Brown, Ballard among Friday winners at CJ Speedway 

Hobby Stock, Modified, Northern SportMod, Results, Sport Compact, Stock Car

By Jerry Mackey

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (May 12, 2023) – Fans were treated to a very exciting night of stock car racing Friday night with a very warm May evening at CJ Speedway on the Louisa County Fairgrounds. 

The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature saw a pair of CJ regulars battle it out for the win on a very smooth and fast racing surface. Kurt Kile led for several laps before ninth starting Jarrett Brown closed in and set up a classic battle for the lead.

Slide jobs and diamond moves off of the top side of turn one provided several lead changes before Brown was able to take control of the lead position and sail on to the feature win. Kile finished second ahead of eighth starting Ethan Braaksma. 

The IMCA Sunoco Stock Car main event saw Nathan Ballard score his third feature win in four nights of racing at CJ in 2023. Ballard drove his number 29 from the fourth row to take the lead from Matt Picray on lap eight of the 16-lap main event. Ballard took the checkers ahead of Kirk Kinsley and Picray. 

Lead changes, more slide jobs and lots of side-by-side racing were the stories of the night in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods before Dylan VanWyk became a repeat winner at CJ in 2023. 

Shane Paris was leading when VanWyk moved into second and set up the battle for the race lead. VanWyk used every line on the track to secure the lead with five to go and went on to record the win ahead of Paris and a late race charge by Colton Livezey saw the 29 take third. 

The IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks provided another great feature race as first-time visitor to CJ Calvin Dhondt picked up the feature win. Dhondt started 10th and steadily made his way to the front, taking the lead as the feature laps wound down.

Luke Phillips had another strong run in taking second ahead of rookie Tucker Richardson, who led the first half of the main event. 

Another one of the many young drivers in competition at the CJ Speedway this year, Garrett Porter captured his second-ever feature win by topping the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts. Porter was pressured for several laps by Seth Meinders, who settled for second by half a car length. William Michel drove his 69JX to third.

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