Mother Nature may have been rain else where on Wednesday Night but the Stuart Speedway seemed to be spared from the liquid sunshine. However a cold front did come through making it really cold as wind chills dipped down into the the 30s at time during feature time.
Despite all of that it was a beautiful crisp night for racing at the Stuart Speedway for the Inaugural Tim Stevens Memorial sponsored by Big Load Trailer Sales & Interstate Power Systems. 83 cars signed in to race for extra money on a night to remember a great man who passed away last August. Tim was not only a fellow racer but he was an amazing friend and always loved to hear where or what races were next up for me so he could either read about or see pictures. Tim will not be forgotten so Big Daddy if you are reading this up in heaven, we all missed you.
Before feature action, there was a special Pole Position Challenge where the heat race winners in Hobby Stocks, Sport Mods, Stock Cars and Modifieds all race on the track at the same time with Hobby Stocks starting out front, Modifieds starting right in front but a lap down, Stock Cars quarter of the way behind the hobby stocks and sport mods starting a half a lap behind the Hobby Stocks. Richie Gustin made up the ground and took the win over Corey Madden, Mike Nichols, Ricky Thornton, Ronnie Hults and Josh Daniels. Gustin takes home a $270 gift card from Pole Position Raceway (formerly MB2 Raceway).
First feature of the night was the Bat Wing Chassis Outlaw Mini Mods. Gage Hilgenberg led the first lap before Luke Daniels took the top spot away on lap two. Hilgenberg spun in turn two just after completing lap two. Bobby Daniels pulled off with mechanic issues leaving Hilgenberg and Luke Daniels to race it out. Luke Daniels lead the remaining laps to take the win in the event that was cut short at 8 laps when he was the only one running when Hilgenberg spun again in turn two.
Shannon Anderson started third in the IMCA Hobby Stocks 16 lap feature event but by the end of lap one he found himself in the lead. Anderson had Adam Ayers, Dylan Nelson and Corey Madden all trying to take the top spot away from him but Anderson held off all challenges until the caution came out on lap 11 for Dallas Larson spinning in turn two. Anderson and the field saw the caution come out again after lap 12 was scored when Dylan Nelson spun in turn four. Anderson and Madden raced side-by-side the last 4 laps each pulling sliders on each other, Madden had the lead at the white flag but Anderson pulled the slider and edged out Madden to the line for the win. Ayers finished third, 13th place starter John Watson ended up fourth and Brandon Cox was fifth.
IMCA Northern Sport Mods 18 lap feature event was next up on quarter mile bullring. Kody Havens took full advantage of starting on the pole by grabbing the early race lead. Havens had Hunter Longnecker trying to take the top spot away but the caution came out on lap three for Matt Hays in turn one and then again on lap five for Mark Menard in the topside of turn two. Havens and the field again saw the caution come out on lap six for Tommy Hensley and Mitchell Morris in turn four. Havens was determined not to be denied but saw one final caution be displayed on lap 13, Hays in turns three and four. Havens went on to take the win ahead of Doug Smith, 15th place starter Chase Rudolf, Colton Nelson and Longnecker.
Mitchell Bunch led the first seven laps in the IMCA Sport Compacts 15 lap feature event before Denny Berghahn Jr took the top spot away. Berghahn and Bunch battled it out and when the caught the back half of the field each one of them would be slowed by lap traffic. Bunch took back the lead on lap 11 and held until lap 14 when he was slowed by lap traffic Berghahn took the lead back and went on to take the win ahead of Bunch. Jake Benischek, Colton Garside and Nathan Castellano rouned out the top five.
In the IMCA Stock Cars 20 lap feature event, it was Josh Daniels leading from start to finish however early on had to hold off Anthony Goldsberry. The red flag came out on lap seven when "Buckwild" Buck Schafroth rolled after clipping infield tire in turn four. Schafroth climbed from the car. Daniels had to battle with Todd Van Eaton on the restart but held off early challenges from him. Daniels and the field saw the caution come out on lap 12 for Goldsberry in turn two. Daniels knew it was not going to be long before Mike Nichols was going to be making his way to the front and that was true on the restart when Nichols got by Van Eaton for the second spot. Daniels held off Nichols to nabbed the opening night win. Nichols finished second, Brandon Pruitt was third, Van Eaton fell back to fourth and Chad Legere was fifth.
Final feature of the night was the 20 lap feature event and after pole sitter Bob Daniels opted to go to the tail that moved a familiar driver Ricky Thornton Jr to the top spot. Thornton lead from started to finish and never was challenged in route the victory. Richie Gustin tried to chase him down but settled for a runner-up finish. Hometown Favorite Josh Gilman finished third ahead of Kyle Brown and Scott Bash.
Special Thanks to all the sponsors who helped out with the Inaugural Tim Stevens Memorial Race and Thanks to Mike Van Genderen for making it happen for Tammy to remember Tim in a great way.
Racing action resumes next week at the Stuart Speedway with Sauerman Trucking & Affordable Quality Roofing & Exteriors Night. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby Stocks , IMCA Sport Compacts, 2 Man Cruisers and Bat Wing Chassis Mini Mods will all be on the card. Gates Open at 5pm, Hot Laps at 7pm and Racing to Follow.
The following week there will be no racing on Wednesday as they will have a little Thursday Night Thunder sponsored by Sitlers LED Supplies featuring the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models. Support Classes currently are Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks however it was stated in the drivers meeting last night that a couple classes may be eliminated because of the expected field of Late Models so keep your eyes on the Stuart Speedway Facebook page.
For information about the Stuart Speedway Contact Owner/Promoter Mike Van Genderen at (641) 521-0330 or go to stuartspeedway.net or Follow Stuart Speedway on Facebook.
I took some pictures at posted them on the Trackside Report Facebook Page at Stuart Tim Stevens Memorial 4-17-19
Up next for me is the Season Opener at Marshalltown Speedway plus the Malvern Bank Super Late Models on hand to race the quarter mile high banks. Saturday is still up in there air where I will end up for racing action and Sunday it will be off to the Benton County Speedway.
Stuart Speedway
Big Load Trailer Sales & Interstate Power Systems "Inaugural" Tim Stevens Memorial
Wednesday April 17th, 2019
IMCA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, [3]; 2. 19G-Richie Gustin, [6]; 3. 83G-Josh Gilman, [7]; 4. 21K-Kyle Brown, [9]; 5. 14B-Scott Bash, [4]; 6. 4-Tony Hilgenberg, [2]; 7. 21D-David Brown, [5]; 8. 48J-Jacob Murray, [8]; 9. (DNF) 92-Josh Most, [10]; 10. (DNF) 25D-Bob Daniels, [1]; (DNS) 17-Cory Sauerman,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19G-Richie Gustin, [2]; 2. 21K-Kyle Brown, [1]; 3. 83G-Josh Gilman, [3]; 4. 48J-Jacob Murray, [5]; 5. 25D-Bob Daniels, [6]; (DNS) 17-Cory Sauerman,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, [2]; 2. 92-Josh Most, [4]; 3. 4-Tony Hilgenberg, [3]; 4. 21D-David Brown, [1]; 5. 14B-Scott Bash, [5]
IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25J-Josh Daniels, [2]; 2. 63-Mike Nichols, [9]; 3. 10B-Brandon Pruitt, [8]; 4. V31-Todd VanEaton, [3]; 5. 7C-Chad Legere, [13]; 6. 3S-Bryan Snell, [4]; 7. 3H-Ty Hill, [5]; 8. 50B-Brock Badger, [10]; 9. 18-Anthony Goldsberry, [1]; 10. 10-James Carroll, [12]; 11. 98B-Michael Bilyeu, [11]; 12. 58-Bill Heinkel II, [14]; 13. 22-Chris Pruitt, [6]; 14. (DNF) 92-Buck Schafroth, [7]; (DNS) 55B-Gage McNeeley,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25J-Josh Daniels, [2]; 2. 3H-Ty Hill, [1]; 3. 50B-Brock Badger, [4]; 4. 10B-Brandon Pruitt, [7]; 5. 22-Chris Pruitt, [6]; 6. 98B-Michael Bilyeu, [3]; 7. 7C-Chad Legere, [5]; 8. (DNF) 55B-Gage McNeeley, [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 63-Mike Nichols, [2]; 2. V31-Todd VanEaton, [1]; 3. 92-Buck Schafroth, [3]; 4. 3S-Bryan Snell, [7]; 5. 18-Anthony Goldsberry, [6]; 6. 10-James Carroll, [5]; 7. 58-Bill Heinkel II, [4]
IMCA Northern SportMods
A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 99K-Kody Havens, [1]; 2. 12-Doug Smith, [7]; 3. 8R-Chase Rudolf, [15]; 4. 93N-Colton Nelson, [8]; 5. 93-Hunter Longnecker, [4]; 6. 95N-Garrett Nelson, [6]; 7. 8-Dusty Masolini, [10]; 8. 5T-Tyler Inman, [17]; 9. 42H-Ronnie Hults, [12]; 10. 62-Cory Pestotnik, [3]; 11. 34-Jerry Hinton, [11]; 12. 26M-Mitchell Morris, [18]; 13. 61-Brandon Patava, [20]; 14. 8TTB-Tommy Hensley, [19]; 15. 57R-Ryan King, [9]; 16. 9J-Jeremiah Reed, [13]; 17. 3-Kyle Tanner, [5]; 18. 26-Bryan Morris, [2]; 19. 42-Matt Hays, [14]; 20. 29V-Brett Vanderheiden, [16]; 21. 19-Mark Menard, [21]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 42H-Ronnie Hults, [2]; 2. 62-Cory Pestotnik, [4]; 3. 34-Jerry Hinton, [7]; 4. 26-Bryan Morris, [3]; 5. 9J-Jeremiah Reed, [1]; 6. (DNF) 29V-Brett Vanderheiden, [6]; 7. (DNF) 8TTB-Tommy Hensley, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Hunter Longnecker, [3]; 2. 12-Doug Smith, [4]; 3. 57R-Ryan King, [7]; 4. 3-Kyle Tanner, [2]; 5. 42-Matt Hays, [5]; 6. (DNF) 5T-Tyler Inman, [6]; 7. (DNF) 61-Brandon Patava, [1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 99K-Kody Havens, [4]; 2. 95N-Garrett Nelson, [2]; 3. 8-Dusty Masolini, [1]; 4. 93N-Colton Nelson, [3]; 5. 8R-Chase Rudolf, [6]; 6. 26M-Mitchell Morris, [5]; 7. 19-Mark Menard, [7]
IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature 1 (16 Laps): 1. 78-Shannon Anderson, [3]; 2. 2-Corey Madden, [6]; 3. 31-Adam Ayers, [1]; 4. 4W-John Watson, [13]; 5. 66-Brandon Cox, [8]; 6. 38R-Aaron Rudolph, [2]; 7. 1-Kaden Reynolds, [10]; 8. 13N-Dylan Nelson, [7]; 9. 18D-Kevin Derry, [4]; 10. 17F-Nick Foster, [5]; 11. 56J-Jason Curry, [14]; 12. 7M-Matt Tiernan, [15]; 13. 76-Richard Pahlka Jr, [16]; 14. 20W-Matthew Wahl, [11]; 15. 58L-Dallas Larson, [9]; 16. (DNF) 2X-Chuck Madden Jr, [12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Kaden Reynolds, [2]; 2. 31-Adam Ayers, [1]; 3. 78-Shannon Anderson, [6]; 4. 38R-Aaron Rudolph, [4]; 5. 58L-Dallas Larson, [3]; 6. 20W-Matthew Wahl, [8]; 7. 4W-John Watson, [7]; 8. (DNF) 7M-Matt Tiernan, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Corey Madden, [3]; 2. 13N-Dylan Nelson, [1]; 3. 17F-Nick Foster, [2]; 4. 66-Brandon Cox, [6]; 5. 18D-Kevin Derry, [5]; 6. 2X-Chuck Madden Jr, [7]; 7. 56J-Jason Curry, [8]; 8. 76-Richard Pahlka Jr, [4]
IMCA Sport Compacts
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 6JR-Denny Berghahn Jr, [1]; 2. 83B-Mitchell Bunch, [2]; 3. 3-Jake Benischek, [10]; 4. 11F-Colton Garside, [4]; 5. 711-Nathan Castellano, [6]; 6. 5-Luke Benischek, [3]; 7. 02-John Gill, [5]; 8. 37-Ryan Bryant, [17]; 9. 21G-Travis Graspy, [11]; 10. 16-Curtis Masterson, [9]; 11. 23-Logan Kelly, [8]; 12. 88-Bruce Hower, [14]; 13. 21P-Cody Pierce, [7]; 14. 33NK-Nikole Kimmel, [16]; 15. 47-Terry Hurley, [15]; 16. 9-Kolby Sabin, [12]; 17. 61F-Tyler Fiebelkorn, [13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Jake Benischek, [6]; 2. 02-John Gill, [1]; 3. 83B-Mitchell Bunch, [8]; 4. 6JR-Denny Berghahn Jr, [5]; 5. 11F-Colton Garside, [7]; 6. 21G-Travis Graspy, [2]; 7. 61F-Tyler Fiebelkorn, [4]; 8. 47-Terry Hurley, [3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Luke Benischek, [7]; 2. 16-Curtis Masterson, [3]; 3. 711-Nathan Castellano, [5]; 4. 23-Logan Kelly, [4]; 5. 21P-Cody Pierce, [1]; 6. 9-Kolby Sabin, [6]; 7. 88-Bruce Hower, [8]; 8. 33NK-Nikole Kimmel, [2]
Batwing Mini Mods
A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 25L-Luke Daniels, [2]; 2. 4-Gage Hilgenberg, [1]; 3. 25B-Bobby Daniels, [3]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 4-Gage Hilgenberg, [1]; 2. 25L-Luke Daniels, [3]; 3. 25B-Bobby Daniels, [2]
* Results are from http://stuartspeedway.myracepass.com/ *
