One of my favorite events to attend or work is the Ron Little Memorial at the Karl Chevrolet of Stuart Speedway so it was no surprised that I was going to make the trip over for the 24th Annual event. This event was also the finale of the six night swing of races for the Hickingbottom Trucking and BigDeal Car Care Midwest Madness Tour presented by Western Iowa Racing Results.
This night remembers a guy known as "The Gentle Giant" who passed away on May 9th, 1999 after finishing third at Stuart. Ron said to friend and competitor Joe College, “Joe, my cars were top 4 tonight, I have this figured out, I tried something tonight and it worked!” Unfortunately that was the last time the familiar number 10 car would see the race track. Every year Ron's last race car comes out to pace the field for the features on the night in his honor. Next year's event will be the Silver Anniversary, 25th Annual Ron Little Memorial.
A total of one hundred-forty cars checked into for the 24th Annual Ron Little Memorial beating last year's record car count by three cars. Stuart was third amongst the car counts of the six night swing : Clay County in Spencer (154 cars), Worthington (148), Stuart (140), Park Jeff (133) and Buena Vista in Alta (106).
Racing surface was in perfect condition for the heat races which led to some intense great racing action. After the heat races was completed though track crew had a farming session to rework the surface to make it fantastic for the features. It worked because there was several exciting battles the rest of the night. Final checkered flag came out at 11:20pm meaning by the time I got out of there I did not arrive back to Marshalltown until shortly after 1 am.
Great job by Mike Van Genderen and track crew for producing a great surface. Tony Paris and PJ Pedersen did a great job on the horn last night. Tim Skaren and crew did a fantastic job with the Midwest Madness Tour. All in all it was a great night.
First feature of the night was the Spices Galore! IMCA Sport Mods 20 lap feature event. Matt Avila out wrestled Jake Sachau, driving Jace Whitt's ride for the race lead. Avila fended off challenges from Sachau but held them off. Avila sliced his way through the lap traffic until a caution came out on lap 19 when Willy Kirk, Shelby Alves, Jackson Harpole and Mitchell Morris in turn four. Avila held off David Schwartz and seventh place starter Taylor Kuehl on the restart. Schwartz and Kuehl made contact with each other allowing Sachau to reclaim second. Avila took the feature win ahead of Sachau, Kuehl, Cam Reimers and eleventh place starter Brayton Carter. Midwest Madness Tour Champion was Lance Borgman, he came home in 11th, beating Kuehl by seven points.
Next up is usually the class to put on the best show as they are known as the Class Too Tough Too Tame, that being the B&B Racing Chassis IMCA Stock Cars for 22 laps. This feature had exiting moments but it was a stinker because there was a lot of cautions in the this one. Angel Munoz led the first two laps before fifth place starter Damon Murty sneaked by on the outside. Murty would slap the wall on lap nine in turns one and two, forcing him to slow down and exit the racing surface. That handed the lead over to Jake Sachau and tenth place starter Buck Schafroth began to put some pressure on Sachau. Schrafroth had a tire go down forcing him to exit the race track. Sachau went on to take the feature win. "The General" Troy Jerovetz worked his way from eighteenth to finish second. Tom Berry Jr was able to get by Austin Bouzek off the final corner to claim third. Bouzek in fourth and Rowdee Van Genderen came home in fifth. Bo Partain from Arizona was the Midwest Madness Tour Champion he finished seventh, beating Murty by five points.
Owen Richards and Kolby Sabin led the field to green in the Culver's of Carroll IMCA Sport Compacts 15 lap feature event. Richards and Sabin battled it out with Richards leading lap one, Sabin was able to take the top spot away on lap two. Sabin pulled away and went on to the easy victory in the only feature to go caution free. Jake Paysen finished second, Richards fell back to third, Shannon Mahlberg was fourth and Andrew Akers was fifth. Sabin's win gave him the Midwest Madness Tour Championship beating Mahlberg by three points.
Before a single lap was scored in the Schroeder Construction & Roofing IMCA Modifieds 25 lap feature event, the caution came out for Nate Warren spinning in turn one. Tripp Gaylord from Lakewood, Colorado led the first lap before Plattsmouth, Nebraska's Jacob Hobscheidt took over the lead. The caution came out shortly after when Jordan Rogotzke spun in turn four. Hobscheidt held everybody off on the following restart and again on lap six when Mike Lineberry and Nick Roberts gets together in turn two. Hoscheidt's big challenge was managing the lap traffic, he manage to get through and win by a full straight away. Dylan Thronton, Gaylord, Todd Shute and Jerry Flippo rounded out the top five. Hobscheidt also went on to claim the Midwest Madness Tour Championship by 25 points over Dallon Murty.
Ethan Atcheson led the first lap of the Demon Decals & Wraps IMCA Hobby Stocks 16 lap feature event. Coming to complete lap two, Atcheson spins in turn four forcing the caution to come out. That gave the race lead to Joe Doran. Skylar Pruitt was able to take the top spot away on the restart and was trialed by Zack Tate from Arizona. The caution came out on lap six when Brianna Osterson spun in turn one. Pruitt was able to fend off Luke Ramsey and Tate on the restart, appearing to head on to the win. Pruitt encountered a lap car as Ramsey was waiting to pounce when a lap car forced Pruitt to check up, Ramsey made pass for the lead on lap 11. Ramsey almost had the exact same situation a rise coming to the checkers but he hung to take the feature win. Pruitt came home second, Eric Stanton was third, Tate was fourth and Solomon "Squishy" Bennett was fifth. Kevin Bruck came home in sixth but that was just enough as he took the Midwest Madness Tour Championship by six points over Bennett.
Final feature of the night was the Outlaw Mini Mods fourteen lap feature event. Bobby Daniels out dueled Clayton Vanderploeg for the race lead. Bobby Daniels looked tough and would lead the first 12 laps despite a handful of cautions. Chase Daniels was able to steal the lead away on lap 13. Chase Daniels took the win over Bobby Daniels, Kaden Rice, Vanderploeg and Lucas Daniels.
The Karl Chevrolet of Stuart Speedway is back in action on Sunday July 2nd when the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Racing Series Late Models make their second appearance of the season for another $3,000 to win show. IMCA Stock Cars are $750 to win if you raced the Ron Little Memorial, $500 to win if you did not. IMCA Sport Mods are $1,000 to win, IMCA Sport Compacts and Outlaw Mini Mods round out the card. The night is sponsored by Dirt Track Bank, Choice Inc, Conrad's Pillow Pets, VIP Contractors and X-Caliber Race Cars. Gates Open at 3:30p, Hot Laps at 6:45p, Racing to Follow.
Then the Stuart Speedway takes a little hiatus before returning on Monday July 24th with the Clint Walrod Memorial. IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Sport Mods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts and Outlaw Mini Mods are all scheduled with the possibility of adding the IMCA Mod Lites, which was Clint's favorite class.
For more information about the Stuart International Speedway check out stuartspeedway.net or like the Facebook page Stuart Speedway or contact promoter and owner Mike Van Genderen at 641-521-0330.
For more information about the Hickingbottom Trucking & BigDeal Car Care Midwest Madness Tour check out Midwest Madness Tour presented by Western Iowa Racing Results on Facebook.
* All pictures I took during Hot Laps and Heat Races are posted on the Trackside Report by Foxman Facebook Page in a photo album called Stuart Ron Little Memorial / Midwest Madness Tour 6-29-23 *
24th Annual Ron Little Memorial
Thursday June 29th, 2023
IMCA MODIFIEDS
presented by Schroeder Construction & Roofing
Quick Performance Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Gaylord; 2. Shute; 3. Murty; 4. Roberts; 5. Rust; 6. Joshua Rogotzke; 7. Hunt; 8. Bash; DNS Sanders.
presented by B&B Racing Chassis
A Feature (22 Laps): 1. 14 Jake Sachau (Manning); 2. 01 Troy Jerovetz (Iowa Falls); 3. 11X Tom Berry Jr (Des Moines); 4. 14B Austin Bouzek (Trenton, Mo.); 5. 57VG Rowdee Van Genderen (Newton); 6. 3H Ty Hill (Winterset); 7. 75C Bo Partain (Casa Grande, Ariz.); 8. 2M Angel Munoz (Lamar, Colo.); 9. 94J Josh Steele (Platte City, Mo.); 10. 85J Zac Johnson (Dexter); 11. 04J Jay Brannan (Odebolt); 12. 33G Kevin Gyles (St Charles); 13. 92 Buck Schafroth (Orient); 14. 3S Bryan Snell (Coon Rapids); 15. 57J Jamie Anderson (Des Moines); 16. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 17. 62 Norman Bean (Muscatine); 18. 54 Robbie Merkle (Des Moines); 19. 67X Brandon Williams (Platte City, Mo.); 20. 8X Mike Hansen (Gillett Grove); 21. 80 Ryan Warner (West Des Moines); 22. 58 Bill Heinkel II (Perry); 23. 17X Justin Luinenberg (Reading, Minn.); 24. V31 Todd VanEaton (Orient); 25. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines).
SM Inc. Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Luinenburg; 2. Berry Jr; 3. Bouzek; 4. Partain; 5. Van Genderen; 6. Williams; 7. Snell; 8. Brannan.
presented by Spices Galore!
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 2X Matt Avila (Prescott); 2. 26J Jake Sachau (Manning); 3. 2K Taylor Kuehl (Cave Creek, Ariz.); 4. 21 Cam Reimers (Kelley); 5. 01 Brayton Carter (Oskaloosa); 6. 101 Luke Silber (Laveen, Ariz.); 7. 57S David Schwartz (Greenfield); 8. 79W Bill Wegner (Armstrong); 9. 8 Dusty Masolini (Des Moines); 10. CB25 Chris Burke (Altoona); 11. 76 Lance Borgman (Beatrice, Neb.); 12. 86W Willy Kirk (Sloan); 13. 22JR Brady Hilmer (Dysart); 14. 37 Thomas Behle (Polk City); 15. 48 Tommy Tanner (Hinton); 16. 30 Kenser Ellis (Ankeny); 17. 96E Clay Erickson (Phoenix, Ariz.); 18. 85JR Shawn Pudwill (Sturgis, SD); 19. 34N Thomas Nelson (Stuart); 20. 18 Mitchell Morris (St Charles); 21. 95N Garrett Nelson (Osceola); 22. 4 Gage Hilgenberg (Waukee); 23. 1S Shelby Alves (Sioux Falls, SD); 24. 46 Jackson Harpole (Farmington, NM); DNS 0LD Bryan Morris (St Charles).
Horsepower Dynamics Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. Avila; 2. Kuehl; 3. Masolini; 4. Sachau; 5. Behle; 6. Borgman; 7. Tanner; 8. Bryan Morris; 9. Hillgartner; 10. Dullard.
presented by Demon Decals & Wraps
Horsepower Dynamics Heat 2 (7 Laps): 1. Atcheson; 2. Doran; 3. McCann; 4. Haidsiak; 5. Cavin; 6. Jared Smith; 7. Gyles; 8. Reiter.
presented by Culvers of Carroll
A Feature (14 Laps): 1. 9 Kolby Sabin (Des Moines); 2. 44 Jake Paysen (Wall Lake); 3. 69X Owen Richards (Creston); 4. 22 Shannon Mahlberg (Dunlap); 5. 28 Andrew Akers (Gravity); 6. 8A Anthony Clark (Omaha, Neb.); 7. 16 Curtis Masterson (New Virginia); 8. 50 Zak Sickles (Fontanelle); 9. 980 Jeremiah Downing (Woodward); 10. 02 John Gill (Marshalltown); 11. 33NK Nikole Kimmel (New Virginia); 12. 98 Elijah Hoyt (Creston).
Mahlberg Motorsports Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. Richards; 2. Clark; 3. Mahlberg; 4. Masterson; 5. Gill; 6. Hoyt.
presented by Drury Automotive & Truck Repair
A Feature (15 Laps): 1. 25C Chase Daniels (Carlisle); 2. 25B Bobby Daniels (Des Moines); 3. 69K Kaden Rice (Bondurant); 4. 57 Clayton Vanderploeg (Altoona); 5. 25L Lucas Daniels (Des Moines); 6. 47 Troy Ihrke (Sheffield); 7. 44R Joel Roberts (Ankeny); 8. 5M Megan Daniels (Indianola); 9. Z83 Zackary Schaefer (Creston); 10. 10E Josh Emerick (Lacona); 11. 4R Steve Roberts (Ankeny); 12. 007 Glenn Orr (Creston); 13. 64R Jackson Roberts (Redfield); 14. 12 Zachary Dunham (Ankeny); 15. 13X Brett Orr (Creston); DNS 9G Grant Kading (Stuart).
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. Rice; 2. Chase Daniels; 3. Ihrke; 4. Megan Daniels; 5. Emerick; 6. Jackson Roberts; 7. Dunham; 8. Kading.
