Thornton Doubles Down at the 2022 Season Preview Special in Motown

After the Annual 141 Speedway / Left Turn Lounge Frostbuster was cancelled last week, the Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown Speedway looked to open up the 2022 season with the King of the Highbanks $5,000 to win Stock Car Special but once again Mother Nature would win.

The early week rain forced track officials to make a decision early since their was a scheduled practice on Wednesday, Racing on Thursday and Friday after discussion it was decided to postponed the King of the Highbanks to a later date TBA. However the race track then decided it would put a 2022 Season Preview Special together for Friday Night to make up for the postponed race. 

One Hundred Thirty One cars checked in to tame the high banked quarter mile for the first time this season on a very chilly spring night under a full moon. IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars were each $1,000 to win and All-Star Qualifiers (Fast Shafts and B&B Chassis). IMCA Sport Mods and IMCA Hobby Stocks were $400 to win meanwhile the IMCA Mod Lites and IMCA Sport Compacts were $250 to win.

First feature of the night was the IMCA Mod Lites 15 lap feature, only five of the six cars made the call. Darrick Knutsen grabbed the early race lead fending off Joel Huggins and Dustin Ford early. Huggins took the race lead away on lap seven and Randy Bryan followed suit into second when appeared Knutsen was beginning to have some mechanical issues. On lap ten, that became true because Knutsen would blow up down the front stretch leaving debris in turn one, forcing the caution to come out. Huggins held off Bryan and Ford to take the feature win, his first night out since June of last year. Bryan, Ford and Joe Wood finished second through fourth. 

Big 8 Tyre Center IMCA Northern Sport Mods was up next for their 20 lap feature event. After 4 heats and b-feature dwindle the field of  28 down to 24, it was go time.  Jessiah Taylor jumped out the race lead fending off Wisconsin's Shay Woods and then holding off Arizona's Taylor Kuehl until the caution came out on lap 6 when Colton Livezey and Izac Mallicoat got together in turn one and two. Taylor spun in turn one after being scored the leader on lap seven causing a pile up in turn one. Tyler Soppe inherited the lead when Kuehl exited the track. Soppee held off Kyle Olson and then Dylan VanWyk until a pair of cautions on lap 12. VanWyk went on to take the feature win ahead of Soppe, Kyle Olson, Tony Olson and Jenae Gustin. 

Minnesota's Blake Luinenburg wrestled the early lead in the IMCA Hobby Stocks 20 lap feature. Austin Mehmen followed him into second. Luinenburg was only slowed by the cautions on lap six, ten and fifteen. Luinenburg took the win, John Watson finished second. Luke Schluetter was third, Solomon Bennett was fourth and Joren Fisher was fifth. 

The Class Too Tough Too Tame, IMCA Stock Cars presented by Drury Automotive and Truck Repair 20 lap feature was next on to the speedway. Jeff Larson and Michael Jaennette battled it out for the race lead with Larson leading the first lap. Jaennette made contact with Larson on lap two in turn four forcing the caution to come out, Larson too the tail and then Jaennette black flagged. Buck Schafroth was in the right position as he came across the line in the lead. The caution came out again on lap three. Schafroth led until lap 11 when Dusty Vis took over the top spot, Dylan Thornton worked his way until second on lap 12. Vis fended off Thornton until two laps to go when Thornton edged out Vis at the line with one to go. They had a fantastic battle to the checkered flag with Thornton winning by .019 seconds over Vis. Seventeenth place starter Dallon Murty came across in third, Damon Murty was fourth and twenty-third place starter Jay Schmidt was fifth.

RJ Esqueda wrestled the race lead away from fellow front row starter Ashton Blain in the IMCA Sport Compacts 15 lap feature event. Esqueda led until the caution came out on lap seven for Kolby Sabin and Mason Geigel getting together on the front stretch. Cristian Grady took the lead away on the restart but Esqueda would not go away. The caution came out again on lap 12 when oil was all over the race track in turn two forcing the field to spin out. Grady held off Blake Driscol to take the feature win. Driscol, Esqueda, Blain and Fiebelkorn rounded out the top five.

Final feature of the night was the Tire Demon by Love Tap IMCA Modifieds 20 lap feature. After having the initial start called back, Dylan Thornton grabbed the early lead but the caution came out for the only time during the race on lap two for Rob Charapata in turn four. Thornton got a great restart and pulled away with only lap traffic slowing him down, Austen Becerra inched closer because of the lap traffic but came up short as Thornton took the win. Becerra, Tim Ward, Drew Janssen and Tom Berry Jr finished second through fifth respectively.

Pictures I took are posted on the Trackside Report by Foxman Facebook Page in a photo albums called Marshalltown 2022 Season Preview Special 4-15-22.

The Friday Night Weekly Racing Series at the Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown Speedway officially gets underway next Friday Night with Ryan Ashton Racing Season Opener. Tire Demon by Love Tap IMCA Modifieds, Drury Automotive & Truck Repair IMCA Stock Cars, Big 8 Tyre Center IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby Stocks and IMCA Mod Lites. The Outlaw Mini Mods making their first appearance of the season. Hot Laps at 6:55p, Racing to Follow.

For more information about Marshalltown Speedway checked out marshalltownspeedway.com or like the Facebook page Marshalltown Speedway or contact promoter Toby Kruse at 515-231-5444 or toby@marshalltownspeedway.com.

Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown Speedway
2022 Season Preview Special

Friday April 15th, 2022

IMCA MODIFIEDS
presented by Tire Demon by Love Tap

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton (Santa Maria, Calif); 2. 22-Austen Becerra (Carthage, Ill.); 3. 4TW-Tim Ward (Harcourt); 4. 127-Drew Janssen (Pella); 5. 11X-Tom Berry Jr (Medford, Ore.); 6. 99X-Dallon Murty (Chelsea); 7. 21T-Mike McKinney (Plainfield, Ill.); 8. 10-Jeremy Mills (Clear Lake); 9. 21K-Kyle Brown (Madrid); 10. 10C-Cayden Carter (Oskaloosa); 11. B1-Jeff Larson (Freeport, Ill.); 12. 26J-Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 13. 111-Ethan Braaksma (Newton); 14. 99-Charlie Mohr (Bettendorf); 15. 20-Brandon Schmitt (Beaver Dam, Wis.); 16. 5G-Gat Leytham (Toledo); 17. 33X-Dan Roedl (Beaver Dam, Wis.); 18. 69JR-Johnathon Logue (Logansport); 19. 10K-Ronn Lauritzen (La Porte City); 20. 333-Rob Charapata (Green Bay, Wis.); 21. 3W-Garett Wilson (Carlisle); 22. 29-Spencer Diercks (Davenport); 23. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt (Plattsmouth, Neb.); DNS 19G-Richie Gustin (Gilman).

B Feature (10 Laps): 1. Logue; 2. Diercks; 3. Wilson; 4. Charapata; 5.  09-Kelsy Hayes (Hobart, Wis.); 6. 0L-Lucas Lamberies (Clintonville, Wis.); 7. 38C-Kellie Drury (Eldora); 8. 757-Tony Wedelstadt (New London, Wis.); 9. 05-Paul Nagle (Nevada); 10. 33-Nicholas Carpenter (Leavenworth, Kan.); 11. 40RC-Rod Clement (Rhodes).

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. Lauritzen; 2. Mills; 3. Becerra; 4. Schmitt; 5. Brown; 6. Wilson; 7. Drury; 8. Clement.

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. McKinney; 2. Thornton; 3. Hobscheidt; 4. Larson; 5. Rust; 6. Logue; 7. Hayes; 8. Wedelstadt.

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. Dallon Murty; 2. Janssen; 3. Braaksma; 4. Roedl; 5. Gustin; 6. Diercks; 7. Nagle; 8. Carpenter. 

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. Ward; 2. Berry Jr.; 3. Carter; 4. Mohr; 5. Leytham; 6. Charapata; 7. Lamberies.

IMCA STOCK CARS
presented by Drury Automotive & Truck Repair

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 38T-Dylan Thornton (Santa Maria, Calif.); 2. 20V-Dustin Vis (Martelle); 3. 99X-Dallon Murty (Chelsea); 4. 99D-Damon Murty (Chelsea); 5. 19J-Jay Schmidt (Tama); 6. 92-Buck Schafroth (Orient); 7. 69JR-Johnathon Logue (Logansport); 8. 6-Chanse Hollatz (Clear Lake); 9. 92X-Dan Mackenthun (Hamburg, Minn.); 10. 25X-Trent Murphy (Jefferson); 11. 71-David Brandies (Wilton); 12. 22R-Todd Reitzler (Grinnell); 13. 7L-Jeff Larson (Lakefield, Minn.); 14. 18-Anthony Goldsberry (Runnells); 15. 94-Steve Meyer (Grundy Center); 16. 25-Trent Nolan (Shawano, Wis.); 17.  11X-Tom Berry Jr (Medford, Ore.); 18. 2-David Atcher (Laurel); 19. 89K-Taylor Kuehl (Cave Creek, Ariz.); 20. 16-Jeff Byers Jr (Milo); 21. 77M-Jeff Mueller (Albion); 22. 93-Michael Jaennette (Kellogg); 23. 8E-Mitchell Evens (Dubuque); 24. 27R-Joshua Roosa (Greene).

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. Mueller; 2. Larson; 3. Kuehl; 4. Brandies; 5. Thornton; 6. Hollatz; 7. Nolan; 8. Goldsberry.

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Damon Murty; 2. Schafroth; 3. Mackenthun; 4. Murphy; 5. Berry Jr.; 6. Dallon Murty; 7. Meyer; 8. Schmidt.

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. Jaennette; 2. Atcher; 3. Vis; 4. Logue; 5. Evens; 6. Byers Jr.; 7. Reitzler; 8. Roosa. 

IMCA NORTHERN SPORT MODS
presented by Big 8 Tyre Center

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 117-Dylan VanWyk (Oskaloosa); 2. 3T-Tyler Soppe (Sherrill); 3. K3-Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 4. T23-Tony Olson[ (Cedar Rapids); 5. 19J-Jenae Gustin (Marshalltown); 6. 11-Izac Mallicoat (Boone); 7. 64-Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 8. 33-Jake Hagemann (Fort Ripley, Minn.); 9. 57K-Ryan King (Colo); 10. 88K-Kole Quam (Waterloo); 11. 2A-Matt Avila (Prescott); 12. 68-Will Wolf (Evansdale); 13. 8-Tom Lathrop (Ottumwa); 14. 77JR-Rayc Mullen (Hill City, Ill.); 15. 32X-Skyler Woods (Beaver Dam, Wis.); 16. 01-Brayton Carter (Oskaloosa); 17. 193-Jessiah Taylor (Des Moines); 18. 7V-Carter VanDenBerg (Oskaloosa); 19. 29-Colton Livezey (New Sharon); 20. 5T-Tyler Nerud (Dorchester, Neb.); 21. 2K-Taylor Kuehl (Cave Creek, Ariz.); 22. 11R-Braden Richards (Madrid); 23. 55L-Nick Leonard (Baxter); 24. 16-Kaylin Lopez (Chowchilla, Calif.).

B Feature (10 Laps): 1. Jackson; 2. Lopez; 3. Mullen; 4. Leonard; 5. 33T-Tim Fobian (Dike); 6. 7-Steve McLaughlin (Newton); 7. 105-Taylor Bass (Ackley); 8. 23M-Matt Speiss (Jefferson City, Mo.).

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. Kuehl; 2. Avila; 3. Hagemann; 4. Richards; 5. Wolf; 6. Mullen; 7. Lopez.

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Gustin; 2. Carter; 3. Nerud; 4. VanWyk; 5. Tony Olson; 6. Bass; 7. Fobian.
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. VanDenBerg; 2. Taylor; 3. Woods; 4. Quam; 5. Lathrop; 6. Leonard; 7. McLaughlin.
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. Soppe; 2. Mallicoat; 3. Livezey; 4. King; 5. Kyle Olson; 6. Speiss; 7. Jackson.

IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
presented by  Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown

A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 16X-Blake Luinenburg (Reading, Minn.); 2. 4W-John Watson (Des Moines); 3. 35-Luke Schluetter (New Hampton); 4. 11B-Solomon Bennett (Minburn); 5. 52-Joren Fisher (Garrison); 6. 06S-Adam Streeter (Walker); 7. 77W-Andrew Burk (Milan, Ill.); 8. 37G-Jeremiah Andrews (Union); 9. 29-Jake Nelson (Newton); 10. 92-BRANDON SCHEINDER (Vinton); 11. 33T-Trevor Tanner (Knoxville); 12. 9F-Breyden Forbes (Evansdale); 13. 47SW-Sam West (Ferguson); 14. 5M-Austin Mehmen (Cedar Falls); 15. 2G-Bradly Graham (Victor); 16. 12K-Eric Knutson (Slater); 17. 47-Darin DeZwarte (Knoxville); 18. 50K-Kolby Goepel (Britt); DNS 00N-Noah Graves (Dallas); DNS 18A-Aaron Elliott (Boone); DNS 91-Chris Krug (Emmetsburg)

Heat 1 (7 Laps): 1. Graham; 2. Bennett; 3. Watson; 4. Burk; 5. West; 6. Fisher; 7. Goepel.

Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. Knutson; 2. Schluetter; 3. SCHEINDER; 4. Streeter; 5. Graves; 7. DeZwarte; 8. Elliott.

Heat 3 (7 Laps): 1.  Andrews; 2. Mehmen; 3. Luinenburg; 4. Tanner; 5. Nelson; 6. Forbes; 7. Krug. 

IMCA SPORT COMPACTS
presented by  Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown

A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 89-Cristian Grady (Cedar Rapids); 2. 31D-Blake Driscol (Dysart); 3. 16X-RJ Esqueda (Granada, Minn.); 4. 24A-Ashton Blain (Burlington); 5. 61F-Tyler Fiebelkorn (Stuart); 6. 90-Robert Rundle (Walker); 7. 980-Jeremiah Downing (Woodward); 8. M80-Mark Smith (Huxley); 9. 65C-Colton Stewart (Vinton); 10. 22R-Danny Robinson (Tama); 11. 33-Dalton Chipp (Latimer); 12. 02-John Gill (Marshalltown); 13. 29-Matt Miller (Waterloo); 14. 3B-Adam Broehm (Newton, Wis.); 15.  21-John Schuring (Kellogg); 16. 29T-Trystin Belthuis (Dyart); 17. 13T-Noah Beenken (Waterloo); 18. 12-Mason Geigel (Manitowoc, Wis.); 19. 9-Kolby Sabin (Des Moines); DNS 26R-Jasmine Roosa (Dumont); DNS 24-Korey Lana (Center Point).

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. Sabin; 2. Esqueda; 3. Rundle; 4. Belthuis; 5. Roosa; 6. Lana; DQ Gill.

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. Grady; 2. Driscol; 3. Blain; 4. Smith; 5. Downing; 6. Beenken; 7. Miller. 

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. Broehm; 2. Stewart; 3. Geigel; 4. Fiebelkorn; 5. Robinson; 6. Schuring; 7. Chipp.

IMCA MOD LITES
presented by  Karl Auto Group of Marshalltown

A Feature (15 Laps): 1. X50-Joel Huggins (Des Moines); 2. 64-Randy Bryan (Ames); 3. 11-Dustin Ford (Fontanelle); 4. 8W-Joe Wood (Boone); 5. 99X-Darrick Knutsen (Cedar Rapids); 6. 48G-Austin Gray (Story City).

Heat (6 Laps): 1. Huggins; 2. Bryan; 3. Knutsen; 4. Gray; 5. Ford; 6. Wood