8/4/2019
Marshalltown Speedway
Lauritzen takes thrilling Modified win
August 2, 2019
Friday was Triple E Insulators night at the Marshalltown Speedway and it produced some fantastic racing all night long, ending with a thrilling night cap Modified finish. Two drivers earned their first victories of the year in the Modified and SportMod divisions, while the Stock Car, Hobby Stock, and Mod Lites were all repeat winners.
Feature racing kicked off with the Mod Lites and their 15-lap main event. Joel Huggins quickly worked his way to the front to lead early, but Joe Glick and Mike Morrill were hot on his heels. Morrill took to the topside and passed both Huggins and Glick with just a lap remaining and then sailed home to the checkers and the win. Glick took the runner up spot after starting eighth, Huggins came from ninth to finish third, and Jeff Stensland and Randy Bryan rounded out the top five. This was Morrill's fifth win at the speedway in 2019.
Leah Wroten repeated her win from last week in the IMCA Hobby Stocks. She nabbed the lead from Gary Pfantz after the two battled it out lap after lap. Wroten finally took command at lap 12 of the the 15-lap event and snagged herself the win. Pfantz was second, Bill Klosterman finished third, Jeremiah Andrews was fourth,, and Jacob Floyd took fifth. Wroten, who started tenth on the starting grid, won for the fourth time this season.
The IMCA Northern SportMods saw several lead changes beginning with Jason Hall who took the point position as the race went green. Austin Schrage got in the hunt early on and tucked in to run in the second position until a dozen laps were in the books. That's when Schrage took over the top spot and was looking for a win. Meanwhile, Johnathon Logue had moved his hot rod from twelfth up to third and wasn't done yet. A yellow at lap thirteen bunched the field and on the restart, Logue made the pass into the runner up spot, and then with two laps remaining, snatched the lead on the backstretch. He would hold that top spot the final two laps to the flying checkers and his first win at the speedway this year. Tyler Soppe made the closing laps work for him, taking the runner up spot after starting eleventh. Schrage held the third spot, Travis Peterson was fourth, and last week's winner, Jenae Gustin was hard charger, coming from fifteenth, to finish fifth.
Damon Murty loves the topside of the high banks at Marshalltown, and after just a handful of laps, he was in command and gone, winning the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature for the second week in a row, comfortably over Justin Temeyer. Temeyer, who was piloting Shawn Ritter's ride for the night, came from ninth starting spot, to take the runner up position. Steve Meyer sent his hot rod from thirteenth position, to third, fourth went to Scott Rice, and pole sitter Mike Petersen from Montezuma, Iowa, rounded out the top five. This was Murty's third appearance in victory lane for the year.
The night cap was a thriller, as the final laps of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature was up for grabs between three drivers. Point leader Tim Ward hustled his powerhouse from tenth starting spot and into the lead by lap seven, only to have Joel Rust and Ronn Laurtizen tag in behind. The rest of the race was a tight one! Rust got the upper hand with six laps left but it was still anyone's race between Rust, Lauritzen, and Ward as the final laps wound down. Lauritzen gained the lead on lap eighteen, only to have Rust regain it on the white flag lap...but the race the checkers found Lauritzen surging ahead to cross the finish line first. Rust was the runner up followed closely by Tim Ward in third. Cody Laney was fourth, and Ethan Dotson came from twelfth to finish fifth. This was Lauritzen's first feature win of the year.
Next Friday, August 9th will be the Miller 50 for the IMCA Late Models as they join the other regular classes. The green flag drops at 7:30.
Article Credit: Joyce Eisele
Submitted By: Jerry Vansickel