When I heard the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models was going to make their first ever trip to the Stuart International Speedway and the tight bull ring race track it was placed on the schedule as a race to must see. I made just in time for Hot Laps and was extremely excited for the night of racing ahead.
Track Owner Mike Van Genderen and the track prep crew got the race track ready to go and continued to work the racing surface all night to make it the best racing surface. The drivers left very impressed and if I was a betting man, which I am not but my guess is Stuart will have a race or two maybe in 2020.
24 Late Models checked in for what was supposed to be night 1 of a 4 night swing but just before the race started in Stuart. Tour officials announced that the race scheduled for Friday Night at Davenport Speedway on the 1/4 mile was cancelled. So meaning it was Race 1 of 3 in 4 nights. Series is scheduled to head to West Liberty Raceway on Saturday and 1st ever trip to another Bullring, Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois.
First feature of the night was a thrilling 15 lap IMCA Hobby Stocks feature event. Chuck Madden Jr grabbed the early race lead with Jack Phillips following suit into top two. Phillips put pressure on Madden but shortly after Shannon Anderson from fifth starting spot and made it a three car fight. Phillips tried to find some grip on the bottom, that left the door open for Anderson to sneak on by on the high side and then on lap seven when Phillips again tried to get by Madden, Anderson found the grip strip in the middle and took over the top spot. The Lap traffic got heavy late allowing Madden to see a door open on Anderson but Anderson held off Madden to take win number two at Stuart. Madden, Phillips, Dylan Nelson and Adam Ayers rounded out the top five.
Jeremy Gettler led the first three laps in the IMCA Stock Cars feature event before Last Week's feature winner Buck Schafroth took over the top spot on lap four. The caution came out on lap six when Gettler tried to go low and clipped one of the farm tires in turn one. Schafroth continued to battle with Gettler and Todd Van Eaton. Van Eaton took second away from Gettler and began to battle with Schafroth for the lead. On lap 11, Van Eaton's day came to and end when the driveshaft came out in turn four forcing the yellow flag to come back out. Schafroth now had to contend with Mike Nichols and held his line fending off the pressure. Shawn Ritter joined the battle after making his way through the field. Nichols made one last attempt to take the lead away by going inside of the leader in turn three but when his car bicycled on the right side, he had to let out of the throttle to bring it back down and that allowed Ritter to take second away. Schafroth makes it two in a row after ending upside down two weeks ago. Ritter finished second, Nichols was third, Kyle Brown was fourth and Josh Daniels was fifth.
Next up was the race everybody was ready to see the 40 laps Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models feature event. Payton Looney won DirtOnDirt.com Pole and he wrestled the leada way from Tyler Bruening but the caution came out on lap three for Dave Eckrich coming to a stop in turn three. Looney again held off Bruening until just after completing lap four, Looney saw his engine expire exiting turn two ending his night and handing the lead over to Bruening. "Smooth Operator" Bobby Pierce was working his way through the field from his 13th place starting spot and restarted third with Points Leader Will "The Thrill" Vaught in second. The red flag came out on lap eight when Jake Neal came to a stop in turn four after getting hit in the helmet a chunk of dirt, cracking his helmet. Neal would continue after getting checked out by the medical personnel and his dad getting his back-up helmet from the hauler. The again come out on lap 10 for Jesse Stovall had his left rear tire went down however Andrew Kosiski had no where to go and would make contact sending both cars to the pits. Bruening continued to lead until Pierce worked the top side of the speedway and powered by on lap 16. Pierce was followed by Bruening, Chris Simpson and Vaught but fend them off until lap traffic got really heavy. Caution came out on lap 30 for debris in turn two making it a dash to the finish. Pierce held on to nab the $3,000 paycheck to take the win with Simpson finishing second, Bruening was third, Vaught was fourth and Jordan Yaggy was fifth.
Final feature of the night was the IMCA Sport Mods 20 lap feature event with 26 cars strong. Before a lap could be scored the caution came out first for Colton Nelson in turn two and then for Kody Havens in turn four on the restart. Hunter Longnecker nabbed the top spot early but the caution again came out just after one lap was scored in the book for Brandon Patava, Nelson and Havens in turn four. Lap later the cautin came out again for Cody Thompson, Tyler Inman, Ed Hamilton and Ronnie Hults in turn one. Longnecker continued to lead until Inman worked his way back through the field to take the top spot away on lap 14. Just after the caution came out when Blair Simmons got into the turn 1 wall. Inman led the remaining laps to take the win ahead of Longnecker, Brayton Carter, Austin Kaplan and Jake McBirnie.
Stuart Speedway returns on Wednesday Night for Pitts Lawn Care and Stuart Town Hearld Night at the Races with IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts, Bat Wing Mini Mods and 2 Man Cruisers. Hot Laps at 7pm and Racing to Follow.
The following week on May 15th will be the Inaugural Elite Electric/DJ Septic Service Jake Durbin Memorial featuring IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts and the first of four appearances of the Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks.
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.
More information back about the Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models check out MLRARacing.com or Follow Lucas Oil MLRA on Facebook.
Stuart Speedway
Elite Electric/Sitlers LED Supplies Night
Thursday May 2nd, 2019
Lucas Oil MLRA Late Models
Lucas Oil Racing TV A Feature (40 Laps) : 1.32p Bobby Pierce [13]; 2.32 Chris Simpson [4]; 3.16 Tyler Bruening [2]; 4.1v Will Vaught [3]; 5.77y Jordan Yaggy [5]; 6. 21 Billy Moyer [10]; 7. 25 Chad Simpson [19]; 8. 74m Mitch McGrath [20]; 9. 19g Richie Gustin [15]; 10.36m Logan Martin [21]; 11.14J Jake Neal [8]; 12.43 Jeremy Grady [6]; 13. 4w J.C. Wyman [17]; 14. 2m Allen Murray [12]; 15. 52 Brian Kosiski [14]; 16. 58e Dave Eckrich [11]; 17. 93 Jay Johnson [18]; 18. 32c Chad Holladay [9]; 19. 00 Jesse Stovall [16]; 20. 53 Andrew Kosiski [7]; 21. 75 Terry Phillips [22]; 22.15L Payton Looney [1]; 23. 9G Joseph Gorby [23]; 24. 29D Spencer Diercks(DNS)
Cedar Creek Beef Jerky Heat 1 (10 Laps) : 1.1v Will Vaught [1]; 2.32s Chris Simpson [3]; 3.53 Andrew Kosiski [2]; 4. 21 Billy Moyer [6]; 5. 52 Brian Kosiski [4]; 6. 00 Jesse Stovall [5]; 7.25 Chad Simpson [7]; 8.36m Logan Martin [8]
Casey's General Stores Heat 2 (10 Laps) : 1.16 Tyler Bruening [2]; 2. 77y Jordan Yaggy [2]; 3. 14J Jake Neal [4]; 4. 58e Dave Eckrich [7]; 5. 19g Richie Gustin [6]; 6. 4w J.C. Wyman [8]; 7. 9G Joseph Gorby(DNS) 8. 29D Spencer Diercks(DNS)
Sunoco Race Fuels Heat 3 (10 Laps) : 1.15L Payton Looney [3]; 2. 43 Jeremy Grady [2]; 3. 32c Chad Holladay [1]; 4. 2m Allen Murray [4]; 5.32p Bobby Pierce [7]; 6. 93 Jay Johnson [5]; 7. 74m Mitch McGrath [6]; 8. 75 Terry Phillips[8]
IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 92-Buck Schafroth, [2]; 2. 7SR-Shawn Ritter, [17]; 3. 63-Mike Nichols, [8]; 4. 21K-Kyle Brown, [12]; 5. 25J-Josh Daniels, [6]; 6. 22-Chris Pruitt, [3]; 7. 10B-Brandon Pruitt, [7]; 8. 1F-Marcus Fagan, [9]; 9. 20-Jeremy Gettler, [1]; 10. 34X-Mich Ross, [11]; 11. 6-Johnathan Kinser, [10]; 12. 18-Anthony Goldsberry, [15]; 13. 58-Bill Heinkel II, [14]; 14. 7C-Chad Legere, [5]; 15. 10-James Carroll, [18]; 16. (DNF) V31-Todd VanEaton, [4]; (DNS) 50B-Brock Badger, ; (DNS) 3S-Bryan Snell,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Jeremy Gettler, [1]; 2. 6-Johnathan Kinser, [6]; 3. 63-Mike Nichols, [5]; 4. 7C-Chad Legere, [4]; 5. (DNF) 50B-Brock Badger, [3]; 6. (DNF) 3S-Bryan Snell, [2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Buck Schafroth, [2]; 2. V31-Todd VanEaton, [3]; 3. 34X-Mich Ross, [6]; 4. 25J-Josh Daniels, [4]; 5. 58-Bill Heinkel II, [1]; 6. 7SR-Shawn Ritter, [5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Chris Pruitt, [2]; 2. 21K-Kyle Brown, [6]; 3. 10B-Brandon Pruitt, [4]; 4. 1F-Marcus Fagan, [5]; 5. 18-Anthony Goldsberry, [3]; 6. 10-James Carroll, [1]
IMCA Northern SportMods
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 5T-Tyler Inman, [6]; 2. 93-Hunter Longnecker, [5]; 3. 01-Brayton Carter, [8]; 4. 1-Austin Kaplan, [10]; 5. 82-Jake McBirnie, [12]; 6. 69JR-Johnathon Logue, [11]; 7. 29V-Brett Vanderheiden, [2]; 8. 25C-Cody Thompson, [13]; 9. 95N-Garrett Nelson, [4]; 10. 99K-Kody Havens, [9]; 11. 25-Chris Burke, [17]; 12. 57S-David Schwartz, [14]; 13. 57R-Ryan King, [15]; 14. 42H-Ronnie Hults, [16]; 15. 26-Bryan Morris, [20]; 16. 57-Daniel Hagen, [23]; 17. 72-Ed Hamilton, [19]; 18. 19-Mark Menard, [26]; 19. (DNF) 3-Kyle Tanner, [3]; 20. (DNF) 34-Jerry Hinton, [24]; 21. (DNF) 32S-Blair Simmons, [1]; 22. (DNF) 26M-Mitchell Morris, [22]; 23. (DNF) 61-Brandon Patava, [18]; 24. (DNF) 9J-Jeremiah Reed, [21]; 25. (DNF) 93N-Colton Nelson, [7]; (DNS) 42-Matt Hays,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Brayton Carter, [5]; 2. 29V-Brett Vanderheiden, [2]; 3. 3-Kyle Tanner, [3]; 4. 25C-Cody Thompson, [7]; 5. 25-Chris Burke, [6]; 6. 26-Bryan Morris, [1]; 7. 34-Jerry Hinton, [4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99K-Kody Havens, [5]; 2. 69JR-Johnathon Logue, [6]; 3. 95N-Garrett Nelson, [3]; 4. 57S-David Schwartz, [4]; 5. 19-Mark Menard, [7]; 6. (DNF) 9J-Jeremiah Reed, [2]; (DNS) 42-Matt Hays,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5T-Tyler Inman, [4]; 2. 82-Jake McBirnie, [6]; 3. 1-Austin Kaplan, [5]; 4. 57R-Ryan King, [1]; 5. 61-Brandon Patava, [2]; 6. 26M-Mitchell Morris, [3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 93N-Colton Nelson, [4]; 2. 93-Hunter Longnecker, [3]; 3. 32S-Blair Simmons, [1]; 4. 42H-Ronnie Hults, [2]; 5. 72-Ed Hamilton, [6]; 6. (DNF) 57-Daniel Hagen, [5]
IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature 1 (16 Laps): 1. 78-Shannon Anderson, [5]; 2. 2X-Chuck Madden Jr, [2]; 3. 00-Jack Phillips, [4]; 4. 13N-Dylan Nelson, [8]; 5. 31-Adam Ayers, [10]; 6. 2-Corey Madden, [12]; 7. 4W-John Watson, [11]; 8. 12-Korbin Nourse, [6]; 9. 17F-Nick Foster, [7]; 10. 33-Rusty Gyles, [21]; 11. 38R-Aaron Rudolph, [9]; 12. 7M-Matt Tiernan, [3]; 13. 22-Seth Butler, [16]; 14. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh, [22]; 15. 20W-Matthew Wahl, [18]; 16. 37G-Jeremiah Andrews, [14]; 17. 76-Richard Pahlka Jr, [1]; 18. 56J-Jason Curry, [19]; 19. 121-Kenzie Ritter, [13]; 20. (DNF) 7B-Eric Stanton, [15]; 21. (DNF) G23-Greg Gilbert, [17]; (DNS) 66-Brandon Cox,
Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. 2X-Chuck Madden Jr, [2]; 2. 13N-Dylan Nelson, [4]; 3. 78-Shannon Anderson, [3]; 4. 4W-John Watson, [5]; 5. 121-Kenzie Ritter, [6]; 6. 22-Seth Butler, [7]; 7. 56J-Jason Curry, [8]; 8. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh, [1]
Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. 12-Korbin Nourse, [3]; 2. 38R-Aaron Rudolph, [4]; 3. 76-Richard Pahlka Jr, [1]; 4. 7M-Matt Tiernan, [2]; 5. 37G-Jeremiah Andrews, [7]; 6. G23-Greg Gilbert, [6]; 7. 66-Brandon Cox, [5]
Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1. 31-Adam Ayers, [4]; 2. 00-Jack Phillips, [2]; 3. 2-Corey Madden, [5]; 4. 17F-Nick Foster, [3]; 5. 7B-Eric Stanton, [6]; 6. 20W-Matthew Wahl, [1]; 7. 33-Rusty Gyles, [7]
* Results from the Stock Cars, Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks are from http://stuartspeedway.myracepass.com/ meanwhile Lucas Oil MLRA Results are from mlraracing.com *
