Stuart Speedway Kicks Off Season Number 51

by Josh Reynolds

STUART, IA (May 13, 2012) – After a long offseason and two straight weeks of wet weather, Stuart Speedway welcomed drivers, crewmembers and fans back for another great year of racing! Jordan Peters, Nick Roberts, Brandon Pruitt, Jeremy Gettler and Josh Gilman were the first feature winners of the year on West Central Auction Night at the Races.

Stuart Speedway will always be known as one of the fastest quarter mile bullrings in the Midwest, but as things go the track experienced a few small changes in the offseason. We have a different person doing the track prep, a new voice for the drivers on the raceceivers, and probably the most vocal change is the new announcer. Also the announcer at the Boone Speedway, Johnnie Tharp joins us with quite a bit of enthusiasm and a skill for involving the crowd not seen at Stuart in some time. Part of the crowd involvement is the new announcers stand added on for a little extra “hands on” feel for the spectators. There have been quite a few comments about the new guy, and all have been good. Welcome to SIS, Johnnie!

The first feature event to hit the track for the new season was the IMCA Sport Compacts with Jordan Peters on the pole and Adam Kralik alongside. Peters would take the lead and never look back in picking up the win with Kralik in second. Kralik was the heat race winner.

Next up would be the IMCA Northern Sportmods with Trevor Oberholtz and Casey Gruebel leading the field to green. Oberholtz showed the way through two yellow flags and looked strong early. Meanwhile, fifth starting Nick Roberts was picking his way through the field. The #23JR DeeZee sponsored Victory Chassis passed Josh Pruitt for second on lap six and set his sights on Oberholtz. Roberts took over the top spot on lap nine and never looked back in taking the win. Pruitt and Oberholtz put on a show for second with Pruitt coming out on top. Oberholtz ended in third with the last two track titlists, Clint Luellen and Mike Pruitt coming home fourth and fifth, respectively. M. Pruitt, Eric Elliot and Roberts were the heat race winners. On a side note, Joe Simbro had quite a rollover in the first heat with Simbro walking away. His car, however, wasn’t so lucky. Hope to see you back soon, Joe.

6 Cylinder FWD’s came out next with Jordan Peters as the polesitter and Andy Forcht on the outside. Forcht led for three laps until going for a wild spin in turn one. That turned the lead and the race over to Peters, who went on to his second feature win of the night. Forcht, the heat race winner, ended in second.

The biggest draw for the night went to the IMCA Hobby Stocks with twenty-one cars signing in to race. John Watson drew the #1 chip with Randy Anderson pulling #2 to join him on the front row. Watson took the lead right away, and through two yellow flags looked to continue his recent winning ways. Last year’s SIS dominator with eight wins, Brandon Pruitt, had other ideas and moved his Mr. T Trailers/Slayton Farms Penetrator chassis past Austin Luellen into second on lap nine. Pruitt only took two laps to assume the top spot and went on to take the win over Watson. Luellen held on for third over Aaron Rudolph and Jason Kohl. Rudolph, Pruitt and Watson were the heat race winners.

IMCA Stock Cars were next up with Bryan Snell and Marcus Fagan pacing the field. Fagan would lead with Jamie Schirm and Jeff Joldersma fighting hard for the top spot. The three cars stayed in that order until Fagan bobbled in turn four on lap seven. The bobble collected Schirm and Joldersma with Schirm getting the most damage. After the dust settled, last year’s track champion, Jeremy Gettler, inherited the lead and looked to easily take the win. Veteran Brian Blessington had other ideas, however, and began tracking down Gettler on lap fifteen. Blessington closed on Gettler, and as the two took the white flag the fans sensed something big was about to happen! Blessington was fast, but Gettler stayed calm and drove the #23A Terminator Chassis powered by Lutheran Church of Hope to the win. Blessington finished a close second with Fagan, Joe Zadina and Steve Campbell rounding out the top five. Fagan, Jeff Anderson and Joldersma took the heat race wins.

Last, but certainly not least, the IMCA Modifieds pulled onto the track with former track champion Jimmy Gustin on the pole. Luke Wanninger started on the outside and took the lead as the green flag flew. Wanninger held the lead until Gustin powered by on lap four. The two held form until lap seven when Wanninger spun in turn one. That moved another former track champion, Josh Gilman, up behind Gustin and set up a much anticipated shootout between the two. These guys have put on quite the show in the past, but Gustin had other ideas and shot out to a sizeable lead as the green flag flew. Around lap fifteen, the man they call Happy started to reel the #19 in. Gustin would encounter a lap car on lap seventeen and Gilman, running a lower line, moved past Gustin with two laps to go. At the white flag Gilman had a small advantage as Gustin slung his car in on the high side. Gilman’s car would have enough grip to hold off Gustin and at the line it was the #83G Victory Chassis taking the win. Gustin came through in second over Kent Croskey, Rex Parkison and Tony Hilgenberg. Wanninger and Randy Havlik were the heat race winners.

We’d like to thank all who came out to support the track on a beautiful Mother’s Day evening. Please join us next week for Lincoln’s Lounge Night at the Races. In addition to our six weekly classes the IMCA Late Models, 2 man Cruisers and Iowa Sportsman Series will join us for a wild night of racing! See you there!

Stock Cars – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 5 23A Jeremy Gettler Adair , Ia 40.00
2 9 92B Brian Blessington Breda , Ia 39.00
3 2 1F Marcus Fagan Adair , Ia 38.00
4 12 3 Joe Zadina Corning , Ia 37.00
5 6 11 Steve Campbell Des Moines, Ia 36.00
6 11 11G Nyle Godwin Redfield , Ia 35.00
7 3 66 Jeff Joldersma Mcclelland , Ia 34.00
8 7 23H Rick Houseman Winterset , Ia 33.00
9 13 76 Norman Belew Granger , Ia 32.00
10 1 3S Bryan Snell Coon Rapids, Ia 31.00
11 8 78 Jeff Anderson Atlantic , Ia 30.00
12 4 56 Jamie Schirm Dexter , Ia 29.00
13 14 33 Matthew Gray Des Moines, Ia 28.00
14 10 711 Michael Walrod Desoto , Ia 27.00
15 17 77T Trenton Jeanes Chariton , Ia 26.00
16 15 4 Ron Godwin Earlham , Ia 25.00 DNS
17 16 25 Bob Daniels Des Moines, Ia 24.00 DNS
18 18 64 Scott Bailey Carlisle , Ia 23.00 DNS

SportMods – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 5 23JR Nick Roberts Des Moines, Ia 40.00
2 8 8.0 Josh Pruitt Stuart , Ia 39.00
3 1 46 Trevor Oberholtz Adair , Ia 38.00
4 4 3L Clinton Luellen Minburn , Ia 37.00
5 9 92P Michael Pruitt Redfield , Ia 36.00
6 3 34J Jerry Hinton Adel , Ia 35.00
7 11 9E Eric Elliot Boone , Ia 34.00
8 7 99K Kody Havens Wiota , Ia 33.00
9 10 19 David Schlicht Grand Junction, Ia 32.00
10 15 57 Tyler Gross Bondurant , Ia 31.00
11 14 13T Taylor Musselman Norwalk , Ia 30.00
12 18 A5 Austin Paul Monroe , Ia 29.00
13 17 42 Matt Hays Panora , Ia 28.00
14 12 39 Larry Embrey Madrid , Ia 27.00
15 2 64 Casey Gruebel Lacona , Ia 26.00
16 6 3F Cole Ferguson Dexter , Ia 25.00
17 13 71 Evan Nemitz Kiron , Ia 24.00 DNS
18 16 56 Joe Simbro Swan , Ia 23.00 DNS

Hobby Stocks – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 7 10B Brandon Pruitt Dexter , Ia 40.00
2 1 4W John Watson Des Moines, Ia 39.00
3 6 3A Austin Luellen Minburn , Ia 38.00
4 4 38R Aaron Rudolph Grand Junction, Ia 37.00
5 5 27 Jason Kohl Missouri Valley, Ia 36.00
6 11 78 Shannon Anderson Urbandale , Ia 35.00
7 12 32 Bill Atcheson Waukee , Ia 34.00
8 15 96R Jamie Songer Ankeny , Ia 33.00
9 18 66 Andy Mahlstedt Bagley , Ia 32.00
10 20 11 David Castellano Des Moines, Ia 31.00
11 19 7C Chad Legere Des Moines, Ia 30.00
12 8 67 Ed Mahlstedt Bagley , Ia 29.00
13 17 7B Eric Stanton Hartford , Ia 28.00
14 3 1 Blake Miller Des Moines, Ia 27.00
15 14 17 Nathan Lange Dexter , Ia 26.00
16 9 17F Lee Farmer Bethany , Mo 25.00
17 10 33VH Dusty Van Horn Atlantic , Ia 24.00
18 16 224 Gina Gruebel Lacona , Ia 23.00
19 2 93 Randy Anderson Atlantic , Ia 22.00
20 13 911 Darin Rothfus Woodward , Ia 21.00 DNS
21 21 11B Solomon Bennett Perry , Ia 20.00 DNS

Spt Compact – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 18 Jordan Peters Des Moines, Ia 32.00
2 2 199 Adam Kralik Orient , Ia 31.00

6 cyl. FWD – Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 18 Jordan Peters Des Moines, Ia 33.00
2 2 17 Andy Forcht Stuart , Ia 32.00
3 3 51B James Britton Indianola , Ia 31.00 DNS

Category: Iowa, News, Stuart Speedway