Jimmy Gustin celebrates the 4th at Algona with 1st Hawkeye Dirt Tour win

 

ALGONA, Iowa (July 4) – One of IMCA’s most decorated drivers added to his resume on Independ­ence Day at Algona Raceway.

Jimmy Gustin won his career-first Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour presented by XSAN main event. He’s now the sixth different winner in as many events for the IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modified series this season.

Already on the ballot for this fall’s Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational, Gustin earned $1,000 for the Thursday victory, plus a $250 IMCA-Hawkeye Dirt Tour loyalty bonus awarded to the highest finishing driver who’d competed in at least one series event this season prior to the Algona show.

Mike Jergens, new point leader Ronn Lauritzen, Mark Elliott and J.J. Wise completed the top five finishers. None could mount a challenge to Gustin, who caught Wise for the front spot on the 17^th of 25 laps and then pulled away following the only caution of the night of lap 21.

Wise had drawn the outside front row and set sail from the onset, with pole starter Mike Van Gen­deren falling in behind and doing his best to keep up.

Working the lower line, Wise built up a 10 car-length advantage by the time the 10^th circuit was scored and left Van Genderen to battle with Jergens and Gustin for second.

Gustin drove by Jergens on lap 11 and caught Van Genderen just after midway. Hauling mail on the top of the track, Gustin pulled even with Wise on lap 16 and completed his pass for first the next time around.

Lauritzen and Elliott joined Wise and Jergens in the top five before the lap 21 yellow. Jergens got the best of the four-wide tussle for second but ran out of laps to make a run at Gustin.

Next up on the series schedule is the Tues­day, July 16 event at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. That feature also pays $1,000 to win.

Other July 4 feature winners at Algona were Jake Masters in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Devin Smith in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Phil Ricke in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Lucas Parsons in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts.

Feature Results 

Hawkeye Dirt Tour – 1. Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown; 2. Mike Jergens, Plover; 3. Ronn Lau­ritzen, Jesup; 4. Mark Elliott, Webster City; 5. J.J. Wise, Manly; 6. Dustin Smith, Lake City; 7. Mike Van Genderen, Newton; 8. Greg Elliott, Webster City; 9. Ryan Watnem, Humboldt; 10. Rob Hughes, Humboldt; 11. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 12. Joel Bushore, Boone; 13. Tyler Heetland, Bancroft; 14. Garry Hall, Rochester, Minn.; 15. Larry Hall, Rochester, Minn.

1^st heat – 1. Watnem; 2. Smith; 3. Hughes; 4. Greg Elliott; 5. Wise; 6. Bushore; 7. Waterman; 8. Larry Hall. 2^nd heat ­– 1. Lauritzen; 2. Jergens; 3. Gustin; 4. Mark Elliott; 5. Van Genderen; 6. Garry Hall; 7. Heetland.

Stock Cars – 1. Jake Masters, Graettinger; 2. Chad Palmer, Renwick; 3. Bruce Wickman, Em­metsburg; 4. Derek Green, Granada, Minn.; 5. David Smith, Lake City; 6. Mike Jergens, Plover; 7. John Wiemann, Algona; 8. Laura Curry, Clarion; 9. Calvin Lange, Humboldt; 10. Kevin Opheim, Ma­son City; 11. Shane Curry, LuVerne; 12. Derrick Barglof, Sioux Rapids; 13. Jeff Deal, Fort Dodge; 14. Roger Tripp, Sioux Rapids; 15. Dan Hanselman, Algona.

Hobby Stocks ­– 1. Devin Smith, Lake City; 2. Austin Hauswirth, Havelock; 3. Doug Wickman, Bancroft; 4. Chad Gentz, Forest City; 5. Chelsea Simpson, West Bend; 6. Darin Johnson, Dick­ens; 7. Brandon Nielsen, Spencer; 8. Kyle Schmauss, Eagle Grove; 9. Aaron Hill, Cylinder; 10. Phillip Dean Lusson, Algona; 11. Joe Heyes, Burt; 12. Jay Sidles, Emmetsburg; 13. Chris Heyes, Burt; 14. Dustin Smith, Wesley; 15. Jason Bell, Algona; 16. Aaron Rudolph, Grand Junction; 17. Zac Smith, Mason City; 18. Dennis Theesfeld, Curlew; 19. Kyle Ricke, Algona; 20. Matt Hud­speth, Granger.

Northern SportMods – 1. Phil Ricke, Algona; 2. Shane Swanson, Forest City; 3. Cody Knecht, Whittemore; 4. Nick Meyer, Whittemore; 5. Greg Sidles, Emmetsburg; 6. Clay Evans, Paullina; 7. Mike Carlson, Algona; 8. Ben Schultze, Algona; 9. Colby Fett, Algona; 10. Doug Cook, Algona; 11. Nate Hughes, Humboldt; 12. Matt Hoeft, Forest City; 13. Justin Zimmerman, Cedar Rapids; 14. Brandon Ostwald, Algona; 15. Chad Krug, Emmetsburg; 16. Alan Ricke, Fenton; 17. George Gilliland, Lehigh; 18. Matthew Hanson, Klemme; 19. Logan Swearingen, Thompson; 20. George Nordman, Mason City; 21. Gerald Curry, LuVerne. 

Sport Compacts – 1. Lucas Parsons, Bancroft; 2. Kaytee DeVries, Spencer; 3. Taylor Kuper, Algona; 4. Jay DeVries, Spencer.

Category: Hawkeye Dirt Tour, Iowa, Series