By Jerry Mackey
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (July 8, 2023) – Saturday night the weatherman provided near perfect conditions for racing at the Maquoketa Speedway and the drivers and fans responded by packing the infield with 124 race teams and a really nice crowd took in an action packed program that saw the final checkered flag of the night wave at 10 pm.
The IMCA Sunoco Late Models saw 17 drivers take the green flag for their 25-lap feature. One minor caution slowed the feature before a lap was completed, then the main event went flag to flag.
Chance Huston led early taking off from his pole position start. Huston had built a comfortable lead before rookie Jaden Fryer was able to close driving around the extreme high line of the quarter mile.
Fryer advanced from the third row and closed on Huston with less than 10 laps to go. Fryer overtook Huston and went on to collect his first-ever IMCA Late Model feature win. Huston was able to hold on for second just ahead of a fast closing Bryce Garnhart.
Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds provided another thriller in their 20-lap main event.
Matt Short took the point from his outside front row start and appeared to be on his way to the feature win. As the laps wound down the race leaders encountered lapped traffic, causing congestion for the leaders.
Austin Blume took the lead with two laps to go but slid off the track coming off of turn two giving the lead back to Short. Blume made one last charge entering turn three on the final lap and this time the move worked and Blume took the checkers by a nose ahead of Short and third place finisher Mark Schulte.
An outstanding field of 31 Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods signed in. With the field pared to 24 starters for the main event, the race was only slowed twice for minor cautions and the drivers raced every inch of the smooth track providing three- and sometimes four-wide racing.
When the checkers flew it was Jarett Franzen picking up his second consecutive feature win in the very tough class. Franzen charged to the front from his third row start and led the majority of the race.
Lapped traffic tightened things up as the laps wound down but Franzen was able to hold off a fast closing Austin Stamm for the win. Justin Becker advanced from the fifth row to take third turning in an outstanding run.
Jerry Miles took advantage of a front row start in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and led the main event flag to flag to score his second win of the season at the Maquoketa Speedway.
Miles took the win approximately 10 car lengths ahead of Jacob Ellithorpe and Richard Nelson rounded out the top three.
Another outstanding field of 21 drivers checked in Saturday night in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division. It was a special night as the fans Maquoketa Speedway saw a first-time ever winner makes his way to the Oly’s Garage Victory Lane.
Second generation driver Dalton Weepie made the long tow from Dunkerton to Maquoketa for the second time this year and the youngster scored the win. Weepie took the green from the outside front row and led every lap on his way to his first ever win. In his fourth year of racing, Weepie took the win by a slim margin over Tucker Richardson and Randy La Mar.
Dalton Weepie led start to finish in winning his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career first feature Saturday at Maquoketa Speedway. (Photo by Simply Modified)
Maquoketa Speedway will be off on Saturday, July 15 as the Jackson County Fairgrounds will be holding a huge diving dog competition. IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing will return on Saturday, July 22 with a full program.
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