to the finish, securing his third win of the season. Padilla had to settle for second place after starting 20th, while May, who started 19th, took third, Mike Morrow, from Corona, Illinois, took fourth, and Corey Sonner, who started 12th, took fifth.
The IMCA Sunoco Stock Car points leader was Jimmy Gustin, who had clinched the title before the green fell, but he drew six to make the comeback in the 20-lap race.
Last year’s track champion, Steve Meyer, took the lead when the race went green. Scott Rice crashed while running in second place, and Gustin had already worked his way up to third place on the first lap. The yellow flag was waved on the fourth lap, but Rice was unlucky to stop at the top of the fourth corner, putting an end to his good run. When the race resumed, Meyer continued to hold onto the lead, with Gustin close behind him in second place. Michael Jannett jumped into the ring and threw down a challenge to Gustin. Gustin had moved up to second, but tried to slide on leader Meyer, but got a little too high at the fourth corner and was pushed off the edge. Jannett was back on the pace, but was far behind in third place, with second-place Gustin trying to challenge Meyer. However, the top positions remained unchanged on the final circuit, and Meyer took the flying flag to win. Gustin had to settle for second, Meyer held on to third, Paul Stone of Winston, California, who started 17th, took fourth place, and Damon Marty, who was racing a borrowed car that night, took fifth. This was Meyer’s second win of the season.
A lucky, or maybe unlucky, draw for the starting lineup for the IMCA Friesen Performance Modified feature resulted in points leader Trip Gaylord being upset from sixth on the grid. Luckily for him, it was Kyle Brown who earned the pole, along with Cody Brill, the visiting driver from Bates City, Missouri, who lined up at the start of the 26-lap feature.
When the green flag waved, Brown took the lead with Brill in hot pursuit. Brown held on to the lead until he went off the track on the backstretch just before the 16th lap, ending his race for the night. Brill now had a points win and was soon being chased by the two No. 77 cars. Austin Kuehl and Trip Gaylord of Cave Creek, Arizona were in a fierce battle for second place. Brill held on to the lead and won his first race at Marshalltown Speedway. Gaylord finished second to claim the track championship. Austin Kuehl finished third, Kaylin Lopez fourth, and veteran racer David “Blue” Brown rounded out the top five.
In IMCA Mach-1 Compacts, points leader Cristian Grady made eight reverse turns in the 15-lap race. Corwyn Whisler of Des Moines started from the pole with Mark Smith alongside him.
Whistler held the lead for two laps, but last week’s winner, Michael Gardner, who started fifth, took the lead. Gardner was never threatened from there and won handily. Grady, who went on to win the track championship, came in second. Whistler was third, David Kimmel fourth, and Smith fifth. Gardner’s second win of the season.
The feature race concluded in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Points leader Calvin Dhondt made a quadruple comeback at the start of the 16-lap feature race.
The race was red flagged less than a lap later when Eldora’s Derrick McNeice blew a driveshaft and took a spectacular roll at the top of turn 3. Luckily McNeice was uninjured, but unfortunately for the car.
Eric Knutson took advantage of his outside starting position and quickly took the lead. He never relinquished the lead until the flying checkered flag. Bradley Graham started third and passed third-place Solomon Bennett for second place. Sam West started sixth and finished fourth, while D’Hondt finished fifth to win the track championship. This was Knutson’s third win of the year.
At the end of the show, the Powder Puff Race entertained the fans. The Sport Mod division was won by Katherine Jenkins in Beau Jenkins’ car. The Stock Car division was won by Riley Kriegel in Kylie Rollins’ car. The Hobby Stock class was won by Addie Stevens in Brad Graham’s car. Natalie Barber in Cliff Barber’s Mod Lite won the Checkered Track and the Sport Compact competition was won by Nicole Kimmel in David Kimmel’s car.
The next race at Marshalltown Speedway will be the Showdown at Motown on Aug. 30, when the Carl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks will join the other six regular classes. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:15 p.m., with the race at 7 p.m.
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