Sunday night, April 13th was the sixty fourth season opener for the Stuart International Speedway in Stuart Iowa. The 2025 racing season started right off with a bang as not only was it the point opener for four divisions that race at the track weekly, the 360 Sprint Cars of the Malvern Bank Series along with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders joined together to provide a wild evening of winged Sprint Car racing on the ultimate bull ring in the state.
When the slide jobs were completed in the Sprint main, it was Chase Porter who held on for an exciting win in a main that saw three different leaders in the twenty five lap shootout. There was plenty of hard racing action in the other divisions also on Sunday night with Todd Shute, Dillon Richards, Buck Schafroth and Josalyn Elmquist the winners.
The afternoon started off to be a very pleasant one and one of the warmest racing nights I have experienced so far in 2025. But unfortunately, my title as the unofficial Wind Machine followed me back to Iowa and when the breezes started to howl over the hill and directly into the main grandstands, we were all in deep trouble. Despite the fact that the track was well watered and they would also take a couple quick breaks to keep the moisture in the surface, when you sit as close to the track as you do in Stuart, there are over thirty winged Sprints to create turbulence and the wind is just howling right into your face, the result was one of the most uncomfortable nights spent at the track in quite some time. It was no one's fault other than the uncooperative wind, but it made things really miserable for the fans. However, I saw no one complain or leave early. We just squinted our eyes, gritted our teeth and watched what we could through watering eyes.
And there was plenty to see as the show was a highly entertaining one and a very nice crowd was in attendance. As the special guests, the 360 Sprints brought in quite a field of competitors with thirty four of them on hand which required four heats and a pair of B Features to set the twenty car field for their main event which paid two grand to the winner.
Of special note, Ryan Gustin made his first ever appearance driving a Sprint Car as he caught a ride for the Sunday show. The Sprints used passing points to determine who made the show and no qualifying and that prompted Gustin to drive just as we would expect him to, elbows up and pounding the cushion.
Ryan started fourth in his heat and was up to second but sensing that a pass on Tanner Gebhardt might get him the pole for the feature, he pushed very hard to make the winning pass. Unfortunately for him, he jumped the generous cushion in turn one and doing what Sprint Cars always do, he went for a high flying tumble, going over a pair of times as he got his Sprint Car flight wings quickly!
While unhurt, he and the car were done for the night which was unfortunate but not totally unexpected. Gustin is always elbows up and with the tight confines of Stuart, crashes are a part of the action. He was one of five drivers that tumbled during the program.
Ultimately, twenty drivers would qualify for the Sprint feature. Porter started on the outside pole and got the jump to lead lap one. But he was quickly challenged for the lead by Tasker Phillips and they battled hard in the early going. Porter continued to lead but Phillips was pushing him hard. On lap eight, Phillips threw a slider and took over the top spot.
The first yellow flew with twelve laps completed for a spin and on the restart, Phillips made an error, getting too high in turn four and allowing Porter to duck back under him and take over the top spot again. Jake Blackhurst, Colton Fisher and Chris Martin were battling for position behind the two leaders.
A two car "Tommy Tip Over" by Cam Martin and Garrett Benson drew the red flag with eighteen laps completed and when the race restarted, the action got even more intense as Porter and Phillips exchanged slide jobs on every lap with Porter still able to hold the lead. Phillips hammered the home stretch wall in his efforts to make a pass and he damaged his car which then slide to a halt in turn one as he was done with just two laps to go.
Porter was not out of the woods by a long shot however, as slowly sneaking up from seventh was Terry McCarl and he found himself in second with just two laps to go and working the low side, he snuck under Porter and edged him out for the lead with just a lap to go. However, Porter got a great run down the front chute and then dived to the inside, taking away McCarl's line. He found off Terry down the back chute and drove home the winner by a slim margin over McCarl. Fisher finished up third with Chris Martin and Blackhurst following. Only five drivers didn't finish the race.
Todd Shute came from the third row to win the IMCA Modified feature race. In the early going, Trevor Fitz held the lead but Chaz Baca Jr came roaring up from the third row to move into second and put heavy pressure on Fitz. Unfortunately, while battling for the lead, Baca Jr managed to dump Fitz on the back chute, triggering the yellow and sending Baca Jr to the tail.
Then it was Shute's turn to challenge and one lap past the halfway signal, Todd drove past Fitz on the outside to take over the lead. Shute would then pull away while Fitz had his hands for for second as Tanner Black was hounding him. Late in the race, Black would break and his wife Kelsie then took over third, where she trailed Fitz to the checkers. Owen Barnhart and Garrett Nelson completed the top five.
For the longest part of the Hobby Stock feature, it looked like Dillon Richards long winning streak was going to come to an end. He was having trouble working his way up from the seventh starting spot and it didn't seem likely that he would find a way to victory lane. But he persisted and a last lap pass on Keith Burg gave him feature win number fourteen for the year, and it's only April.
Solomon Bennett led the opening round but one lap later Andrew Burg would take over the lead. Andrew Burg had to fight off Eric Stanton during the first half of the race but at the halfway point Keith Burg used the outside lane and he really got fast there and in just four laps he moved from fifth the lead just past the halfway point.
From then on, it was Keith and Andrew battling back and forth between themselves with Andrew retaking the lead on lap twelve but Keith fighting back with just two laps to go to grab the point. However, Richards was lurking just behind them and when they separated, Richards was right there to move into second. He then drove up behind Keith and with a power move deep into the corner on the last lap, he cleared his way into the lead and then drove home down the final chute. It was Burg, Burg, Bennett and Stanton behind him across the line.
Schafroth led from green to checkers in the Stock Car feature but he was constantly under the gun from Austin Meiners who tried all over the track to find a line fast enough to pass for the lead. He got close several times but Schafroth was steady in the low groove and didn't make any mistakes. Meiners followed from start to finish but had to settle for a strong second. Dillon Solum made a nice run to move up to third with Larry Robinson Jr and Todd Van Eaton next in line.
Brayton Carter was on his own hot streak this weekend and when he redrew the outside pole, it seemed likely that he would garner his fourth win of the weekend. However, that's why they run the race because you just never know what might happen.
As it turns out, Carter got too high in the fourth corner on lap one and let three drivers pass him on the opening lap, including Josalyn Elmquist. She would then go on to lead all eighteen laps of the race to record only her second feature win ever.
She was running the low groove on the track and making good time and no one was able to close up on her, using that groove or any other for that matter. Randy Havlik followed her for the whole race but he wasn't able to cut into her lead at all and when she ran her line solid as a rock, she proved to be unstoppable as she drove home for the win.
Carter and Taylor Kuehl had a good battle for third with Brayton winning out and Dayton Swatek completing the top five.
The track remained good all night, despite the extra opening night demands put on it by the Sprint Cars. Thanks to MVG and his crew as usual and it was good to again hear the mellow tones of announcer Tony Paris.
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