By Joyce Eisele
MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Aug. 26, 2022) – It was North 3rd Avenue Dairy Queen Larry Wollam Memorial and Season Championship night at the Marshalltown Speedway on Friday. Seven classes were in competition that provided a full night of racing action at the High Banks.
There were out-of-car introductions of the drivers on the front stretch to allow the fans to show their appreciation to the drivers who entertained them all year long.
The first eight in points in each class were locked in and they would start inverted for their feature. The rest of the field was filled in by their finishing order from heats.
The first feature to hit the track was the IMCA STARS Mod Lites. Their feature went 15 laps and was led from start to finish by Cory Sonner. He started from the pole position and rocketed off immediately as he pulled away from the field.
He finished well ahead of second place Ben George. Trailing a distant third was 10th place starter Jason Masengarb. Fourth place was Randy Bryan and fifth went to Jon Padilla. The race went flag-to-flag. Randy Bryan is the unofficial 2022 track champion.
The Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts rolled to the track next for their 20-lap feature event. Early leader was Blake Driscol who started on the point. He was quickly run down by seventh place starter Kolby Sabin who snatched the top spot away by lap three.
After getting the lead, Sabin pulled away and enjoyed the easy run at the front of the field the rest of the distance to the checkers and the win. Cristian Grady started 11th and finished as the runner-up. He had just passed early leader Driscol, who was suddenly off power just after the white flag.
This put John Gill in third, fourth was Matt Miller and Tyler Fiebelkorn finished fifth. This was Sabin’s sixth feature win of the season, and he is the unofficial 2022 track champion in the Sport Compact division.
Sam West was a happy first-ever winner who stepped into victory lane at the end of the 20-lap feature for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.
West started third and found himself in the lead by lap four after a skirmish occurred taking out early leader Briar Kriegel and two other top runners, Corey VanDerWilt and Eric Knutson.
From there on, West held off all challengers that were in hot pursuit and took the win, his career first. John Watson made a late race charge but had to be content with second. Third went to Bradly Graham, Solomon Bennett was fourth, and veteran racer Bob Daniels started 16th and rounded out the top five. Bradly Graham is the unofficial 2022 track champion in the Hobby Stock class.
Travis Peterson passed Sam Wieben at the halfway mark of the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod 20-lap contest and though Jenae Gustin threw everything but the kitchen sink at him in the closing laps, he held on and took the win.
Twelfth place starter Gustin had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot, Tony Olson started ninth and finished third, fourth was early leader Wieben and Tyler Soppe drove his hot rod from 18th to finish fifth. This was Peterson’s third feature win of the season. Kyle Olson is the unofficial 2022 track champion.
The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars came next for their 20-lap feature event. Dave Atcher started on the outside front row and jumped to the immediate lead. His run at the front ended when Kaden Reynolds came calling on lap six, taking over the number one spot.
Reynolds had to weather three more cautions and subsequent restarts, but was able to do so as he took the flying checkers and the win. Austin Kaplan chased Reynolds for most of the race but could do no better than post a runner up finish. Michael Jaennette started seventh and finished third, early leader Dave Atcher was fourth, and Jeff Wollam finished fifth. This was the second trip to victory lane for Reynolds this year.
It was a tight battle for the track title in the division with Wollam two points up on Jaennette going into the race. Jaennette finished two spots ahead of Wollam which gave them a tie in points. With Jaennette having three feature wins for the year that was the tie breaker and he is the unofficial track champion for 2022.
Johnathon Logue started on the pole of the 20-lap IMCA Friesen Performance Modified feature and jumped to the lead as the race went green. Logue sailed along at the front of the pack until lap 10 when Cody Laney, who started ninth, took over.
Laney pulled off from the field then until the closing laps when 12th place starter Joel Rust began to close the gap. Rust made it interesting in the closing moments but fell short and followed winner Laney across the line in second place.
Jimmy Gustin out fought Dallon Murty at the checkers as they finished third and fourth, respectively, and Logue rounded out the top five. This was Laney’s second win at Marshalltown this year. Murty took the unofficial 2022 track title.
All 2022 IMCA points become official at noon CST Monday, Oct. 24.
This drew to a close the regular season at the Marshalltown Speedway. However, Friday night Sept. 2 will be the Karl Kustoms Showdown at Motown. IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars, Northern SportMods, Hobby Stocks, Sport Compacts and Mod Lites are on the program, along with the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks. Hot laps are 6:55 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m.
