Stuart, IA (Thursday, May 2, 2019) - When Mike VanGenderen purchased the Stuart International Speedway in Stuart, Iowa during the winter months of 2018, and then released a schedule for the 2019 racing season I circled Thursday, May 2nd as an event to attend. It would be the inaugural visit for the MLRA Late Models, and ironically it was my first ever visit to the track.
The 1/4 mile track is nestled on the northwest edge of a town of 1,700 people. When I arrived to the facilities I was surprised at just how small of an area the entire grounds sits on. Part of the spectator parking lot was blocked off to accommodate the big haulers of the MLRA Late Models, which made it tight parking for the spectators. By the time the heat races were set to roll off, the grounds were jam packed.
The pit area was over filled with 24 MLRA Late Models, 26 IMCA SportMods, 22 IMCA Hobby Stocks, and 18 IMCA Stock Cars to bring the total car count to 90. After 3 Hobby Stock heats, 3 MLRA heats, 3 Stock Cars heats and 4 SportMod heats, the features were set to take to the track after a brief track prep secession.
Twenty of the twenty-two IMCA Hobby Stocks came to the track first for their 16 lap feature, with Richard Pahlka Jr. and Chuck Madden Jr. leading the field to green. Madden Jr. took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Jack Phillips and Shannon Anderson. Madden Jr., who worked the top of the track, Phillips, who was in the middle, and Anderson, who was on the bottom, raced three wide for the top spot on laps 5 and 6. On lap 7 Anderson shot off the bottom coming off turn 4 to take the lead. Two laps later, lap 9, Anderson started to enter lap traffic. The lapped traffic would allow Madden Jr. to stay within striking distance of Anderson over the final laps. But Anderson would hold him off in a caution free race to pick up the win. Madden Jr. settled for 2nd, Phillips was 3rd, Dylan Nelson started 8th and finished 4th, with Adam Ayers coming from 10th to finish in 5th.
Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with sixteen of the eighteen cars signed in taking to the track. Jeremy Gettler and Buck Schafroth would lead the field to the drop of the green flag, with Gettler edging out Schafroth and Todd VanEaton to lead lap 1. Gettler would hold the top spot until lap 4, when he got high coming off turn 2. Which allowed Schafroth to shoot under him coming off turn 4 to take over the lead. Just as Gettler, Schafroth, and VanEaton raced three wide going into turn 3, the first caution of the race slowed the action up front. Debris in turn 1 would bring out the yellow. On the restart Schafroth jumped back out into the lead, with VanEaton working to hold off Mike Nichols, who started 8th. VanEaton's run up front came to an end on lap 11, as he slowed off turn 4 and dropped a driver shaft down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Schafroth once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Nichols and Kyle Brown, who started 12th, close behind. As the laps wound down, Nichols started to look under Schafroth coming off turn 2 for the lead. But Schafroth would use the momentum off the top of turn 4 to keep the lead at the strip. On the white flag lap Nichols once again looked under Schafroth coming off turn 2 and then raced him side-by-side going into turn 3. But when Nichols got up on two wheels, this allowed Schafroth to go on to claim the win. Shawn Ritter, who started 17th, shot under Nichols off turn 4 to grab 2nd, Nichols finished 3rd after settling down on all 4 wheels, Brown was 4th, with Josh Daniels rounding out the top 5.
Peyton Looney and Tyler Bruening led the field to green in the 40 lap MLRA Late Model feature, with Looney grabbing the advantage on lap 1 over Bruening and Will Vaught. The action was slowed on lap 3 when Dave Eckrich spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Looney jumped back out front, with Bruening, Vaught and Chris Simpson hot on his heels. Disaster would strike Looney coming off tun 2, as he slowed with engine troubles to end his run up front. While many eyes were on the battle up front, Bobby Pierce, who started 13th, had worked his way to 9th by the caution on lap 4. Bruening inherited the lead on the restart, with Vaught and Chris Simpson battling side-by-side for the runner up spot. Chris Simpson would use the bottom of the track to edge out Vaught at the line to grab second, but Vaught used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to get second back on lap 9. Then just after the completion of lap 9 the caution appeared, as Jake Neal slowed to a stop at the exit of the track in turn 4. The red was displayed shortly after track crews got to him to allow the ambulance and fire crew to go up and check on him. After talking with a corner worker, I was told something hit him in his face mask and pushed it up against his nose. When he took off his helmet, there appeared to be some blood dripping from his nose. Neal stayed strapped in the car as the ambulance crew attended to him. His crew would run to the hauler to grab another helmet, as Neal wanted to race the rest of the feature out.
Meanwhile Pierce, who was 9th under the lap 4 caution, was now up to 7th under the lap 9 caution. On the restart Bruening moved back out front, with Vaught and Chris Simpson continuing their battle for the runner up spot. Just after the lap was scored complete, another caution appeared. This time Jesse Stovall, who started 16th and was running 8th, spun in the middle of turns 3 and 4, as a result of a left rear flat, and collected 9th place runner Andrew Kosiski, who had nowhere to go, to bring out the yellow. Pierce utilizing the top of the track to get two more cars before the yellow flag waved, and was now running 5th. Bruening once again jumped out front on the restart, with Chris Simpson and Pierce following close behind. While Chris Simpson worked the low line of the track, Pierce was up top, as the two battled side-by-side for the runner up spot. Pierce would finally clear Chris Simpson on lap 14, and then went to work on Bruening for the top spot. Bruening was also working the bottom of the track, which gave Pierce the line he preferred up top. Coming off turn 4 to complete lap 16, Pierce used the momentum off the top to grab the lead away from Bruening. By the halfway mark of the race, Pierce started to enter lapped traffic. Which wasn't slowing him down, as he started to pull away from the field. It appeared the only thing to slow Pierce down for the last half of the race would be another caution. Well that happened on lap 29, as debris in turn 2 brought out the final yellow. On the restart Pierce jumped back out front, with Bruening, Vaught, and Chris Simpson battling for second. With Pierce setting the pace out front, Chris Simpson was able to work under both Vaught and Bruening to grab the runner up spot with a handful of laps left. But he would run out of time to challenge Pierce for the top spot. As Pierce went on to claim the win, his second with the MLRA this season. Chris Simpson was 2nd, Bruening was 3rd, Vaught was 4th, with Jordan Yaggy completing the top 5.
The final feature to take to the track was the 20 lap IMCA SportMods, with Blair Simmons and Brett Vanderheiden making up the front row. These guys would struggle early to get the race going, as four cautions were waved before 2 laps were scored complete. But once they got their rhythm going, fifth place starter, Hunter Longnecker established himself as the front runner, with Vanderheiden and Johnathon Logue, who started 11th, close behind. Longnecker started to pull away from the field, even as he entered lapped traffic on lap 10. But his pace was slowed on lap 11, as Simmons and Daniel Hagen spun in turn 1 to bring out the final caution of the race. On the restart Longnecker moved back out front, with Tyler Inman, who started 6th, and Vanderheiden close behind. While the rest of the field raced four wide off turn 2. Longnecker would hold the top spot until lap 14, as Inman was able to get under him coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot. Inman then held on over the final laps to pick up the win. Longnecker settled for 2nd, Brayton Carter came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Austin Kaplan finished 4th after starting in 10th, with Jake McBirnie coming from 12th to round out the top 5.
Notes from Stuart: Corey Madden started the Hobby Stock feature in 12th and finished 6th....John Watson came from 11th to finish 7th....Rusty Giles passed 11 cars from his 21st place starting spot to finish in 10th....Miciah Hidlebaugh finished 14th after starting in 22nd....Greg Gilbert and Brandon Cox were both a scratch from the feature, after the wreck in the heat race......Brock Badger and Bryan Snell both had mechanical troubles in their heat races that forced them to scratch from the Stock Car feature......Billy Moyer started the MLRA feature in 10th and finished 6th....Chad Simpson passed 12 cars from his 19th place starting spot to come up to finish 7th....Mitch McGrath also passed 12 cars from his 20th place starting spot to finish 8th....Richie Gustin started 15th and finished 9th....Logan Martin started 21st and passed 11 cars to finish in 10th....Jake Neal recovered from his need of medical attention on lap 9 to come back up to finish in 11th....J.C. Wyman finished 13th after starting in 17th....Joseph Gorby came out during the pace laps, but went back to the pits before the green flag was waved....Spencer Diercks loaded up after hot laps with engine troubles to scratch for the night......Johnathon Logue finished 6th in the SportMod feature after starting in 11th....Cody Thompson, who started 13th, recovered from a spin on lap 2 to come back up to finish 8th....Garrett Nelson also recovered from a spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish 9th....Kody Havens recovered from a caution on lap 1 to come back up to finish in 10th....Chris Burke started 17th and finished 11th....Bryan Morris finished 15th after starting in 20th....Daniel Hagen, who started 23rd, recovered from his involvement in the lap 11 caution to come back up to finish 16th....Mark Menard started started 26th and finished 18th....Matt Hays had troubles in his heat that forced him to scratch from the feature.
I would like to thank Mike VanGenderen and his staff at the Stuart International Speedway for the great hospitality. I was very impressed with the racing on the 1/4 mile, and WOW was it a fast track!
The MLRA Late Models were scheduled to go to the Davenport Speedway in Davenport, Iowa tonight, Friday, May 3rd. But with all the rain eastern Iowa received this week, the grounds were to saturated to race. So the event was canceled. The series now takes a night off before going to the West Liberty Raceway in West Liberty, Iowa on Saturday, May 4th. Before ending there weekend at the Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois on Sunday, May 5th. Look for more coverage from both of those events here on Sunday and Monday.
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