5/22/2019
Stuart Speedway
Frevert Gets First Truck Win
As hard as she worked at it, Mother Nature would not win out over the fans and drivers on night five of racing at Stuart Speedway. Bobby Daniels, Jeff Frevert, Kody Havens, Ricky Thornton Jr, Josh Most, Shannon Anderson and Ramsey Meyer were the winners on Pie Five Pizza Honor to All Veterans Night at the Races.
With the amount of rain the area saw over the last week it didn’t look like any racing would take place, but the combination of sun, wind and a relentless promotor/track prep crew got things ready for racing! The track changed as the night rolled on, but the crew stayed after it and managed to get the drivers a good night of racing. Hats off to them! We also want to give a shout out to the drivers as we had five features go green/white/checkered and one only had a debris caution. Great job drivers!
After the heats were over it was the Pole Position Challenge on the track first with heat winners from Hobby Stocks, Stock Cars, Trucks, SportMods and Modifieds spaced out around the track with the Hobbies almost a lap ahead of the rest. Once the race ended it was Jeff Johnson in his Karl Chevrolet Dirt Truck taking the win and the $270 voucher for Pole Position Raceway.
Outlaw Mini Mods were first up for the features with Nathan Kilwine and Bobby Daniels on the front row. Daniels led from the green to the checkered to take the uncontested win. Kilwine finished second with Luke Daniels third and Chase Daniels fourth. Bobby made it a clean sweep as he took the heat race win as well.
Mitchell Morris and Kyle Tanner brought the IMCA Northern SportMods to the green flag with Tanner taking the early lead over Colton Nelson and Morris. Lap four saw some contact among the leaders with Tanner getting the worst of it to bring out the first caution of the night. Nelson led the next two green flag laps until Kody Havens charged to the lead on lap seven. Nelson gave chase but there was no stopping Havens as he went on to the win. Nelson finished second with Tyler Inman third, Hunter Longnecker fourth and Jeffrey Sears fifth. Tanner, Nelson and Havens were the heat race winners.
Karl Chevrolet Dirt Trucks came out next with Jeff Frevert and Lou Sipolt at the point. Frevert shot out to the early lead over Sipolt and Lucas Richardson. The top three stayed the same until Jeff Johnson began to march to the front on lap four. Johnson passed Sipolt for second on lap ten, but there was no catching Frevert as he went on to his first career win. Johnson finished second with Myles Michehl third, Richardson fourth and Del Enos fifth. Michehl and Johnson were the heat race winners.
Craig Carlson and Brock Badger led the IMCA Stock Cars to green with Badger leading Carlson and Bryan Snell on lap one. Snell and Marcus Fagan battled for second until Fagan secured the spot on lap four as Badger continued to lead. As the race got to half way a familiar name began to creep into the top three. Ricky Thornton Jr made it to third on lap ten, second on lap eleven and passed Badger on lap thirteen to complete a charge from his eleventh starting spot! Tenth starting Brandon Pruitt got to second on lap fourteen, but no one was topping Thornton Jr on this night as he went on to the win. Pruitt finished second with Snell third, Fagan fourth and Josh Daniels fifth. Thornton Jr, Pruitt and Todd VanEaton were the heat race winners.
IMCA Modifieds were up next with Josh Most and Bob Daniels on the front row. Most led lap one with Daniels and Scott Bash in tow. Nick Roberts passed Daniels and Bash for second on lap three, pulling Josh Gilman along with into third. Gilman moved into second on lap eight as Most stretched out almost a full straightaway lead at halfway. Ricky Thornton Jr, fresh off a Stock Car win, passed Roberts for third on lap thirteen and joined Gilman in the chase for the lead. Lap traffic began to play a factor on lap fifteen and the top three began to get closer. Thornton Jr passed Gilman for second as the white flag came out and looked to find a way around Most as they worked down the backstretch. Thornton Jr worked low, but Most was too strong through the middle of the track and took the checkered flag. Thornton Jr finished second with Gilman third, Tim Ward fourth and Roberts fifth. Thornton Jr and Most were the heat race winners.
Seth Butler and Miciah Hidlebaugh brought out the IMCA Hobby Stocks next with Hidlebaugh leading Butler and Brandon Cox on lap one. Shannon Anderson worked the bottom of the track to get to third on lap four, second on lap seven and the top spot on lap nine. Adam Ayers tried to give Anderson fits over the next few laps but it wasn’t to be as Anderson went on to take the win. Ayers finished second with Corey Madden third, Jack Phillips fourth and John Watson fifth. Butler and Madden were the heat race winners.
Last up for the night’s racing was the IMCA Sport Compacts with Tyler Fiebelkorn and Kolby Sabin on the front row. Eighth starting Ramsey Meyer took two laps to get to the lead and he never looked back in taking the dominating win. Colton Garside finished second, Travis Graspy third, Logan Richards fourth and Sabin fifth. Ryan Brown and Meyer were the heat race winners.
We’d like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our fifth event of the year. Next Wednesday will be John’s Tree Service/Karl Chevrolet Night with weekly racing for our five regular IMCA classes, Outlaw Mini Mods and Micro Sprints join us as well. See you then!
Article Credit: Josh Reynolds