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Corn Takes first Iowa win, Janssen, Olson, Knutson, George, and Williams also see checkers

May 17, 2024
It was a beautiful night for racing at the Marshalltown Speedway Friday night with 127 cars checked into the pits.

Drew Janssen would come home with the win in the IMCA Friesen Performance Modifieds, and Garrett Corn saw Victory Lane for the first time in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Kyle Olson took the honors in the IMCA Friesen Performance Northern SportMod class, and Eric Knutson was the winner in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Ben George won the IMCA Stealth STARS Mod Lite feature, and it was Jeremy Williams taking the checkers in the IMCA Mach-1 Sport Compacts.

The IMCA Mod Lites, presented by Knight Sanitation, ran the first feature of the night, going 15 laps.

Ben George would dominate in this race, taking the lead on lap two, and never giving it up. Josh May chased him around the rim of the track for several laps, taking a peek a time or two, but George was never really threatened. George pulled away in the closing laps and took the easy win...his first at Marshalltown and only second ever feature win. He finished well ahead of Jon Padilla, Sivis, Illinois who had started tenth on the field. Third went to Mechanicsville, Iowa's Alex Eischeid, fourth was Josh May, and Bryan Zehm rounded out the top five.

Up next came 20 laps of IMCA SportMod racing, presented by Rugged Radios.

This was a two horse race, as Kyle Olson and Maguire DeJong pulled away from the field, and circled the rim. DeJong made some spectacular slides out of turn four trying to get ahead of Olson, but each attempt failed and Olson went home to take the checkers, DeJong having to settle for second. Following a far distance behind in third place, was Will Wolf, followed closely by the 4D of Donny Concelman, Colorado Springs, Colorado in fourth. Mike Rutherford finished fifth, coming from thirteenth starting spot.

The IMCA Sport Compacts, presented by Hy-Vee of Marshalltown ran a 15 lap feature next.

Jeremy Williams, Oskaloosa, Iowa came home the winner in this contest. He had to wrestle with David Kimmel and Cristian Grady in the closing laps, as the three duked it out. Kimmel held the upper hand at the white flag, but a bit of contact on the backstretch, found Kimmel having to miraculously regain control, as Jeremy Williams made the run to the checkers and take the win. Grady took the runner up spot and Kimmel still made it a third place finish. Corwyn Whisler, pole sitter, was fourth, and Blake Driscol drove from eleventh starting spot, to finish fifth.

The Hobby Stocks, presented by Big 8 Tyre Center, ran 20 laps for their feature.

Joren Fisher led much of this contest, with Eric Knutson pressuring him as he took peeks for a way around several times. A caution flew at lap twelve, just what Knutson wanted, and as the race went back to green, he was able to take over the top spot. He established the top side of the track as his own, and pulled away in the closing circuits to take the win. Bradly Graham started eighth, and finished as the runner up, third went to Dustin Filloon, Briar Kriegel was fourth, and Solomon Bennett was fifth. Joren Fisher was running second on the final lap, but a bobble in corner four, caused him to drop back and finish seventh behind sixth place finisher Calvin Dhondt.

It was 20 laps of Stock Car feature racing next, presented by Drury Automotive.

Garrett Corn established the lead immediately after starting on the outside front row. Tyler Pickett fell in behind him to run second, and started applying pressure. The two were frequently side by side at the flagstand in the second half of the race, but Corn was able to hold off Pickett, and take the win. Pickett had to be content with the runner up spot. It was a fight for the next few positions, but at the flag it was Scott Rice taking third over fourteenth place starter, Jeff Mueller in fourth, and a close fifth went to hometown driver, Jimmy Gustin. Corn, who is a transplant from Bakersfield, California has raced in Iowa the last couple of years, but this was his first ever win in the state of Iowa.

The nightcap was 20 laps of IMCA Modified feature racing, presented by Tire Demon by Love Tap.

David Brown led the first two laps that saw three cautions fly in a race marred by the yellow flying. When the race went green again at lap three, Todd Shute made the move to the topside and took over the lead. Shute would pull away, and then more cautions flew. The sixth yellow at lap eleven was what second place runner, Drew Janssen, Pella, Iowa was hoping for. He tried a couple of slide jobs, and then at lap fourteen had the lead. A seventh, and final caution flew at lap seventeen when Dylan Thornton and Todd Shute made contact on the backstretch, sending Shute off the track. Thornton was shown the black flag for questionable driving, ending both his and Shute's night. The final laps saw Janssen keep his lead and pull away to take the comfortable win as the checkers flew. Tripp Gaylord, Lakewood, Colorado finished in second after redeeming himself after an early caution sent him to restart in the rear of the field. Troy Morris, III, or "TM3" as he's known, made the trip from Bakersfield, California and finished in third place. Jaxson Saathoff, Beatrice, Nebraska had the night off at his hometown track, started fifteenth, and finished fourth. Seymour, Wisconsin's Jayden Schmidt was the hard charger of the race, coming from twenty-third starting spot, to complete the top five.

Next Friday night, May 24, is EMW Trucking Military Memorial night with a Corn Belt Clash for the IMCA Mod Lites. Hot laps are 6:45 with racing at 7:30.

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