Gustin Remains Unbeaten on Larry Wollam Season Championship Night

By Jeremy Fox

Marshalltown, Iowa (September 4th, 2015) – Friday Night was an action packed night of racing with seven classes on the cards for the Dairy Queen Larry Wollam Season Championship Night at Marshalltown. 108 drivers signed in to get their names in the history books. Top ten in points were locked into the feature with 11th on back running last chance heats.

Donavon Smith (IMCA Stock Cars), Jared Van Deest (IMCA Northern SportMods) and Josh May (Mod Lites) all took victorys along with track championships in their divisions. Richie Gustin (IMCA Modifieds), Chris Abelson (IMCA Modifieds) and Austin Luellen (IMCA Hobby Stocks) pick up feature wins as does Jordan Brown in the Quads.

Before a lap was completed in the Mod Lites feature event, the caution came out for DJ Schmalzried and Alonzo Grosse got together in turn two. When the race restarted it was Josh May wrestling the lead away from Travis Stensland. May saw the caution again come out on lap two. May pulled away and went on to take his 9th win at Marshalltown in route to his 3rd track title in six years. Travis Stensland ran second the entire way with Mike Morill in third. Joe Glick was fourth and Jason Whitehead was fifth. Three Micro Mods raced against the Mod Lites and they were Don Erger, Cole McNeal and Robby Decker.

Jared Van Deest took full advantage of his pole position that he earned for being the points leader in the IMCA Northern SportMods 18 lap feature by jumping out to the early lead. The battle behind him for second was intense for Brandon Williams, Jayme Duinink and Sam Wieben. Just after the completion of lap six, the caution was displayed first for Thomas Egenberger and then for Dale VanDerWal in turn two. Van Deest was never challenged as he got out to commanding lead just before the final caution for Ryan King coming to a stop in turn one forcing a green-white-checkered finish. Van Deest held off any challenges to take his six win and 2015 track championship. Duinink finished second ahead of Travis Peterson, Wieben and DJ Robinson.

Eric Stanton already had the track championship locked up in the Toby K’s Hideaway IMCA Hobby Stocks but he was out for the win. Stanton proved that when he grabbed the early lead but Austin Luellen worked his way through the field and took the top spot away on lap six. Luellen held off Stanton to take his ninth at Motown. Stanton, Gary Pfantz, Eugene Nicklas and Garrett Eilander rounded out the top five.

Donavon Smith grabbed the lead early in the Miller Lite IMCA Stock Cars 18 lap feature. Smith led the entire way en route to his eighth win and his second consecutive track title and third in nine years. Steve Meyer finished second in the feature and points. Michael Jaennette was third, Jeff Wollam gets his best finish of the season by taking fourth ahead of Damon Murty.

Ronn Lauritzen came in the night five points behind Jimmy Gustin in the Coors Light IMCA Modifieds and it was Lauritzen taking the lead but just after one lap was scored, the caution came out for Dalton Dingman and Derek Reimer in turn four. Lauritzen saw Gustin and Josh Gilman restart right behind him and he was able to hold them off just after lap seven was scored the caution came out when Gustin went off the top side of turn one and two. That threw a curve ball to the track championship but then the caution came out on lap eight and nine, Gustin meanwhile was working his way back through the field. Gilman took the lead on lap eight and nine but it was National Point Leader Chris Abelson taking the lead away on lap ten. Gilman and Abelson battled it out with Gilman again taking the lead back on lap 11. Abelson finally worked his way by on lap 15 to go on and take his 3rd win in a row at Marshalltown. Lauritzen finished second. Kody Schlopp from Canada was third, Gustin worked his way back up to fourth which was enough to win the track championship by three points. Jake Strayer came home fifth.

Rumours Sports Bar & Grill Late Models were back for a third night of racing competiton with a little added incentive if anybody could be Richie Gustin fair and square they would pocket $1,600 thanks to Rumours and McFarland Pain Clinic. Paul Conrad and Mike O’Connor started on the front row and it was Conrad leading the opening lap. Jeremy Grady took the lead away on lap two but on lap five, Grady saw Richie Gustin sneak by for the lead. Gustin and the field saw the caution come out for Jerry King going off turn two. Gustin went on to take his third consecutive Late Model win at Marshalltown. Todd Cooney took second on lap 15 and tried to chase down Gustin but came up short. Grady, Robert See and Greg Kastli rounded out the top five.

George Hood took the whole shot and led lap one of the Flat Track Quads but Jordan Brown took the lead on lap two. Brown and Hood battled it out the rest of the way with Brown edging out Hood for the win. Adam Streeter, Dan Needles and David Petithory.

Track Points are all completed but the speedway is not finished yet as they take a week off and prepare for the World Nationals on September 17th through 19th. Open Practice to all competiors on Thursday. Modifieds will qualify on Friday and race for a top prize of $10,000 on Saturday. Hobby Stocks race for $500 to win on Friday and Saturday meanwhile Stock Cars and SportMods $1,000 to win each night.

For additional information and to follow the season at the Marshalltown Speedway, log on at: http://www.marshalltownspeedway.com/, or follow Marshalltown Speedway on Facebook and Twitter, or call the speedway office at 515-231-5444.

Marshalltown Speedway Results
Dairy Queen Larry Wollam Season Championships
September 4th, 2015

Rumours Sports Bar & Grill Late Models
Feature – 1. 19G Richie Gustin Jr (Gilman); 2. 30 Todd Cooney (Des Moines); 3. 43 Jeremy Grady (Story City); 4. 32 Robert See (Pleasant Hill); 5. 73 Greg Kastli (Waterloo); 6. 60 Mike O’Connor (Waterloo); 7. 53 Darren Ackerman (Readlyn); 8. 15C Curt Schroeder (Newton); 9. 2V Vic Lovejoy (Audubon); 10. 44 Mark Hurst (Denver); 11. 23 Paul Conrad (Colo); 12. 05 Paul Nagle (Nevada); 13. 70 Jerry King (Waterloo)

Heat 1 – 1. See; 2. Grady; 3. Hurst; 4. King; 5. Ackerman; 6. Lovejoy; 7. Schroeder
Heat 2 – 1. Gustin; 2. Kastli; 3. O’Connor; 4. Cooney; 5. Conrad; 6. Nagle

Coors Light IMCA Modifieds
Feature – 1. 1X Chris Abelson (Sioux City); 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 3. 02X Kody Scholpp (Estevan, SK); 4. 19 Jimmy Gustin (Marshalltown); 5. 18J Jake Strayer (Newton); 6. 83G Josh Gilman (Earlham); 7. 12X Trent Jackson (Marshalltown); 8. 70 Jesse Dennis (Corning); 9. 37 Mike Jergens (Plover); 10. 2L Adam Larson (Ankeny); 11. 43S Scott Simatovich (State Center); 12. 174 Ethan Dotson (Bakersfield, CA); 13. 81 Jesse Belez (Marengo); 14. 11X Tom Berry (Medford, OR); 15. 66P Paul Stone (Winston, CA); 16. 5G Gatlin Leytham (Ames): 17. 1XX Steve Streeter (Vinton, IA); 18. 12 Andrew Kinser (State Center); 19. 40RC Rod Clement (Rhodes); 20. 17R Derek Reimer (St. Anthony); 21. 93 Brandon Brinton (Nevada); 22. 02 John Davis (Altoona); 23. 11 Dalton Dingman (Grimes); DNS/24. 49T Tim Stevens (Earlham); DNS/25. 74S Chris Sieweke (Santa Rosa, CA)

Heat 1 – 1. Abelson; 2. Larson; 3. Dennis; 4. Dingman; 5. Jergens; 6. Berry; 7. Kinser; 8. Stone; 9. Sieweke
Heat 2 – 1. Scholpp; 2. Davis; 3. Belez; 4. Leytham; 5. Dotson; 6. Streeter; 7. Brinton; 8. Stevens

Track Champion : 19 Jimmy Gustin (Marshalltown)

Miller Lite IMCA Stock Cars
Feature – 1. 35 Donavon Smith (Lake City); 2. 94 Steve Meyer (Grundy Center); 3. 93 Michael Jaennette (Newton); 4. 3W Jeff Wollam (Marshalltown); 5. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 6. 5A Tyler Pickett (Boxholm); 7. 45 Matt Deaton (Newton); 8. 54 Robbie Merkle (Des Moines); 9. 25 Trent Murphy (Scranton); 10. 2N Donavon Nunnikhoven (Sully); 11. 16 Nick Thelen (Kellogg); 12. 89B Tim Fobian (Dike); 13. 50X Kevin Balmer (Garwin); 14. 04X Dave Mehmen (Baxter); 15. 42 Doug Russell (Conrad); 16. 2 Dave Atcher (Marshalltown): 17. 4JR Russell Damme Jr (Waterloo)

Heat – 1. Atcher; 2. Merkle; 3. Murty; 4. Nunnikhoven; 5. Damme; 6. Fobian; 7. Mehmen; 8. Russell

Track Champion : 35 Donavon Smith (Lake City)

Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods
Feature – 1. 80J Jared Van Deest (Holland); 2. 777 Jayme Duinink (Pella); 3. 25 Travis Peterson (Gladbrook); 4. 198 Sam Wieben (Dysart); 5. 33R DJ Robinson (Ankeny); 6. 98 Bill Hildreth (Marshalltown); 7. 8 Dusty Masolini (Des Moines); 8. 32N Neil Follett (Conrad); 9. 36A Andy Edwards (Parkersburg); 10. 7X Dale VanDerWal (McCallsburg); 11. 12R Travis Storjohann (Marshalltown); 12. 98X Thomas Egenberger (Des Moines); 13. 67X Brandon Williams (Des Moines); 14. 57R Ryan King (Montour); 15. 16 Austin Schuring (Newton); 16. 22 Matt Petrzelka (Norway); 17. T17 Tom Rawlins (Kellogg)

Heat – 1. Hildreth; 2. Robinson; 3. Edwards; 4. Petrzelka; 5. VanDerWal; 6. Egenberger; 7. Rawlins; 8. Storjohann

Track Champion : 80J Jared Van Deest (Holland)

Toby K’s Hideaway IMCA Hobby Stocks
Feature – 1. 3A Austin Luellen (Minburn); 2. 7B Eric Stanton (Carlisle); 3. 4X Gary Pfantz (State Center); 4. 83 Eugene Nicklas (Grinnell); 5. 500 Garrett Eilander (Newton); 6. T56 Tim Barber (Story City); 7. 96R Jamie Songer (Ankeny); 8. 52H Shawn Hunter (Zearing); 9. 98 Neal Miller (Waterloo); 10. 42T Tyson Overton (Carlisle); 11. 52X AJ Dancer (Austin, TX); 12. 17 Andy Peck (Newton); 13. 19 Nathan Gibson (Maynard); 14. 96X Bill Bonnett (Knoxville); 15. 42Z Brandon Pitts (Ames); 16. 3X Justin Lovig (Clemons)

Heat – 1. Bonnett; 2. Miller; 3. Dancer; 4. Gibson; 5. Hunter; 6. Lovig; 7. Songer; 8. Overton

Track Champion : 7B Eric Stanton (Carlisle)

Mod Lites
Feature – 1. 99 Josh May (DeSoto); 2. 89 Travis Stensland (Nevada); 3. 6 Mike Morrill (Altoona); 4. 3G Joe Glick (Des Moines); 5. 11R Jason Whitehead (Nevada); 6. 88 Justin Rankin (Madrid); 7. DC5 Tim Gannon (Des Moines); 8. D5 Alonzo Grosse (Council Bluffs); 9. 4M David Simpson (Ankeny); 10. 01 DJ Schmalzried (Nevada)

Track Champion : 99 Josh May (DeSoto)

Quads
Feature – 1. 47 Jordan Brown; 2. 79 George Hood; 3. 14 Adam Streeter; 4. 222 Dan Needles; 5. 20 David Petithory; 6. 61 Chuck Wilson; 7. 126 Josh Beukema; 8. 19 Jamie Gilbert; 9. 00 Richard Blom; 10. 97 Ricky Onofre

Heat – 1. Hood; 2. Brown; 3. Streeter; 4. Petithory; 5. Needles; 6. Blom; 7. Wilson; 8. Onofre; 9. Gilbert

Category: Iowa, Marshalltown Speedway