Murty Doubles Up on P1P Challenge, Watermelon Classic Night, and Lathrop Takes First Timer Win

 

by: Joyce Eisele

BOONE, IOWA (August 24, 2024) – Boone Speedway saw their annual Watermelon Classic, P1P Challenge, and First Time Winner night on Saturday at the track. Dallon Murty doubled up by winning the Watermelon Classic and the P1P features in the IMCA Friesen Performance Modifieds. Cody Gustoff won his first IMCA Sunoco Stock Feature, and it was Cam Reimers taking the honors in the IMCA Friesen Performance Northern SportMods. Mike Smith went back to Victory Lane for winning another IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature, and it was Josh May leading flag to flag in the IMCA Stealth STARS Mod Lite main event. Extra laps were added to the feature events, extra money was on the line, and of course, the drivers were awarded the sought after watermelon!

The P1 Promotions Challenge for the Modifieds ran first after they had earlier qualified through timing. Only the top twelve fastest were locked in for the main event. A redraw was held for the top twelve to set their starting lineup for the 15 lap feature. Dallon Murty and Dan Wagner were the lucky recipients of the front row.

When the green flag flew, Wagner grabbed the lead and Murty tucked right in behind him. Wagner continued his lead through lap four with Murty hounding him. Then just after lap four was in the books, Murty got under Wagner on the backstretch, threw a perfect slider in turns three and four, and had the lead when lap five was scored. It was all smooth sailing for Murty from then on as he pulled away and scored the convincing win. Wagner finished in second place, Tim Ward just got by Jeremy Mills in the closing seconds as they went third and fourth respectively, and Izac Mallicoat was fifth. Murty took the $1,000 check and hardware.

The Watermelon Classic features came next and first on the track were the Mod Lites, presented by Carquest Auto, Truck & Farm. They ran a 20 lap race.

Josh May, by luck of the draw, sat on the pole for the start. It was all but over when he grabbed the immediate lead when the race went green. Travis Stensland started fifth, and quickly got to second place but that would be all she wrote as he chased May the rest of the way to the checkers, and had to settle for the runner up position. Charlie Brown started twelfth and finished an impressive third, fourth went to Ben George, and Austin Gray came from fourteenth starting spot, to finish in fifth. The race went caution free.

The run for the coveted watermelon for the Northern SportMods, presented by Elmquist Towing, came next, with their 23 lap main event.

Tim Eaton, St. Joseph, Missouri led the first handful of laps holding back Alec Fett, and then Cam Reimers. Reimers made his move on the backstretch after lap five was scored, and was leading when lap six was counted. Reimers had the race in command from there on and took the checkers and the win. He was content to let Fett and Taylor Kuehl duke it out behind him for second place in the latter part of the contest with Kuehl winning out for the runner up spot, Fett going third. Fourth went to Randy Havlik, and track champion Dusty Masolini raced from eleventh to finish in fifth.

The Modified came to the track next, racing for $1,000, hardware, and the watermelon. They ran a 25 lap feature, presented by D & E Outside Services.

Johnathon Logue got the lucky redraw and started on the pole of the event. He had his hands full with the likes of Jeremy Mills and Kyle Brown, both taking the lead briefly. Logue fought back however and regained the lead again on lap ten. Brown was soon off the pace and into the pits, and now Logue was having to hold back eighth place starter Todd Shute, and eleventh spot starter, Dallon Murty. The fifth yellow of the caution plagued race flew on lap eighteen, Logue still leading, and Murty and Shute eager for the restart. Logue held the lead when nineteen went in the books, but with just five laps remaining, it was Murty to the lead. Yet another yellow flag would fly on lap twenty-two, but Murty had no issue on maintaining his lead and went home to the flying checkers and scored his second win of the night. Todd Shute was second, third went to Nick Meyer, who started thirteenth and had an impressive run, as did fourteenth place starter Zachary Madrid, the Arizona native who now calls Boone, Iowa home, who was fourth. Jeremy Mills completed the top five.

The Stock Cars ran a 25 lap main event, presented by Boone Moose Lodge.

It was the duel of two #19s for much of the race, with Alan Van Gorp leading the way, and Jay Schmidt chasing him. The two battled closely for lap after lap with Cody Gustoff giving them both fits. Then on lap nineteen, an unfortunate incident took out both Schmidt and Van Gorp in turn one as contact happened with the two leaders and Gustoff. Schmidt and Van Gorp got the short end of the stick, and their night would draw to a close. The lead was then handed over to Gustoff for the restart. Gustoff would hold on the final laps to score the win….his first in a Stock Car at Boone. David Smith scored the runner up spot after starting ninth, and Scott Olson was third after a tenth place start. Rod Richards, and Liberty, Missouri’s Justin Custer rounded out the top five.

The final Watermelon Classic feature of the night was 20 laps of Hobby Stock racing, presented by Pickett Salvage.

Keith Burg grabbed the immediate lead from his pole starting position as the race began. Eric Knutson tagged on to run second. Knutson took command on lap six and continued his run at the front through four cautions, but on the final yellow at lap sixteen, it was track champion Mike Smith hot on his tail for the restart. Smith swung to the top out of turn two when the race went green, and had the lead when lap seventeen was scored. The final circuits were all Smith’s as he raced home to yet another impressive win in the division. Knutson was second, Burg went third, fourth went to tenth place starter Wayne Gifford, and first timer Justin Frederick, Cleghorn, Iowa rounded out the top five.

After a final farming session, the 3rd Annual John Logue First Time Winner’s 20 lap race was held. This year, it was the Northern SportMods. The 15 car field was aligned with the oldest driver to the front and the youngest to the back. The parade lap was led by John Logue in his # 69 throwback Stock Car.

Tom Lathrop, the sixty-three year old veteran racer from Ottumwa, Iowa started on the pole as he sought his first ever win in a Sport Mod. Lathrop would get out in front and lead the entire caution free race and take that long overdue victory. There was some shake-up in the final two laps when Jessiah Taylor’s last ditch effort to better his position fell short putting him far back at the finish. This allowed twelfth place starter Cam Vincent to take the runner up position, Jason Carney, who ran up front most of the race and finished in third place, fourth went to thirteenth place starter, and rookie Mike Smith making his debut in a SportMod, and David Hoover completed the top five.

Next on tap at the Boone Speedway, will be night #1 of the Prelude to Super Nationals on Saturday, August 31, followed by night #2 on Sunday, September 1. Modifieds, Stock Cars, Sport Compacts, and Mod Lites will run on Saturday. The Sunday night show will feature the Northern Sport Mods, and Hobby Stocks, and the Mod Lites will crown the first of the 2024 Super Nationals champions. Hot laps are scheduled for 1:30 with racing at 3 both days. Then on Labor Day Monday, September it will be the first of six straight days/nights of racing at the 42nd Annual Super Nationals spectacle!

 

28 entries
IMCA Modified
DE Outside Services A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 99X-Dallon Murty[11]; 2. 5-Todd Shute[8]; 3. 2-Nick Meyer[13]; 4. 5ZM-Zachary Madrid[14]; 5. 10-Jeremy Mills[4]; 6. 11-Izac Mallicoat[9]; 7. 28R-Russ Dickerson[16]; 8. 2B-Robert Moore[18]; 9. 58-Dennis Pittman[25]; 10. 05-Paul Nagle[17]; 11. 22B-Brian Eppert[15]; 12. B24-Owen Barnhill[22]; 13. 7S-David Solberg[24]; 14. 333-Rob Charapata[19]; 15. 11R-Carson Reinig[6]; 16. 66-Brandon Eichelberger[28]; 17. 7D-Dave Finstad[23]; 18. (DNF) 69-Johnathon Logue[1]; 19. (DNF) 17W-Dan Wagner[12]; 20. (DNF) 164-Brandon Leeman[2]; 21. (DNF) 95-Ashley Schaaf[27]; 22. (DNF) 21K-Kyle Brown[3]; 23. (DNF) 82-Jake McBirnie[7]; 24. (DNF) 4TW-Tim Ward[5]; 25. (DNF) 56-Dustin Kroening[10]; 26. (DNF) 28-James Reichart[21]; 27. (DNF) 7R-Ethan Robey[20]; 28. (DNS) 57V-Mike Van Genderen

DE Outside Services Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Dan Wagner[2]; 2. 82-Jake McBirnie[3]; 3. 4TW-Tim Ward[6]; 4. 21K-Kyle Brown[5]; 5. 2-Nick Meyer[4]; 6. 28R-Russ Dickerson[8]; 7. 333-Rob Charapata[1]; 8. B24-Owen Barnhill[9]; 9. 58-Dennis Pittman[7]; 10. 66-Brandon Eichelberger[10]

DE Outside Services Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Todd Shute[1]; 2. 10-Jeremy Mills[5]; 3. 69-Johnathon Logue[4]; 4. 11R-Carson Reinig[2]; 5. 5ZM-Zachary Madrid[6]; 6. 05-Paul Nagle[7]; 7. 7R-Ethan Robey[3]; 8. 7D-Dave Finstad[9]; 9. (DNS) 57V-Mike Van Genderen

DE Outside Services Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 99X-Dallon Murty[6]; 2. 164-Brandon Leeman[1]; 3. 11-Izac Mallicoat[5]; 4. 56-Dustin Kroening[4]; 5. 22B-Brian Eppert[2]; 6. 2B-Robert Moore[3]; 7. 28-James Reichart[9]; 8. 7S-David Solberg[8]; 9. 95-Ashley Schaaf[7]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 4TW-Tim Ward, 00:16.753[2]; 2. 21K-Kyle Brown, 00:16.876[8]; 3. 2-Nick Meyer, 00:16.926[7]; 4. 82-Jake McBirnie, 00:16.991[4]; 5. 17W-Dan Wagner, 00:17.014[10]; 6. 333-Rob Charapata, 00:17.108[6]; 7. 58-Dennis Pittman, 00:17.111[9]; 8. 28R-Russ Dickerson, 00:17.113[1]; 9. B24-Owen Barnhill, 00:17.346[5]; 10. 66-Brandon Eichelberger, 00:17.595[3]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 5ZM-Zachary Madrid, 00:16.815[4]; 2. 10-Jeremy Mills, 00:16.914[5]; 3. 69-Johnathon Logue, 00:16.934[3]; 4. 7R-Ethan Robey, 00:16.973[8]; 5. 11R-Carson Reinig, 00:16.974[9]; 6. 5-Todd Shute, 00:16.980[2]; 7. 05-Paul Nagle, 00:16.995[1]; 8. 57V-Mike Van Genderen, 00:17.291[7]; 9. 7D-Dave Finstad, 00:17.655[6]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 99X-Dallon Murty, 00:16.736[7]; 2. 11-Izac Mallicoat, 00:16.909[3]; 3. 56-Dustin Kroening, 00:17.017[2]; 4. 2B-Robert Moore, 00:17.176[6]; 5. 22B-Brian Eppert, 00:17.191[9]; 6. 164-Brandon Leeman, 00:17.318[8]; 7. 95-Ashley Schaaf, 00:17.405[1]; 8. 7S-David Solberg, 00:17.506[5]; 9. 28-James Reichart, 00:17.558[4]

P1P Modified Challenge (15 Laps): 1. 99X-Dallon Murty[1]; 2. 17W-Dan Wagner[2]; 3. 4TW-Tim Ward[5]; 4. 10-Jeremy Mills[3]; 5. 11-Izac Mallicoat[4]; 6. 5ZM-Zachary Madrid[10]; 7. 82-Jake McBirnie[7]; 8. 5-Todd Shute[6]; 9. 69-Johnathon Logue[12]; 10. 56-Dustin Kroening[9]; 11. 164-Brandon Leeman[11]; 12. (DNF) 21K-Kyle Brown[8]

33 entries
IMCA Stock Car
Boone Moose Lodge 104 A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 23-Cody Gustoff[3]; 2. 8-David Smith[9]; 3. 8X-Scott Olson[10]; 4. 23HR-Rod Richards[6]; 5. 33X-Justin Custer[4]; 6. 75-Clint Wendel[12]; 7. 57-Jerry Gifford[19]; 8. 35-Donavon Smith[22]; 9. 25D-Bob Daniels[7]; 10. 22-Chris Pruitt[23]; 11. 5A-Tyler Pickett[11]; 12. 3S-Bryan Snell[16]; 13. 67-Ryan Satter[18]; 14. 57VG-Rowdee Van Genderen[14]; 15. 25J-Josh Daniels[21]; 16. 19-Donnie Pearson[17]; 17. 71X-Casen Keller[13]; 18. 25C-Chase Daniels[5]; 19. (DNF) 19J-Jay Schmidt[8]; 20. (DNF) 19A-Alan Van Gorp[1]; 21. (DNF) 77M-Jeff Mueller[15]; 22. (DNF) 89K-Taylor Kuehl[2]; 23. (DNF) 00K-Trey Kline[20]; 24. (DNF) 3H-Ty Hill[24]

Boone Moose Lodge 104 B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 35-Donavon Smith[3]; 2. 22-Chris Pruitt[1]; 3. 3H-Ty Hill[6]; 4. 71-Corey Piffer[9]; 5. 13XL-Brandon Beam[4]; 6. 71K-Chad Keller[5]; 7. 52-Jerry Williams[2]; 8. (DNF) 25L-Lucas Daniels[7]; 9. (DNS) 69-Johnathon Logue; 10. (DNS) 99RE-Arie Schouten; 11. (DNS) 17R-Derek Reimer; 12. (DNS) 4X-Ethan Thompson

Boone Moose Lodge 104 Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19A-Alan Van Gorp[2]; 2. 33X-Justin Custer[4]; 3. 75-Clint Wendel[5]; 4. 19J-Jay Schmidt[9]; 5. 71X-Casen Keller[3]; 6. 3S-Bryan Snell[1]; 7. 57-Jerry Gifford[11]; 8. 22-Chris Pruitt[7]; 9. (DNF) 13XL-Brandon Beam[10]; 10. (DNF) 25L-Lucas Daniels[6]; 11. (DNS) 99RE-Arie Schouten

Boone Moose Lodge 104 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-David Smith[1]; 2. 89K-Taylor Kuehl[6]; 3. 23-Cody Gustoff[10]; 4. 25C-Chase Daniels[3]; 5. 57VG-Rowdee Van Genderen[8]; 6. 19-Donnie Pearson[5]; 7. 00K-Trey Kline[11]; 8. 52-Jerry Williams[4]; 9. (DNF) 71K-Chad Keller[7]; 10. (DNS) 69-Johnathon Logue; 11. (DNS) 17R-Derek Reimer

Boone Moose Lodge 104 Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5A-Tyler Pickett[2]; 2. 8X-Scott Olson[1]; 3. 23HR-Rod Richards[3]; 4. 25D-Bob Daniels[5]; 5. 77M-Jeff Mueller[10]; 6. 67-Ryan Satter[7]; 7. 25J-Josh Daniels[11]; 8. 35-Donavon Smith[9]; 9. 3H-Ty Hill[4]; 10. 71-Corey Piffer[6]; 11. (DNS) 4X-Ethan Thompson

30 entries
IMCA Northern SportMod
Elmquist Towing A Feature 1 (23 Laps): 1. 21-Cam Reimers[4]; 2. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[9]; 3. 08-Alec Fett[1]; 4. 3Z-Randy Havlik[6]; 5. 8K-Dusty Masolini[11]; 6. 8T-Ty Rogers[8]; 7. 193-Jessiah Taylor[10]; 8. 65-Tim Eaton[2]; 9. 74-Camdan Vincent[12]; 10. 12-Mike Smith[18]; 11. R31-Ryan Leeman[22]; 12. 2B-Braden Claborn[3]; 13. 64-Drew Fett[7]; 14. 17F-Christopher Frisbie[20]; 15. 28B-Curt Smeins[14]; 16. 4-Gage Hilgenberg[15]; 17. (DNF) 17-Kyle Free[5]; 18. (DNF) 30-Kenser Ellis[13]; 19. (DNF) 13XL-PJ Conger[24]; 20. (DNF) 36H-David Hoover[21]; 21. (DNF) 8-Tom Lathrop[16]; 22. (DNF) 11H-Nick Morris[19]; 23. (DNF) MR31-Mike Rutherford[17]; 24. (DNF) 5C-Coleman Browning[23]

Elmquist Towing B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. R31-Ryan Leeman[4]; 2. 5C-Coleman Browning[7]; 3. 13XL-PJ Conger[2]; 4. 26-Jason Carney[6]; 5. X-Cody Center[5]; 6. (DNF) 33B-Breanna Pfanstiel[1]; 7. (DNF) 13V-Curtis Veber[9]; 8. (DNF) 19S-Chase Weimer[8]; 9. (DNS) 13X-Noah Beenken

Elmquist Towing Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[2]; 2. 193-Jessiah Taylor[4]; 3. 8K-Dusty Masolini[10]; 4. 2B-Braden Claborn[1]; 5. 30-Kenser Ellis[6]; 6. 8-Tom Lathrop[7]; 7. 11H-Nick Morris[9]; 8. 33B-Breanna Pfanstiel[3]; 9. R31-Ryan Leeman[5]; 10. (DNF) 5C-Coleman Browning[8]

Elmquist Towing Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3Z-Randy Havlik[6]; 2. 8T-Ty Rogers[5]; 3. 65-Tim Eaton[8]; 4. 74-Camdan Vincent[10]; 5. 28B-Curt Smeins[1]; 6. MR31-Mike Rutherford[3]; 7. (DNF) 17F-Christopher Frisbie[7]; 8. (DNF) 13XL-PJ Conger[9]; 9. (DNF) X-Cody Center[4]; 10. (DNF) 19S-Chase Weimer[2]

Elmquist Towing Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Cam Reimers[6]; 2. 64-Drew Fett[1]; 3. 08-Alec Fett[7]; 4. 17-Kyle Free[5]; 5. 4-Gage Hilgenberg[3]; 6. 12-Mike Smith[10]; 7. 36H-David Hoover[2]; 8. (DNF) 13X-Noah Beenken[8]; 9. (DNF) 26-Jason Carney[9]; 10. (DNF) 13V-Curtis Veber[4]

24 entries
IMCA Hobby Stock
Picketts Salvage A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 22X-Mike Smith[5]; 2. 12K-Eric Knutson[3]; 3. 14B-Keith Burg[1]; 4. 22W-Wayne Gifford[10]; 5. 83X-Justin Frederick[8]; 6. 22-Seth Butler[6]; 7. 22Z-Will Smith[13]; 8. 21E-Jeremy Winter[19]; 9. 13-Brian Ashburn[2]; 10. 4-Joe Wollenhaupt[11]; 11. 47W-Shaun Wirtz[17]; 12. 38R-Aaron Rudolph[18]; 13. 55X-Corey VanDerwilt[4]; 14. (DNF) 12T-Tanner Jones[9]; 15. (DNF) 59JR-Chad Rickett Jr[21]; 16. (DNF) 33D-Danny Hill Jr[24]; 17. (DNF) 17T-Aidan Lamasters[20]; 18. (DNF) 9-Kolby Sabin[14]; 19. (DNF) 22B-Braden Gifford[12]; 20. (DNF) 69-Calvin Dhondt[7]; 21. (DNF) 78N-Matt Nelson[15]; 22. (DNF) 18A-Aaron Elliott[16]; 23. (DNS) 73JR-Dennis Lyons; 24. (DNS) 14LL-Josh Lyon

Picketts Salvage Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55X-Corey VanDerwilt[1]; 2. 22B-Braden Gifford[7]; 3. 69-Calvin Dhondt[8]; 4. 22-Seth Butler[5]; 5. 22Z-Will Smith[3]; 6. 18A-Aaron Elliott[2]; 7. 21E-Jeremy Winter[6]; 8. (DNS) 73JR-Dennis Lyons

Picketts Salvage Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14B-Keith Burg[6]; 2. 83X-Justin Frederick[3]; 3. 12T-Tanner Jones[7]; 4. 4-Joe Wollenhaupt[2]; 5. 9-Kolby Sabin[8]; 6. 47W-Shaun Wirtz[4]; 7. (DNF) 17T-Aidan Lamasters[1]; 8. (DNS) 14LL-Josh Lyon

Picketts Salvage Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12K-Eric Knutson[2]; 2. 22X-Mike Smith[6]; 3. 13-Brian Ashburn[1]; 4. 22W-Wayne Gifford[5]; 5. 78N-Matt Nelson[8]; 6. 38R-Aaron Rudolph[7]; 7. 59JR-Chad Rickett Jr[3]; 8. 33D-Danny Hill Jr[4]

24 entries
IMCA Mod Lite
Carquest Auto Truck and Farm A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 99-Josh May[1]; 2. 89-Travis Stensland[5]; 3. 82-Charlie Brown[12]; 4. 4G-Ben George[3]; 5. 48G-Austin Gray[14]; 6. 46Z-Bryan Zehm[9]; 7. 3G-Joe Glick[2]; 8. 47-Cory Sonner[7]; 9. H7B-Jon Braathun[8]; 10. 21-Scott Bailey[11]; 11. 55-Jaxon Carr[4]; 12. 471-Ed Griggs[10]; 13. 4-Cliff Barber[13]; 14. 9-Garrison Anderson[6]; 15. 96-Dillion Bush[15]; 16. 18M-Chelsea Ladurini[19]; 17. 8N-William Nobles[23]; 18. 19DD-Derek Foster[21]; 19. 5G-Tracen Glick[18]; 20. 2G-Grant Anderson[16]; 21. 9XL-Colin Anderson[20]; 22. 73-Cole Paul[24]; 23. (DNF) 2-Jason Toppenberg[17]; 24. (DNS) 20-Jeff Stensland

Carquest Auto Truck and Farm Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. H7B-Jon Braathun[8]; 2. 471-Ed Griggs[1]; 3. 46Z-Bryan Zehm[7]; 4. 21-Scott Bailey[4]; 5. 4-Cliff Barber[5]; 6. 2G-Grant Anderson[2]; 7. 18M-Chelsea Ladurini[3]; 8. (DNS) 20-Jeff Stensland

Carquest Auto Truck and Farm Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 82-Charlie Brown[2]; 2. 47-Cory Sonner[4]; 3. 3G-Joe Glick[3]; 4. 99-Josh May[6]; 5. 48G-Austin Gray[5]; 6. 2-Jason Toppenberg[7]; 7. 9XL-Colin Anderson[8]; 8. 8N-William Nobles[1]

Carquest Auto Truck and Farm Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 4G-Ben George[2]; 2. 55-Jaxon Carr[1]; 3. 89-Travis Stensland[4]; 4. 9-Garrison Anderson[6]; 5. 96-Dillion Bush[3]; 6. 5G-Tracen Glick[7]; 7. 19DD-Derek Foster[8]; 8. 73-Cole Paul[5]

15 entries
John Logue First Time Feature
John Logue Trucking John Logue First Time Winner (20 Laps): 1. 8-Tom Lathrop[1]; 2. 74-Camdan Vincent[12]; 3. 26-Jason Carney[5]; 4. 12-Mike Smith[13]; 5. 36H-David Hoover[2]; 6. 193-Jessiah Taylor[9]; 7. 4-Gage Hilgenberg[15]; 8. (DNF) MR31-Mike Rutherford[3]; 9. (DNF) 28B-Curt Smeins[4]; 10. (DNF) 13X-Noah Beenken[10]; 11. (DNS) 13XL-PJ Conger; 12. (DNS) 11H-Nick Morris; 13. (DNS) 33B-Breanna Pfanstiel; 14. (DNS) 17-Kyle Free; 15. (DNS) 19S-Chase Weimer

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Category: Boone Speedway, Iowa