Ellithorpe Throws Slider Wins Thriller At Maquoketa Speedway
By: Jerry Mackey
Maquoketa, Iowa: Saturday, May 15th was another one of those race days that the weatherman threatened to throw a curve ball at the plans for a night of racing at the Maquoketa Speedway. The threat of wet weather moving in was not realized and racing went on as scheduled.
The IMCA Stock Car feature provided lots of exciting racing with the final laps being run with the win up for grabs. Jerry Miles rode the high side of the ¼ mile for the first thirteen laps in the lead. A late race caution set up a two lap dash to the finish. Jacob Ellithorpe threw a hard slider at Miles in turn one and the 72 of Ellithorpe and the 4 of Miles raced down the back chute wheel to wheel coming to the white flag. Ellithorpe was able to nose out front and take the win by less than a car length. Brandon Vorbeck crossed the finish line in third.
The Kunes Nissan IMCA Modifieds saw veteran driver, Jeff “Bone” Larson, win his second feature event of the 23 season in two nights of racing action. Larson started 8th and worked to the front quickly. Larson hounded race leader Jed Freiburger for several laps before taking control of the race as the halfway point was reached. Freiburger took second ahead of Spencer Diercks.
The Amhof Trucking IMCA Sportmods saw veteran Freeport, Il driver Bob Silaggi break a two year dry spell by winning the 15 lap main event. Silaggi found the extreme high line to his liking in leading the race flag to flag. Ben Chapman’s season is off to a great start and the Clarence driver piloted his 1JR to a second place finish ahead of Jacob Arp.
The action packed Ueland Auto IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw 24 drivers take the green flag making for a very busy race track. The “Buffalo Bandit” Randy LaMar advanced from his outside third row start and took the top spot away from Lukas Short. LaMar went on to get to the checkers first ahead of Scott Wetter and Short.
Legends Direct INEX Legends 20 lap feature was filled with all sorts of racing action. When the checkers waved it was Michael Weber scoring a hard fought win ahead of early leader Dave Eberle.
The Hawkeye Auto IMCA Sport Compacts featured another exciting battle as the lead pack was 4 drivers racing for the top spot throughout the 12 lap main. Henry Hess led until local driver Mich Bielenberg, who started deep in the field, was able to move into the lead with three laps to go. Bielenberg took the win ahead of Josh Chambers and Hess.
Weekly IMCA Racing will continue on Saturday, May 20 and will feature the return of the IMCA Late Models in addition to all the regular weekly classes. Hot laps will take to the ¼ mile at 6 pm with racing to follow.
Maquoketa Speedway Saturday, May 13 Feature Results (top 5)
IMCA Stock Cars
- 72 Jacob Ellithorpe-Maquoketa
- 4 Jerry Miles-Bernard
- 78 Brandon Vorbeck-Maquoketa
- 60 Dalton Simonsen-Fairfax
- 27 Chase Zaruba-Sabula
Kunes Nissan IMCA Modifieds
- 12T Jeff (Bone) Larson-Freeport, IL
- 6 Jed Freiburger-Dubuque
- 29 Spencer Diercks-Davenport
- 21 Ryan Duhme-LaMotte
- 93 Matt Werner-Geneseo, IL
Amhof IMCA Sportmods
- 75 Bob Silaggi-Freeport, IL
- 1JR Ben Chapman-Clarence
- 10A Jacob Arp-Donahue
- 35 Justin Becker-Bernard
- 42 Wes Digman-Cuba City, WI
Ueland Auto IMCA Hobby Stocks
- 4R Randy LaMar-Buffalo
- 33 Scott Wetter-Platteville
- 8L Lukas Short-Maquoketa
- 14J Jacob Floyd-Cedar Rapids
- 77 Andrew Burk-Milan, IL
Legends Direct Legends
- 8W Michael Weber-Marion
- 5 Dave Eberle-Freeport, IL
- 44J Jordan Miklas-Hartland, WI
- 64 Griffin McGrath-Cedar Rapids
- 80 Craig Peekenschneider-Davenport
Hawkeye Auto Sport Compacts
- 12 Mitch Bielenberg-Charlotte
- 31 Josh Chambers-Darlington, WI
- 20 Henry Hess-Dubuque
- 19L Trent LeBarge-Davenport
- 11H Justin Hempstead-Manchester
Category: Iowa
