A rare, Thursday night race was held at the Marshalltown Speedway on May 6th. Being celebrated was the fourth annual Dale DeFrance Memorial Race with IMCA Late Models being added to the regular four class program plus IMCA Mod Lites that also race regularly here. This race has been held on Thursdays since its inception as it allows Late Models particularly that wouldn't be available to race on Friday nights to be a part of the show plus this is typically the week that the Iowa State High School Rodeo is held at the fairgrounds over the weekend, and thus avoids a Friday night conflict between the two events.
One hundred and seven cars signed in to race plus the Mod Lites on another cool and windy race night in central Iowa, the type of weather that has plagued much of the Midwest for the last few weeks and has made attending racing only for the hearty while stimulating the pay per view sales as I find more and more people that I would consider to be die hard race fans now taking advantage of pay per view much more if the weather conditions are either extreme or questionable. We can thank the Pandemic for that , whether it be for the good or bad which is certainly debatable.
Car counts were such that multiple heat races would set the running order for the main events in all classes with no B Features needed. The heat races spun off at a very quick rate, as do most programs here at Marshalltown. I should mention that this is the third time I've tried to get to a show this year at Marshalltown and been thwarted by the weather twice already this year so no matter how brisk the temperatures were, I was more than ready to see some racing at central Iowa's high banked gem.
Driving were racing for extra money across the board on this night thanks to the collective efforts of the DeFrance, Murty, Gustin and friends group, the racing core of central Iowa dirt track racing for years and a group that just keeps getting stronger and stronger.
I normally don't mention the Mod Lites in the race results but I had to make a special mention of Justin Kinderknecht who won both here and at Stuart on the previous night. He pulled all the way from Kansas by himself to race and what is notable is that he is the second generation of a famous racing family in the Sunflower state, having raced for many years side by side with his father Earl in the Late Models with Earl having the unforgettable number #T1T on his car. With IMCA now sanctioning the Mod Lites and a couple tracks in Kansas that race the class also, Justin is seeking a national title this year. By the way, he said that his father still has a Late Model but is just too busy with work to race while Justin gave up the Late Model when he became a family man as the Mod Lite more suits his life style these days. Justin would dominate both nights for the wins.
The draw/redraw format used to align the races on Thursday didn't do much for the racing fans as some very successful drivers started right up front in the mains which led to several runaways, something not usually seen here.
Luke Schluetter took the early lead in the Hobby Stock feature but Kaden Reynolds who has been perfect here this year so far, came roaring up to the front after starting sixth and it only took him three laps to find the lead as his line low in the corners could not be matched by anyone else on the track. Just after he took the lead, Schluetter spun ending his chances and triggering the first yellow of the race. Shortly after, the roughest wreck of the night saw Chad Rigby pole vault off the first turn, triggering a red flag condition as he car was retrieved from the "boonies."
The last twelve laps ran off nonstop and Reynolds drove away from the field, getting his third straight feature win here at Marshalltown. Eric Knutson made a nice drive up from tenth starting spot to finish second with Kyle Paritzek coming home third. Bradon Richards would actually cross the line for second but a post race DQ would eliminate him from the official finishing order.
No better was the Sport Mod feature where Brayton Carter started on the outside pole and ran away from the field for the win. As hot as Carter has been, putting him on the front row was only asking for trouble and he proceeded to make a shambles of the competition, despite three yellows, one of which set up a three lap dash to the finish. Johnathan Logue would make a determined run up from tenth to finish in the runner up slot and Jenae Gustin would outduel Dylan VanWyk for third.
The Stock Car feature would be next and in a repeat of the Sport Mod event, it was a wire to wire win by Damon Murty in this event who would prevail for the victory. Although he led all laps, he was pressured for much of the race by Chanse Hollatz and Jeff Mueller. Three early yellows kept the field bunched and while Murty opted for the high side, there were others that went to the bottom and pressured him off every corner during the race. Hollatz and Mueller traded second back and forth while still riding right on the tail of Murty. Mueller would make one last strong drive off the bottom in the final corner and make it close but Murty would hold on for the win. Damon's son Dallon, who has been red hot so far this year, had a bad heat race and was mired for the main but he did charge from nineteenth to complete the top five at the finish.
It took some hard work but Cayden Carter fought off a tough field of Modified drivers to again make it a sweep for his family as he joined brother Brayton as open wheel winners during the night. These two have been just about as hot as the Murty family as they once again drove to double wins for the night. Richie Gustin was the early leader of the Modified main and it looked like another entwined member of the DeFrance family might get the win but when he had trouble holding his car in the corners and drifted high, Carter was right there to take over the lead.
Cayden had smooth riding until just past halfway in the main when the yellow flew for a spin and when the green reappeared, Joel Rust was suddenly a strong factor. Rust had started ninth in the main and had gradually worked his way up to second and when he found the high side to be working, he was able to advance quickly.
On the restart, he took that same approach and suddenly he was a major threat to the leader. In fact, if Carter hadn't played "defense" and moved to the top side just in the nick of time, Rust would have blown past him and taken over the lead. As it was, Carter got to the top just in time to squeeze off Rust and then he made the top work for himself also as he regained his edge in the closing laps and drove on for the win with Tim Ward coming from sixteenth to third.
A good field of twenty three Late Models was on hand to contest the DeFrance race and it was veteran driver Greg Kastli who took the early lead and flexed some muscle and held the lead for much of the first half of the race. Justin Kay started seventh and took his time moving up but gradually he managed to race his way into contention. Kastli appeared to be sliding a bit in the corners and Kay was able to close in on him and with a strong move off turn four, drive by in front of the fans to take over the lead.
Once in front, he was able to stretch his margin and the race turned into a good battle for second as Kastli fought with a strong running Joe Zrostlik for the runner up slot with Joe eventually pulling into second.
In the later part of the race, the track started to take rubber and most of he field filtered to the bottom lane where Kay's biggest problem was working through lapped traffic that was moving about as fast as he was, making passing though while at the same time not wanting to give up the low line and get out of the rubber. Things got a little testy with one of the slower cars but Kay persisted and eventually made the pass which allowed him to cruise home comfortably for the win. Zrostlik had a fine run to finish second with Todd Cooney getting by Kastli at the end for third with Matt Ryan coming from fourteenth to complete the top five. The win was a big one for Kay as it marked his one hundredth IMCA Late Model feature win.
As usual, it was a smooth running show at Marshalltown with the program hustled along as much as possible on a Thursday night. The strong winds all day made track prep a challenge and the crew has three water trucks working all afternoon fighting to get as much moisture as they could into the racing surface. It was good to see Late Models racing back at Marshalltown again along with the other solid classes and the open Late Models will be in action at the track in the coming weeks. Thanks to Toby and his crew for another good night of racing and to the DeFrance family and their friends for their work making this a successful show for the competitors.
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