The ninth annual Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel was held on Wednesday night, May 14th at the Stuart International Speedway in Stuart Iowa. Five classes of IMCA racing were in action on Wednesday with extra money on the line for all classes and particularly so for the fender classes as the Stock Cars were racing for two grand to win while the Hobby Stock winner would take home a thousand dollars.
It was a beautiful Wednesday night for dirt track racing, warm actually for this time of year and with a nice breeze blowing from the South while is always a bonus here as the track faces to the North. It probably wasn't the best night for MVG and crew relative to track prep but they did their usual fine job and provided a smooth track with multiple grooves that allowed for passing and that is all one can ask for.
It was a night of variety as some of the heavy hitters one would expect to visit victory lane did just that but also at least one driver won his first ever feature race so variety was the name of the game. There were dominant wins but also a couple of classes where late race or last lap passes made the difference.
The regular crew was mostly on hand to run the show on Wednesday with the always entertaining Tony Paris calling the action and Jamie Songer on the flag stand this week. Rev. Wombat was on hand for the blessing. A fine field of one hundred and eight IMCA drivers were on hand for the action and a B Feature was necessary for the Hobby Stocks while full fields of drivers would start the other main events also.
The evening started with a little excitement in the pits as Seth Butler was unloading his Hobby Stock. The rig started to slide back down the grass on the big side hill where Butler was parked while he was inside the trailer backing the race car out and when he pulled the car out, he was surprised to find that instead of some space between the trailer and the race car, the trailer had slid right up under the car! It was strange to see and next week, Seth will have some chalks for the pick up for sure!
As usual, the program started right on time and the drivers tore through the heats, completing all qualifying in just forty six minutes with only a single yellow to slow the action! Gosh, I wish this was the case at more tracks.
Let's cover the classes first that were racing for the most money. Putting Dallon Murty on the pole might have a negative effect on how the rest of the field would feel about their chances of winning, and in this case, they would have been correct. However, Dallon was driving dad's car on this night and he actually didn't get the jump at the start. That honor went to Buck Schafroth who led the first six laps of the feature. And then it wasn't Murty who passed him but Dillon Solum who was showing much speed plus the willingness to throw some bold slide jobs which was got him the lead.
However, Murty was relentless and after trying for several laps, he finally made the winning pass and then drove away for the win, holding on despite a surprising number of yellow flags as the feature racing wasn't quite as smooth as during the qualifying. Schafroth would come on to finish second while Mike Albertsen rounded out the top five.
Dillon Richards has been able to put together an amazing season to date and he added to his winning with another Hobby Stock feature win, worth a thousand dollars. But against a big field of twenty four drivers and after starting eleventh, he definitely earned his prize money on Wednesday.
Cody Williams came all the way from Kansas to lead the opening lap but one lap later it was Andrew Burg who passed him for the lead. The many yellows in this race no doubt helped Richards as he gradually moved toward the front of the field and utilized the "choose cone" wisely. The cone, by the way, was used tonight for the first time ever at Stuart and it adds a new wrinkle to restarts. Unfortunately, however, some drivers had a hard time figuring out how to use it and at least three times it was hit, causing delays. I think the rule should be, hit the cone and you automatically go to the back of the pack and that would stop some of the nonsense going on.
Richards cracked the top five by the halfway point of the race and continued to march forward. A lap twenty yellow allowed him to move into second and as the last few laps ran off, Richards made his move, passing Burg with just two laps to go and then pulling away.
Burg had to settle for second with Kolby Sabin third. Blake Luinenburg came from tenth for fourth ahead of Williams and it was reported that Richards' win was his twentieth of the year already.
Izac Mallicoat was not messing around on Wednesday in the Modified class. He grabbed the lead from the outside pole and led all twenty laps in a dominating fashion to take the feature win. He was never headed and maintained a good sized lead as he rode the cushion from start to finish. A good battle for second saw Todd Shute outduel Cody Laney for the spot with Kyle Brown and Drew Janssen completing the top five.
Another driver having a marvelous season so far, Brayton Carter, did it again in the Sport Mod, but like Richards, it was a struggle after he redrew the ninth spot for the main. Taylor Kuehl grabbed the lead right from the start with Jenae Gustin chasing as some lady slide jobs broke out early with them going back and forth for the top spot. Kuehl maintained the point, however, with Cam Reimers moving into second.
Carter, meanwhile, was making time using the low groove as he slipped under driver after driver and by the halfway point of the race, had passed Reimer for second. He actually got past Kuehl on laps seventeen but a yellow saved Taylor and she maintained the point.
It got down to the final restart with just two laps to go and Taylor left the inside line open after a slow paced start and Carter drove cleanly under her, took over the lead and then pulled away for the win. Kuehl had to settle for second with Matt Avila coming from eleventh to finish third.
The Sport Compact feature was not decided until the final lap and it was rookie driver Blake Fineran that took his first ever feature win. Michael Gardner had started on the pole and led the first fourteen laps of the race but as the laps ran down, Fineran and Corbin Funke gradually caught him. '
As the white flag waved, Gardner was suddenly surrounded by both and they blew past him on both sides with Fineran holding off Funke for the late developing win as Gardner was shuffled all the way back to third. Fineran was so surprised by the outcome, he hardly had words to say in his post race interview with MVG.
It was a typical night of close racing and plenty of slide jobs that Stuart always delivers. There were a few more yellow flags than on some nights, perhaps as a result of the extra money on the line and racing didn't get done until just before 10:30 pm which is a bit late for them, but the entertainment value was high as usual.
Thanks to MVG and especially Tony for the nice words. Stuart next races Memorial Day weekend with the "Whole Hog." Check their website and face book for all the details.
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