Paul Picks Up First Ever Win at Stuart Speedway
Paul Picks Up First Ever Win
by: Josh Reynolds
STUART, IOWA (June 3) – A beautiful Sunday afternoon brought fans and drivers back to Stuart Speedway for some great racing on Roy Sargent Building Inc. Night at the Races. Feature winners for the night were Jordan Peters, Austin Paul, Jim Britton, Shannon Anderson, Jeff Anderson and Jimmy Gustin.
IMCA Sport Compacts were first up with Adam Kralik and Jordan Peters setting the pace. Peters took the lead and never looked back in leading all the way for the feature win. Kralik, the heat race winner, took second.
Two of the youngest racers at the track, Austin Paul and Cole Ferguson, brought out the IMCA Northern Sportmods for their fifteen lap feature. Paul would lead right away with Ferguson and Mike Pruitt close behind. As the race wound down, the pressure was not on the race leader, but Ferguson as Pruitt and Nick Roberts pulled alongside lap after lap. Ty Luellen would bring out the yellow with a wild crash on the back stretch setting up a two lap shootout for the win. Paul stayed smooth and consistent and pulled out to a couple car length lead, while behind him it was three wide and anybody’s guess who would come out ahead! As Paul took his first ever feature win it was Ferguson who pulled out the runner up position. Roberts came home third with Pruitt fourth and Clint Luellen fifth. Ty Luellen and Ferguson were the heat race winners.
Next up was the 6 Cylinder FWD’s with Jordan Peters and Andy Forcht on the front row. Forcht held the lead through a couple of cautions with Jim Britton and Peters trailing. As Forcht took the white flag, Britton went high and set up a move coming out of turn two. When the two cars went into turn three, Britton muscled under and into Forcht to take the lead. Forcht, however, wasn’t finished and caught Britton before the flag and turned him around as the two crossed the line spinning together! Britton ended with the win, Forcht second, Peters third, Andrew Zellweger fourth and Tyrel Goatley fifth. Britton was the heat race winner.
IMCA Hobby Stocks came out next with Andrew Burg and Solomon Bennett on the front row. Neither of the front row starters would lead lap one as third starting Shannon Anderson pulled into the top spot right away to set the pace. Burg stayed in second until Austin Luellen passed him on lap five. Just after Luellen made his move, Bill Atcheson went for a wild roll on the back stretch with the front of his car landing on John Watson. Both drivers were ok but would retire for the night. Once the racing started back up, Brandon Pruitt chased down and passed Luellen on lap eight and set his sights on Anderson. Pruitt gained a little ground, but it was not enough to extend his winning streak to four as Anderson was first to the finish line. Pruitt crossed in second with Burg third, Jason Kohl fourth and Bennett fifth. Anderson and Watson were the heat race winners.
Scott Bailey and Adam Hilgenberg brought out the IMCA Stock Cars next for their twenty lap feature. Bailey led right away with Hilgenberg right behind until Bob Daniels moved past on lap three to take over second place. Bailey and Daniels held form until lap ten when Daniels led at the stripe. Marcus Fagan then threw his hat in and took over the top spot on lap eleven and looked to run away with the win. Seventh starting Jeff Anderson had other ideas for that trophy and moved into the second spot on lap thirteen. The former 5 time National Champ took exactly three laps to move past Fagan to claim the lead and, following the example set by his son the race before, ran away from the field for the win. Fagan took second with Jamie Schirm third, Daniels fourth and Steve Campbell fifth. Bailey and Daniels were the heat race winners.
IMCA Modifieds were the last to take to the clay with Scott Bash and Ed Seibert on the front row. Bash would hold the lead for the first three laps until eighth starting Jimmy Gustin roared past on the high side to take the lead on lap four. Gustin checked out while Josh Gilman made his way to second on lap six. A caution at the halfway point brought Gilman to the tail of the #19, but that was as close as anyone would come to Gustin as he pulled out to a commanding lead and held the point the rest of the way to pick up the win. Gilman ended in second with Kent Croskey third, Randy Havlik fourth and Alison Davidson fifth. Gustin and Devon Havlik were the heat race winners.
We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track on a gorgeous evening. Next Sunday we will have the Racers Against ALS with Keith Miner. Keith is a Stock Car driver that has been diagnosed with ALS and he, along with quite a few local drivers have banded together to raise money and awareness for a disease that, for now, is incurable. The weather was great this week and hopefully it will continue in the weeks to come! See you there!
Category: Iowa, News, Stuart Speedway
