Luellen Dominates SportMods
Stuart, IA (June 2) – The racing was fast and furious this past Friday night at Stuart Speedway! Josh Gilman, Curtis Miller, Solomon Bennett, Austin Luellen and Marcus Fagan took the wins on Roy Sargent Building Night at the Races.
Matt Webb and Randy Havlik brought the IMCA Modifieds to the green flag for the first feature of the night. Havlik built up a decent lead over Todd VanEaton and Josh Gilman until a caution flew on lap eight. Gilman took over second for good on lap ten and stayed in the 3Z’s tire tracks until making his move on lap thirteen. Clint Luellen made it to second on lap fifteen, but Gilman was too strong and went on to the win. Luellen settled for second with Havlik third, VanEaton fourth and Nick Deal fifth. Gilman and Havlik were the heat race winners.
IMCA Sport Compacts were up next with Joseph Mastin and Kolby Sabin on the front row. Mastin led lap one with Curtis Miller taking over on lap two. John Gill got to second on lap five with Dean Richards following him past Mastin into third a lap later. The caution flew for Richards on lap eight and gave Gill a shot at the win, but Miller had the preferred line and went on to the win. Gill finished second with Mastin third, Richards fourth and Sterling Weirich fifth. Sabin was the heat race winner.
Benji Clemons and Gregg Anderson led the IMCA Hobby Stocks to green with Anderson leading Korbin Nourse and Solomon Bennett on lap one. Anderson and Nourse ran 1-2 for the first eight laps until Bennett broke up the party and started marching to the front on lap nine. Two laps later Bennett took the lead and looked to check out, but a caution on lap thirteen set up a green-white-checkered finish. Bennett was up to the challenge and took the win, his second in a row at Stuart. Anderson finished second with tenth starting Jamie Schirm third, eleventh starting Aaron Rudolph fourth and Nourse fifth. Jamie Flugge-Smith and Schirm were the heat race winners.
IMCA SportMods came out next with Dan Swank and Brandon Patava on the front row. After a rash of cautions over the first couple of laps it was Austin Luellen making it out of the fray to lead the pack over Taylor Musselman, Chase Rudolf and John Watson. Luellen had a sizeable advantage, but that was erased by a caution flag for a spinning Bryce Allen on lap fourteen. After a couple attempts at restarts Luellen cruised to the win, his first of the season at Stuart. In his first visit this season, Musselman finished second with Rudolf third, Watson fourth and Dylan Petersen fifth. Patava and Colton Nelson were the heat race winners.
Last up for the night was the IMCA Stock Cars with Chad LeGere and Jordan Riesberg showing the way. LeGere led lap one with Chris Pruitt and Cory Bushnell passing him on lap two. Pruitt led the field as Marcus Fagan moved his way through the pack and into second on lap seven. The two separated themselves from the rest of the field and as they got the half way signal Fagan moved up a groove and passed Pruitt a lap later. Pruitt stayed within striking distance, but Fagan was too tough and went on to the win. Pruitt finished second with David Smith third, Bushnell fourth and Brandon Pruitt fifth. Keith Simmons and Fagan were the heat race winners.
We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our fourth event of the year. Next week will be Horizon Financial Resources, LLC Night at the Races with our five regular classes in attendance. See you then!
Story by Josh Reynolds
Category: Iowa
