6/5/2019
Stuart Speedway
O’Brien Dominates SLMR Field
The weather was warm, but the action was hot on night six of racing at Stuart Speedway. Buck Schafroth, Garrett Nelson, Matthew Meinecke, Jason O’Brien and Shannon Anderson were the winners on Ag Hub Midwest/Country Kitchen/Interstate Power Systems of Altoona Night at the Races.
After a week off due to weather the track crew massaged the clay for four straight days to prepare for this show and it was evident to say the least! IMCA Stock Cars came out for the first feature of the night with Keith Simmons and Cody Gustoff on the front row. Gustoff led the first two laps with Brandon Pruitt charging into the lead on lap three. Buck Schafroth made the pass on Gustoff a lap later and within a couple of laps was right on Pruitt’s bumper. At the halfway point it was Pruitt, Schafroth and Bryan Snell with Shawn Ritter hanging in fourth. Ritter passed Snell on lap thirteen and closed on the leaders on the top side. Pruitt held to the bottom and as the end neared Schafroth moved up a groove with Ritter still running up high. As the white flag flew Schafroth pulled alongside Pruitt and going into turn three it was anyone’s race! Pruitt looked strong on the bottom, but it was Schafroth getting a run and winning by less than a car length at the line! Pruitt finished second with Ritter third, Josh Daniels fourth and Gustoff fifth. Chad Legere, Schafroth and Brock Badger were the heat race winners.
IMCA Northern SportMods were next up with Kyler Tanner and Bryan Morris leading the way to the green flag. Tanner led lap one with Jerry Hinton out front for lap two. Garrett Nelson took over on lap three with Hinton and Colton Nelson close behind. Kody Havens came from his eleventh starting spot to third on lap six and second on lap eight as Garrett Nelson continued to lead. As the laps wound down the battle for second was on between Havens and Hunter Longnecker, but the race for the lead was over as Nelson went on to his first win of the year. Havens finished second with Longnecker third, Dusty Masolini fourth and Tyler Inman fifth. Colton Nelson, David Schwartz and Garrett Nelson were the heat race winners.
Matthew Meinecke and Cory Sauerman led the IMCA Modifieds to the track next with Meinecke leading Sauerman and Josh Gilman on lap one. Gilman got to second on lap three with Clay Money giving chase as Meinecke continued to lead. The top three stayed the same until Kyle Brown worked his way past Money on lap eighteen for third. Gilman used the whole track to reel in the leader, but it was not to be as Meinecke went on to the win. Gilman finished second with Brown third, Money fourth and Sauerman fifth. Meinecke and Brown were the heat race winners.
Next up was the Malvern Bank Super Late Models with Jason O’Brien and Corey Zeitner on the front row. O’Brien led Bill Leighton and Zeitner with Ben Schaller and Charlie McKenna rounding out the top five. McKenna got past Schaller for fourth at the midpoint of the race with the top three still remaining the same. As the leaders worked through lap traffic, Leighton got a run on O’Brien and the leaders made contact down the backstretch. Everyone came out ok, and from there it was all O’Brien as he stretched his lead and went on to the wire to wire win. Leighton finished second with Zeitner third, McKenna fourth and Schaller fifth. Schaller, Zeitner, Curtis Glover and O’Brien were the heat race winners with Jason Hahne and Darrel DeFrance taking the B-Main wins.
Last up for the night was the IMCA Hobby Stocks with Tanner Dixon and Matthew Wahl on the front row. Dixon led the first two laps until Nick Foster snuck by on lap three. Foster would lead Dixon and Brandon Cox through lap eight with Cox moving to second on lap nine. Slowly but surely Shannon Anderson worked his way through traffic to third on lap twelve with John Watson close behind. Anderson and Watson were side by side for second on lap fourteen with Watson taking over the runner up spot as the white flag flew. Foster entered turn 1 as the leader, but exited turn 2 in second as Anderson made a bold move on the bottom of the track, bringing Watson and Cox with him. Anderson went on to the win with Watson second, Cox third, Foster fourth and Miciah Hidlebaugh fifth. Chuck Madden Jr and Cox were the heat race winners
We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our sixth event of the year. Next week will be the Dynamic Drivelines Dirt Duel Presented by Sniper Speed and Midstate Machine. Monday will be a practice/party night with qualifying races on Tuesday followed by championship races on Wednesday. This is going to be a must see event with drivers coming from all over the Midwest to tame the high banked bullring! See you then!
Article Credit: Josh Reynolds
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