Kaplan Wins 13th Annual Ron Little Memorial

admin | May 27, 2013

Story by Josh Reynolds

Stuart, IA (May 26) – The rain clouds were all around, but someone used their pull up above and the weather held off for Stuart Speedway’s 13^th annual running of the Ron Little Memorial. Winners for the night were Brad Comegys, Josh May, Matt Webb, Josh Daniels, Shannon Anderson and Beau Kaplan.

Every year at this time I’m reminded of a lot of things. Memorial Day is a time to remember our service men and women that have given their lives so that we can enjoy the freedom we have. For the last 13 years on this weekend the race fans at Stuart Speedway have celebrated the life and career of Ron Little. Ron passed away at the track 14 years ago, and as someone who was there that night I can tell you it was one of the most heart wrenching moments of my life. Ron was a larger than life character, and his spirit lives on year after year. Even those that have only HEARD of the man can tell that he was special, and the 120 cars in the pits was evidence of that! We at Stuart Speedway want to thank everyone who continue to make this our biggest event of the season and hope for it to continue for years to come.

The first feature on the speedway showcased the return of the Micro Sprints. These cars used to be a weekly feature at Stuart, but have been missing for a number of years. They came back in force with 23 cars making the call! Brad Comegys and Jake Galusha started on the front row with Comegys leading Galusha at the line for the first lap. Fourteen laps and three cautions later the front two crossed the same with Comegys picking up the win. Galusha was second with Cody Ledger third, Frank Galusha fourth and Eric Bridger fifth. Comegys, J. Galusha, F. Galusha and Ledger were the heat winners.

MADCRA Mod Lites were up next with Corbin Pickerill and Dusty Masolini out front. Pickerill had a good start, but it was sixth-starting Josh May first to the line for lap one. Three caution flags were the only thing to slow May on this night as he led every one of the twenty five laps to pick up the feature win. Chase Flatt was second with Masolini third, Randy Bryan fourth and Greg Rossell fifth. Mike Morrill, Flatt, Pickerill and Joel Huggins picked up the heat race wins.

Cole Ferguson and Matt Webb brought out the IMCA Northern Sportmod feature next with Webb taking the early lead. Seventh-starting Nick Roberts moved by Ferguson on lap six and set his sights on Webb. That chase would end on lap thirteen as Roberts spun to the infield, drawing a caution flag and setting up a green-white-checkered dash to end the race. Everything lined up for some drama at the end, but Webb would have none of that as he sped off to the win, his first at the Speedway and second in his career! Ferguson was second with Clinton Luellen third, Carter VanDenberg fourth and Jerry Hinton fifth. Webb and Hinton were the heat race winners.

IMCA Stock Cars were up next with Damon Murty and Marcus Fagan on the front row. Murty wasted little time in taking the top spot over Fagan with Josh Daniels moving by for second on lap four. Ben Walding went for a wild roll on lap fourteen to slow the field for the final time, setting up a six lap dash to the checkered flag. Walding was ok, but his car wasn’t as fortunate and he would be done for the night. Once the green was over the speedway again, the Chelsea Charger looked to pick up the win, but Daniels had something in store. After a little contact between the two in turn one, Daniels moved by to take the lead on lap seventeen and went on to the win. Murty finished a disappointing second with Jeff Joldersma third, Fagan fourth and Brian Blessington fifth. Fagan, Nyle Godwin, Bryan Trogdon and Ben Lucas were the heat race winners.

Jeff Fink and Garrett Eilander led the IMCA Hobby Stocks to the green flag, but it didn’t take long for the yellow to be displayed as the two along with Shannon Anderson got together in turn one. Eilander went to the rear as he was the caution and Anderson changed a tire, sending him to the tail for the restart. Once the race restarted it was Brandon Pruitt taking the lead with Jamie Songer in second. Mike Pruitt moved past Songer on lap four with Songer losing third on the next lap to none other than Anderson, who was literally bobbing and weaving his way through traffic. On lap eight Anderson moved past M. Pruitt and set his sights on the lead. That didn’t take long as he took over the top spot on lap eleven. B. Pruitt found a little faster line on the top and actually took the lead back on lap thirteen, but Anderson held true to the bottom and picked up the win on a yellow-checkered finish as Chad LeGere went over the wall in turn one. B. Pruitt finished second with M. Pruitt third, Andrew Burg fourth and Songer fifth. B. Pruitt and Anderson were the heat race winners.

Last up for the evening was the headline event, the twenty lap Ron Little Memorial for IMCA Modifieds. Todd Shute and Beau Kaplan drew the front row for the event and after a four wide parade lap and a missing pole parade lap the stage was set for the coveted trophy and the $1000 check that comes with it. As the green flag flew, the field would be slowed when Shay Woods came to a stop in turn one. The second attempt at a clean start was marred when pole starter Shute hit the gas out of turn four and broke. As he turned to the infield, Jimmy Gustin was on the inside and spun to avoid Shute, bringing out the caution again. This brought Josh Gilman to the pole and he sped to the lead with Beau Kaplan in tow. Gilman would lead until lap three when Richie Gustin made contact racing for the lead coming out of turn two. The yellow would fly, R. Gustin was done for the evening and Gilman changed a tire and restarted at the rear. Kaplan inherited the lead and the second year driver set out in search of his first ever win in the class with rookie driver Racer Hulin in second. The top two drivers stayed the same with veterans Jason Murray, Russ Dickerson and J. Gustin racing it out for the top five positions. Kaplan would go on to the win with Hulin second, Dickerson third, Murray fourth and J. Gustin fifth. J. Gustin, Hulin and R. Gustin were the heat race winners.

We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track for event number two for the year. Next week is Roy Sargent Building, Inc. Night at the Races. We will have all of our regular classes racing for fame on the fastest bullring in the state. See you then!

Modifieds – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	2	11	Beau Kaplan	Boone , Ia	40.00
2	7	505	Racer Hulin	Laurel , Ia	39.00
3	4	28R	Russ Dickerson	Boone , Ia	38.00
4	8	149	Jason Murray	Hartford , Ia	37.00
5	3	19	Jimmy Gustin	Marshalltown , Ia	36.00
6	5	83G	Josh Gilman	Earlham , Ia	35.00
7	12	31R	Rex Parkison	Earlham , Ia	34.00
8	19	5M	Matthew Meinecke	Madrid , Ia	33.00
9	14	37	Alison Davidson	Redding , Ia	32.00
10	17	14B	Scott Bash	Windsor Heights, Ia	31.00
11	11	131S	Ed Seibert	Dexter , Ia	30.00
12	16	4	Tony Hilgenberg	Waukee , Ia	29.00
13	6	19G	Richie Gustin	Gilman , Ia	28.00
14	18	88	Sean Barragan	Sioux City, Ia	27.00
15	15	12C	Kent Croskey	Polk City, Ia	26.00
16	10	71	Jeff James	Stanton , Ia	25.00
17	1	5	Todd Shute	Des Moines, Ia	24.00
18	9	20W	Shay Woods	Humeston , Ia	23.00
19	13	18	Jake Durbin	Perry , Ia	22.00
More Results

Stock Cars – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	5	25J	Josh Daniels	Des Moines, Ia	40.00
2	1	99D	Damon Murty	Chelsea , Ia	39.00
3	12	66	Jeff Joldersma	Mcclelland , Ia	38.00
4	2	1F	Marcus Fagan	Adair , Ia	37.00
5	14	92B	Brian Blessington	Breda , Ia	36.00
6	17	27S	Doug Seidl	Grimes , Ia	35.00
7	3	11G	Nyle Godwin	Redfield , Ia	34.00
8	16	78	Jeff Anderson	Atlantic , Ia	33.00
9	10	12	Bryan Trogdon	West Des, Ia	32.00
10	7	18	Kris Walker	Oskaloosa , Ia	31.00
11	18	22	Chris Pruitt	Stuart , Ia	30.00
12	8	7L	Ben Lucas	Willow Park, Tx	29.00
13	20	25	Bob Daniels	Des Moines, Ia	28.00
14	6	711	Michael Walrod	Desoto , Ia	27.00
15	15	5	Ross Marshall	Johnston , Ia	26.00
16	19	02	Mike Goldsberry	Runnells , Ia	25.00
17	13	7H	Adam Hensel	Atlantic , Ia	24.00
18	9	64A	Aaron Parmer	Humeston , Ia	23.00
19	21	3S	Bryan Snell	Coon Rapids, Ia	22.00
20	4	52	Ben Walding	Des Moines, Ia	21.00
21	23	56	Jamie Schirm	Dexter , Ia	20.00
22	11	98	Derrick Rohe	Audubon , Ia	19.00
23	22	4D	Shawn Lee	Spickard , Mo	18.00	DNS
More Results

SportMods – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	2	51X	Matt Webb	Des Moines, Ia	40.00
2	1	3F	Cole Ferguson	Dexter , Ia	39.00
3	8	3L	Clinton Luellen	Minburn , Ia	38.00
4	9	7	Carter Vandenberg	Oskaloosa , Ia	37.00
5	5	34	Jerry Hinton	Adel , Ia	36.00
6	14	0B	Colby Oberembt	Adel , Ia	35.00
7	4	13T	Taylor Musselman	Norwalk , Ia	34.00
8	10	32L	Ty Luellen	Minburn , Ia	33.00
9	11	20	Curt Ganoe	Stuart , Ia	32.00
10	3	28	James Reichart	Newton , Ia	31.00
11	15	16W	Daniel Woodle	–	30.00
12	6	99RE	Arie Schouten	Blair , Ne	29.00
13	7	23JR	Nick Roberts	Des Moines, Ia	28.00
14	12	2	Nick Meyer	Whittemoore , Ia	27.00
15	13	68M	Nick Minar	Lemars , Ia	26.00	DNS
16	16	4A	Dan Swank	Madrid , Ia	25.00	DNS
More Results

Hobby Stocks – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	3	78	Shannon Anderson	Urbandale , Ia	40.00
2	4	10B	Brandon Pruitt	Dexter , Ia	39.00
3	8	92P	Michael Pruitt	Redfield , Ia	38.00
4	9	78B	Andrew Burg	Adel , Ia	37.00
5	5	96R	Jamie Songer	Johnston , Ia	36.00
6	7	3	Kenny Champ	Clarinda , Ia	35.00
7	2	500	Garrett Eilander	Newton , Ia	34.00
8	1	01F	Jeff Fink	Denison , Ia	33.00
9	6	18Z	Zac Smith	Mason City, Ia	32.00
10	13	99	Erick Knutsen	Cedar Rapids, Ia	31.00
11	10	60M	Mike Powell	Norwalk , Ia	30.00
12	14	7C	Chad Legere	Des Moines, Ia	29.00
13	11	42	Riley Songer	Lorimor , Ia	28.00
14	12	224	Gina Greubel	Lacona , Ia	27.00
More Results

Dwarf Cars – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	6	99	Josh May	Desoto , Ia	0.00
2	4	08	Chase Flatt	Monmouth , Il	0.00
3	2	8	Dusty Masolini	Des Moines, Ia	0.00
4	3	64	Randy Bryan	Ames , Ia	0.00
5	17	77	Greg Rossell	Knoxville , Il	0.00
6	10	6	Mike Morrill	Pleasant Hill, Ia	0.00
7	9	57	Tim Hennigar	Clarion , Ia	0.00
8	7	66F	Eric Hendrickson	Ankeny , Ia	0.00
9	11	28	Terry Brown	Nevada , Ia	0.00
10	1	83	Corbin Pickerill	Salina , Ks	0.00
11	15	89	Travis Stensland	Nevada , Ia	0.00
12	8	95	Mike Kennedy	Boone , Ia	0.00
13	13	87	Blake Woodruff	Galesburg , Il	0.00
14	16	4L	Larry Sorenson	Ames , Ia	0.00
15	22	3C	Duane Coffman	Grimes , Ia	0.00
16	25	11	Mike Stoker	Des Moines, Ia	0.00
17	5	X50	Joel Huggins	Pleasant Hill, Ia	0.00
18	18	11S	Gary Snyder	Monmouth , Il	0.00
19	19	98	Brad Talbert	Madrid , Ia	0.00
20	14	9	Rick Taylor	Ames , Ia	0.00
21	12	82	Charlie Brown	Nevada , Ia	0.00
22	21	33	Gale Worthington	Des Moines, Ia	0.00
23	23	14S	Perry Strable	Des Moines, Ia	0.00
24	20	08L	Ben Larson	Panora , Ia	0.00	DNS
25	24	15	Andy Hennigar	Ankeny , Ia	0.00	DNS
More Results

Mini Sprint – Feature

Finish	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Points
1	1	76	Brad Comegys	Bondurant , Ia	0.00
2	2	44K	Jake Galusha	Lincoln , Ne	0.00
3	4	99	Cody Ledger	Omaha , Ia	0.00
4	3	12	Frank Galusha	Lincoln , Ne	0.00
5	5	81E	Eric Bridger	Winterset , Ia	0.00
6	7	11B	Ben Woods	Newton , Ia	0.00
7	8	24N	Nathan Mills	Bondurant , Ia	0.00
8	15	71	Brandon Worthington	Indianola , Ia	0.00
9	14	1K	Kolby Watt	Adel , Ia	0.00
10	12	80X	Cody Sage	Osceola , Ia	0.00
11	9	41	Dan Henning	Columbia , Ia	0.00
12	13	9	Hunter Lane	Milo , Ia	0.00
13	16	7S	Skylar Hunter	Afton , Ia	0.00
14	10	49	Corey Forsyth	Knoxville , Ia	0.00
15	11	62	Joel Fritz	Waverly , Ne	0.00
16	22	99H	Landon Hansen	Newton , Ia	0.00
17	20	7A	Lex Mills	Bondurant , Ia	0.00
18	17	23T	Travis Rewerts	Des Moines, Ia	0.00
19	6	19	Alec Carberry	Omaha , Ne	0.00
20	19	3A	Chuck Alexander	Chariton , Ia	0.00
21	18	16	Dan Beerends	Norwalk , Ia	0.00
22	21	17M	Tony Mccarthy	Lacona , In	0.00	DNS
23	23	22	Ryan Leavitt	Knoxville , Ia	0.00	DNS