By Jerry Mackey
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (June 11, 2022) – The Maquoketa Speedway dodged the predicted wet weather on Saturday night and held a fast, action-packed night of racing on the very smooth, fast ¼-mile dirt oval.
The headliner of the night was the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature that went 20 laps caution-free. Travis Denning was able to get past early leader Spencer Diercks and move into the lead just before lap 10 and went on to record his third win at the Maquoketa Speedway in 2022. Diercks held off the 2021 track champion Jeff Larson at the checkers.
Jacob Ellithorpe had his IMCA Sunoco Stock Car back in fine form on Saturday night. Ellithorpe had spent countless hours in the garage making repairs following an incident that caused severe damage to the drive train in his no. 72 Stock car. Ellithorpe scored a comfortable win in the 15-lap main event. Rick Schriner came under the checkers in second ahead of Richard Nelson.
Jarrett Franzen scored his first hometown win in the very tough Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod division. Franzen took the lead from early leader Randy Butterbrodt and hold off three-time Maquoketa Speedway winner Shane Paris for the win. Tyler Soppe recovered from an early race miscue to charge back to a third place finish.
The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main event saw a very spirited battle between Brandon White and Randy LaMar. La Mar tried every line on the smooth track to get by White but the youngster held his line lap after lap taking the win by less than half a car length. Lukas Short took third on Saturday night.