" New " Track, Still No Spring

 I was able to join Jeff Broeg for a rare Thursday night show at the Marshalltown Speedway. I had only been to the historic 1/4 mile facility one time several years ago for a Deery Brothers Summer Series late model show. Unfortunately on an overcast evening with a steady drizzle and with four late models in the pits, promoter Toby Kruse had pulled the plug on the show before any cars hit the track. With a work schedule that would not afford me the chance to travel that far for their weekly Friday night show and needing two vacation days to visit during the week, I put Marshalltown on my bucket list for retirement. So when Jeff offered his shotgun seat for Thursday, I was more than ready.
  Joining him in Mt. Pleasant, we set sail about 4:30 PM after he finished his work day,for the two plus hour drive, knowing that fellow bloggers Joyce and Dick Eisele of the 4D Fan Race Report would have room for us alongside their top row seats near the middle of the front straightaway. In my earlier visit to the track, Darryl and I had checked out the facilities as well as the site lines, and had decided that it would be a good place to watch a race, and with cars now on the track, that observation was confirmed.
  The line up for this special show, which had been postponed the week prior had the tracks regular five classes on the card racing for extra money. I have to admit that many of the locals were unfamiliar to me, but there was also a healthy mix of travelers on hand, with drivers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, California, Arizona, and even Canada. With their thorough and expert reporting, I decided that I would leave the " hard " reporting to Dick and Joyce, and at Jeffs suggestion, I am just going to offer up some random observations from this first night.
  It was a beautiful spring day when we left Mt. Pleasant and the temperature still hovered around 70 degrees when we arrived in Marshalltown. We noticed on the drive that there was a brisk breeze, and when we took our seats, we realized quickly that more than a breeze, it was a cold wind that did not subside even as the sun went down. Fortunately this spring, if you can call it that, has prepared us for such things, and the winter coats, gloves, etc. came out quickly.
  The show started about 15 minutes past the advertised 7:30 start time, and perhaps the fact that it was opening night is the reason the 119 cars in attendance were given extended hot laps.
   The 15 heat races and three B-mains clicked off with a minimum of caution periods, as the track stayed smooth and fast, although the top side was clearly the fast way around the banked oval.
   The IMCA Northern sport mod feature field had been pared down from 27 to a starting field of 24, and the 20 laps clicked off with only one caution period, and made me wonder why that does not happen at my local tracks. Jered Vandeest scored the win by a good margin over Brayton Carter, while Austin Luellen came from row eleven to third ahead of Dusty Masolini.
  The hobby stock main proved to be the problem child of the night, taking four tries to get one lap in. Shannon Anderson had originally lined up sixth, but by the fourth green flag try he was in row two, and he jumped to the lead on lap one, leading all the way despite heavy pressure from Eric Stanton.
  Damon Murty worked to the lead in the IMCA stock car main event on lap eight and cruised to the win. A great three car battle for second saw Jeff Mueller take the spot ahead of Jay Schmidt and Paul Shepard in a caution free 20 laps.
  An amazing 43 IMCA modifieds had checked in for a shot at the $1,000 winners check. Jeff had commented that the star studded 24 car field might pull off another non stop race, and in fact only one yellow flag period on the 16th lap slowed the action! Joel Rust jumped out to the early lead, and with the cars battling hard for position behind him, he stayed in control. Missouri hot shoe Hunter Marriott won the spirited duel for second over a hard charging Tyler Droste and Tim Ward.
   Although the track hosts IMCA late models weekly, it was obvious that we were in modified country by the number of folks who headed for the parking lot as the late model feature lined up. As a late model fan, I was both surprised and somewhat disappointed by the fact that only eleven cars signed in for a chance at a $750 pay day. As local legend Darrell Defrance shot to the lead from the pole position, things took a turn for the worse on the second lap when Joe Zrostlik got crossed up on the backstretch after possible contact from another car. Ninth starting Todd Cooney had no where to go, flying off the track near the turn three entrance, rolling his #30 machine. Curtis Glover also crashed into the melee, and his # 32 wound up upside down. With what looked like a lengthy cleanup ahead and the clock having ticked well past 10:30, two chilled travelers elected to head for the parking lot . Checking results this Friday morning, I see that Defrance picked up the win, with Chad Holladay, Rob Toland, Curt Schroeder, and Luke Pestka recording top fives. As several of the eleven cars on hand would be expected to be spending Friday nights at the Davenport Speedway, it will be interesting to see what the late model count at Marshalltown will be tonight and going forward. Of course a week night show is not always an effective gauge of car counts for  weekly shows, on both sides of the ledger.
  For such an uncomfortable evening with school and work in play, the crowd was I thought acceptable.
  All things considered, I certainly enjoyed my visit to Marshalltown, and now that I am retired, I look for to going back in the near future. Thanks to Jeff for the ride, to Dick and Joyce for the hospitality, and to Toby for being brave enough to host a weekday show.
  This afternoon, I am joining Fred and Darryl for a trip to Tri City Speedway in Pontoon Beach,Illinois for the Lucas Oil late models, along with UMP modifieds and B mods. And even though we are headed south, you can bet I will be dressing warm!