Pruitt Wins John Wetzel Memorial at Stuart

Story by Josh Reynolds

Stuart, IA (July 27) – It was a beautiful night for racing and the action matched the weather as the wheelmen at Stuart Speedway put on a great display of driving at the John Wetzel Memorial! Brian Blessington, Kody Havens, Cody Cleghorn, Cole Ferguson, Andy Forcht and Mike Pruitt were the feature winners for the evening.

Andrew Knode and Derrick Rohe led the IMCA Stock Cars to green for our first race of the night with Rohe leading lap one. Terry Pruitt and Jeff Anderson followed behind in second and third until contact between the two flattened Anderson’s tire. That allowed Marcus Fagan to sneak into second on lap four and take the lead a lap later. Fagan looked to sail away with the win, but Brian Blessington found a faster groove and slowly began to reel Fagan in. Lap fourteen saw the two side by side for the lead with Blessington taking over for good on the next circuit. Fagan searched for a groove to get the top spot back, but it was not to be as Blessington went on to the feature win. Fagan settled for second with Rohe third, Chris Pruitt fourth and Nyle Godwin fifth. Rohe and Fagan were the heat race winners.

IMCA Northern SportMods were next up on the speedway with Kody Havens and Shawn Cooney on the front row. Havens and Cooney were 1-2 until a caution on lap six bunched the cars back up. This allowed point leader Clint Luellen to get a shot at the lead and he would take it a lap later…….for one lap! Havens fought back hard on the top side and regained the lead on lap eight. The two cars battled hard and clean for the top spot, but Havens would lead each time at the stripe. After the cars took the white flag the yellow would fly for Kendall Davis, ending the race and securing the win for Havens. Luellen ended in second with Matt Webb third, Brandon Williams fourth and Cooney fifth. Luellen and Havens were the heat race winners.

Dean Richards and Cody Cleghorn brought the IMCA Sport Compacts to green next with Cleghorn leading lap one. Richards threw all he had at Cleghorn but it was the 21ZC picking up the win. Richards, Anthony Goldsberry and Jacob Reiter rounded out the top four. Cleghorn swept the night in getting the heat race win as well.

Next on the track was the IMCA Modifieds with Scott Bash and Marcus Fagan on the front row. Fagan led at the start with Cole Ferguson and Josh Gilman right in his tracks. The three cars stayed in formation until a lap seven caution for Rex Parkison. Ferguson would take advantage of the restart and fly into the lead. Gilman passed Fagan the next lap for second and set out to track down Ferguson. Try as he may, the 3F was too strong on this night and went on to the feature win. Gilman settled for second with Luke Wanninger third, Fagan fourth and Nick Roberts fifth. Wanninger and Ferguson were the heat race winners.

Cody Cleghorn and Korbin Nourse brought out the Outlaw FWD’s next for their feature and it was Nourse leading lap one. Andy Forcht would come from his seventh starting position to take the lead on lap six and go on to the win. Nourse finished second with Cleghorn third, Dean Richards fourth and Anthony Goldsberry fifth. Nourse was the heat race winner.

Last up for the night was the John Wetzel Memorial for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. John was a Hobby Stock racer for quite a few years at Stuart Speedway, and we pay tribute to him once a year with a special for his beloved class. After heat races and a B-Feature to set the field, twenty-one of the fastest Hobby Stocks around took to the track with Mike Pruitt and Tony Slothower on the front row. Pruitt led the first two laps with Slothower moving to the front for the next three. Pruitt worked the high side and regained the lead on lap six as Jamie Schirm followed Pruitt through to take second. John Watson made his way to third with Austin Luellen and Shannon Anderson fourth and fifth by lap nine. Pruitt would continue to lead as Watson passed Schirm for second on lap thirteen. Watson, Schirm and Anderson gave it everything they had, but the Pirate was too tough and went on to the win and the $1000 top prize! Watson finished second with Schirm third, Anderson fourth and Luellen fifth. Watson, Eric Stanton, Pruitt and Luellen were the heat race winners and Dustin Griffiths was the victor in the B-Feature.

We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our eighth event of the year. Next week is Jorgensen Hay Services Night at the Races. There will be double features for the IMCA Late Models with regular season racing for the rest of our regular classes. See you then!

Category: Iowa, Stuart Speedway