Berry Jr. Continues His Dominance at Marshalltown

 Marshalltown, IA (Friday, September 4, 2020) - With most of the tracks in my area choosing to take this weekend off, I decided to trek northwest to the Marshalltown Speedway in Marshalltown, Iowa on Friday, September 4th. On tap was the "Showdown at MoTown", featuring the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, IMCA Hobby Stocks, and IMCA Sport Compacts.

I arrived shortly before hot laps were set to begin to find most of the Sport Compacts were pitted on the outside of the fenced in pit area. A quick check of the car counts on the MyRacePass AP showed that 141 cars, 31 Modifieds, 23 Stock Cars, 22 SportMods, 25 Hobby Stocks, and 40 Sport Compacts, from 15 states were checked in for the nights competition. Which meant the pits were so full they had to use the outside grassy area to pit cars.

After all 21 qualifying events were completed, including 18 heat races and 3 B-Mains, it was time to go feature racing. First up was the 20 lap IMCA SportMod feature, which had a difficult time of getting consecutive laps completed throughout the entire race. Hermann, Missouri's Cullen Thompson and Somerton, Arizona's Ty Rogers drew the front row for the event. But just as the green flag was waved the yellow light would come on, as John Rebstock of Morton, Minnesota stopped in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Lee Rouse would spin in turn 4 on the restart to bring the yellow light back on. The next restart saw Rogers grab the lead on lap 1, with Cullen Thompson and Johnathon Logue close behind. Just after the lap was scored complete another caution appeared, as Jordan Braaten of Medford, Oregon went off the track in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Logue would use the top of the track coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot from Rogers, with Brayton Carter, who started 8th, moving into third. Three laps later Oakley, California's Scott Foster would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Logue once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with tenth place starter Brian Osantowski of Columbus, Nebraska and Carter glued to his back bumper. Just after the lap was scored complete Fred Leytham would spin in turn 1 to bring out a caution. Logue jumped back out front on the restart, with Osantowski and Carter still following. While all eyes were on the top three, Cody Thompson, who started 21st, was working his way towards the front. On the halfway mark he had climbed his way up to 8th. The action was slowed on lap 11 when Bo Partain of Casa Grande, Arizona went over the track in turn 2 to bring out the yellow.

Once again Logue moved back out front on the restart, with Carter and Osantowski swapping the runner up spot. One more lap completed produced another caution, as Leytham spun in turn 1 to bring out his second yellow of the race to end his night. Logue jumped back out front on the restart, with Osantowski and Carter swapping the runner up spot once again. Another lap got scored complete before the final caution of the race appeared, this time Cullen Thompson would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the final restart Logue moved back out front, with Carter and Osantowski swapping the runner up spot. While Carter and Osantowski battled for the runner up spot, this allowed Logue to pull away over the final laps to claim his fourth win in a row and fifth overall at the Marshalltown Speedway. Carter edged out Osantowski at the line for 2nd, Cody Thompson was 4th, with Travis Peterson coming from 13th to finish in 5th. But a look at the official results before writing the column I see that third and fourth place finishers of Osantowski and Cody Thompson were disqualified in post race tech. This would move Peterson to 3rd, Austin Kaplan, who started 11th, was moved to 4th, with Guy Ahlwardt from Antioch, California moved up to 5th.

Up next was the 15 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, with Kolby Sabin and Hunter Patrick leading the field to the green. But it was fifth place starter Jake Benischek who quickly shot to the front to lead lap 1 over Patrick and Sabin. The action was slowed for the first and only time of the race on lap 3, as Cody Pontious went over the track in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Benischek jumped back out front, with Patrick and Sabin trying to keep pace. Despite entering lapped traffic late in the race, there was no catching Benischek on this night. As he pulled away to claim the win, which happened to be worth $1,100. Thanks to the many people and businesses the advertised $650 to win turned out to be $1,100 to win right before hot laps were set to begin. Patrick, who crossed the line in 2nd, was disqualified in post race tech. Which moved Jade Lange to 2nd, Mitchell Bunch, who started 12th, was moved up to 3rd, Sabin was moved up to 4th, with Curtis Masterson being moved up to 5th after starting in 11th.

Jeremiah Andrews and Shane Palmer drew the front row for the 20 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature, with Andrews using his draw to his advantage by leading lap 1 over Carter Koop and Lance Mielke, who made the pull over from Norfolk, Nebraska. Just after the lap was scored complete the caution would appear, as Gary Ollendieck spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Andrews jumped back out front, with Eric Stanton, who started 10th, and Mielke following. One lap later Stanton used the bottom off turn 4 to get the top spot away from Andrews. While Stanton pulled away, the rest of the field was left battling for positions behind him. And just when it looked like Stanton would pull away to an easy win, the second caution of the race appeared on lap 14. Colby Christensen and Mike Kincaid would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Stanton moved back out front, with Erik Knutson, who started 15th, and Miekle close behind. The action was slowed for one final time on lap 17, as Tanner Uehling, who pulled over from Norfolk, Nebraska, came to a stop on the top of turn 1 to bring out the yellow. Stanton once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Knutson and Koop following. Knutson tried to keep pace with Stanton over the final laps, but Stanton would hold on to claim his 100th career IMCA Hobby Stock feature win. Knutson settled for 2nd, Tyler Ollendieck was 3rd, Mielke was 4th, with Aaron Martin coming from 17th to complete the top 5.

Up next was the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with AJ Dancer of Red Rock, Texas and Jared Daggett leading the field to green. Daggett used his draw to his advantage by leading lap 1 over Donavan Smith and Scott Rice. The action was slowed for the first time on lap 2, as Cameron Exline spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Daggett jumped back out front, with Smith and Rice still following. While Daggett used the top of the track, Smith would work the bottom, which allowed Dallon Murty, who started 9th, to use the middle groove coming off turn 2 to complete lap 5. Murty would then shoot to the top of the track coming off turn 4 to grab the lead on lap 5. One lap later Exline would spin in turn 4 to bring out his second yellow of the race to end his night. Murty jumped back out front on the restart, with Smith and Daggett close behind. Todd Reitzler, who started 12th, pounded the top side of the track to work himself into the runner up spot on lap 9. On lap 12 Murty decided to go to the bottom of the track in turns 1 and 2, which allowed Reitzler to pull even with him. But Murty was able to clear him going into turn 3 to maintain the lead. The action up front was slowed on lap 13, as Daggett's run up front came to an end when he spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Dancer and Nathan Robbins from Paige, Texas would spin in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. Murty moved back out front on the following restart, with Reitzler and Smith glued to his back bumper. Two laps later the final caution of the race appeared, as Bo Partain came to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Once again Murty grabbed the lead on the restart, with Reitzler and Smith battling for the runner up spot. Reitzler was able to stay glued to Murty's back bumper over the final laps, but wasn't able to mount a challenge for the lead. As Murty held on to pick up his second win in a row and fourth overall at the track. Reitzler held on for 2nd but was disqualified in post race tech. Which moved 21st place starter Steve Meyer to 2nd, Smith was moved up to 3rd, Michael Jaennette, who has sat out of racing for about 2 years and recently purchased a car, was moved up to 4th, with Peoria, Arizona's Chase Alves, who started 14th, being moved up to round out the top 5.

The final feature to take to the track on this night was the 25 lap IMCA Modified feature, with Pacifica, California's Shane DeVolder and Rapid City, South Dakota's Casey Skyberg leading the field to green. DeVolder used his starting spot to his advantage by grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Skyberg and Eric Barnes. Just after the lap was scored complete Thor Anderson, who was running 4th, got sideways in turn 2 and Jared Spalding of Troy, Pennsylvania, who was running 7th, spun into Anderson. The contact from Spalding would straighten Anderson back out, leaving Spalding sitting in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Anderson was given his fourth place running spot back, as it was determined his car was moving as the yellow light came on. On the following restart Spalding shot off the track in turn 1 to bring the yellow light back on, and as a result it would end his night with his second yellow of the race. The following restart saw seventh place runner Chris Albeson drop his right rear off the top of turn 1, which resulted in him rolling to bring out the red. But just as the rescue crew got over to Albeson to check on him, he would fire the car up and appear on the backstretch to drive his car to the pits.

On the following restart Skyberg would slid up in front of DeVolder to take over the top spot, with seventh place starter Tom Berry Jr. moving into third. Going into turn 3 to come an complete lap 3, Berry Jr. would drive it hard into the bottom of turn 3 and then slid up in front of Skyberg coming off turn 4 to grab the lead. Then just after the lap was scored complete the caution would come out, as Mike Goodson of Overbrook, Oklahoma spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Berry Jr. jumped back out front on the restart, with Riley Simmons of Susanville, California over taking Skyberg for the runner up spot. The fast pace that Berry Jr. was setting would put him into lapped traffic on lap 12. But the only thing to slow him down on this night was the final caution on lap 13, as debris in turn 4 brought out the yellow. On the final restart Berry Jr. moved back out front, with Tim Ward, who started 12th, over taking Simmons for the second spot. Ward tried to keep pace with Berry Jr. over the final 12 laps, and despite more lapped traffic on lap 22. There was no challenging Berry Jr., who went on to win his sixth in a row and ninth overall in eleven starts at the Marshalltown Speedway. Ward settled for 2nd, Simmons was 3rd, Cody Laney started 8th and finished 4th, with Abilene, Texas' Chris Elliott coming from 9th to take home 5th.

I would like to say THANK YOU to Toby Kruse and the entire staff at the Marshalltown Speedway for the great hospitality!! A special THANK YOU to Jerry Vansickel for getting my name added to the media credentials list at the last minute, I GREATLY appreciate it! The Marshalltown Speedway will end their 2020 season on September 17th thru the 19th. The 17th will be the 500th and final Deery Brothers Summer Series race, as well as the Dale DeFrance Memorial. Then the 14th Annual World Nationals will take place on the 18th and 19th.

My plan for tonight is to sit back and take in the action during the Prelude to the Super Nationals at the Boone Speedway in Boone, Iowa. Then I also plan on relaxing and returning to Boone starting Monday for the start of the Super Nationals. I will hopefully get to see the action all week long, if the weather co-operates. Before returning home to work at the Pepsi Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa on Saturday, September 12th. The "Drive For 5" for the IMCA Late Models will highlight the action, as twelve driver's chase $5,000 to win. The rest of the field is guaranteed $2,000 if they win. Also on the card will be the Sprint Invaders racing for $2,000 to win and the IMCA Sport Compacts battling for $300 to win. Everyone stay safe out there!