Fagan Dominates Stock Car Shootout at Stuart
Stuart, IA (July 7) – Unbelievable weather and great side by side racing made for a perfect night at Stuart Speedway! John Gill, Austin Luellen, Gregg Anderson, Clint Luellen and Marcus Fagan took home the hardware at the Stew Hansen –Dodge /Jeep Stock Car Shootout.
IMCA Sport Compacts were first up with Scott Ellis and Landon White on the front row. John Gill rocketed from his fifth starting spot to take the lead on lap one with Ellis and last week’s winner Dean Richards close behind. Richards made it to second on lap two, but that was as close as he would get to Gill as he checked out on the field to take the win. Richards finished second with Ellis third, Curtis Miller fourth and Kolby Sabin fifth. Ellis was the heat race winner.
Carl Allbee and Colton Nelson started out front for the IMCA Northern SportMods with Nelson getting the jump on lap one. Brandon Patava and Austin Luellen ran 2-3 right away, and then switched positions on lap two. Just as Nelson was stretching his lead a caution flew on lap four and bunched up the field. Nelson held the lead for one more lap, but Luellen was too strong coming out of turn four and swept by to take the top spot on lap six. Chase Rudolf made it to second on lap ten, but the kite string was out for Luellen as he went on to take his fifth win in a row at Stuart! Rudolf finished second with Nelson third, John Watson fourth and Dusty Masolini fifth. Nelson and Allbee were the heat race winners.
IMCA Hobby Stocks were up next with Gregg Anderson and Ross Marshall leading the field to green. Anderson, Marshall and Tyson Overton were the top three until Overton moved by Marshall for second on lap eight. Jamie Schirm passed Marshall for third on lap twelve, but it would be Anderson leading the whole way in the caution free event to pick up his first ever feature win! Overton finished second with Schirm third, Marshall fourth and Eric Stanton fifth. Marshall and Anderson were the heat race winners.
Brandon Williams and Scott Bash brought out the IMCA Modifieds next with Bash leading Williams and Todd VanEaton on lap one. Clint Luellen started marching through the field and made it to second on lap three. Two laps later Luellen passed Bash for the lead and it was a battle for second from there. Jeff James won out on that battle, but it was Luellen taking home his third win in a row at Stuart! Williams finished third, Cory Sauerman fourth and Bash fifth. Williams was the heat race winner.
Last but not least the IMCA Stock Cars came to the track for the Stew Hansen Dodge – Jeep Stock Car Shootout. After Brandon Pruitt, Cory Bushnell and Marcus Fagan won their heats and redrew for their starting positions, Fagan and Robert Stofer were the front row starters for the 25 lap event. Fagan took control early with Stofer and Pruitt close behind. The top two stayed the same with Pruitt and Michael Murphy racing hard for third until a lap sixteen caution flew. Pruitt would exit the track with mechanical issues, and just as the fans caught their breath the green flag flew again with Fagan, Stofer and Keith Simmons at the front. Stofer threw everything he had at Fagan, but the 1F was too strong and went on to the feature win and the $1000 payday! Stofer finished second with Simmons third, Cory Bushnell fourth and Josh Daniels fifth.
We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our eighth event of the year. Next week will be Avey Sanitation Night at the Races with our 5 regular classes duking it out at the bullring. See you then!
Story by Josh Reynolds
Category: Iowa
