-Story by Debbie Sweeney,

Week 2 of the 2008 season at the Stuart Speedway was held on May 11. A great field of cars was on hand for a good night of competition.

The IMCA Stock Cars opened the program, with Keith Knop of Shelby, Tim Bengard of Exira and Mike Nichols of Harlan the heat race winners. The top two of each heat race then competed in an Australian Pursuit, with Tim Bengard taking the checkers once again. The main event, Keith Knop took the early lead and held it until the final lap when encountered problems. That opened the door for Brian Blessington of Breda, who went on to victory. Tim Bengard and Cory Bushnell rounded out the top 3.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks welcomed several new drivers to the Speedway on this Mother’s Day. Three heat races saw John Watson of Des Moines, Rusty Gyles of Norwalk and Nyle Godwin of Redfield in victory lane. The 23-car field then battled it out in the 15-lap main event. Shannon Anderson of Atlantic quickly worked his way through the field from his 4^th row starting position to take the lead on lap 3, with John Watson and Jamie Schirm of Dexter in pursuit. Anderson was able to hold them off for the win, with Nyle Godwin coming home second in his first appearance at the Speedway in 2008. Jamie Schirm rounded out the top three.

The IMCA Sport Mod competition was dominated by young guns Kevin Sather of Ankeny, Brett Moffitt of Grimes and Joel Bushore of Boone. Sather and Moffittt picked up heat race wins. The top 3 from each heat then competed in the 6-lap Casey’s General Store Trophy Dash, with Sather taking home the hardware, and Bushore second. Sather made it a perfect night by grabbing the lead on lap 1 of the feature and never looked back as he claimed his first Stuart Speedway feature win of the 2008 season. Joel Bushore and Brett Moffitt completed the top 3.

IMCA Modified action was second to none as four new entries complemented the field, including the return of Jimmy Gustin, the 2007 Stuart Speedway Modified Point Champion. Josh Gilman of Earlham, Todd Shute of Des Moines and Scott Bash of Stuart claimed heat race wins. Brett Ladehoff of Marshalltown commanded the main event from the start until lap 10 when Josh Gilman stormed past for the lead. It was door to door action between Gilman, Todd Shute and Jimmy Gustin from lap 10 to 14, before Gustin retired with mechanical problems. Gilman was able to hold onto the lead and went on to his first feature win of the season, with Shute and Randy Havlik of Waukee a close second and third respectively. Ladehoff came home fourth.

Hobby Stocks

Heat 1.  4w John Watson, Des Moines
Heat 2. 33d Rusty Gyles, Norwalk
Heat 3. 11G Nyle Godwin, Redfield
 

A Main:

1.  #78  Shannon Anderson,  Altantic
2.  # 11G Nyle Godwin, Norwalk
3. #56 Jamie Schirm, Dexter
4. #21 Justin Maschke, Des Moines
5. #19A Alan VanGorp, Carlisle
6. #17 Nate Lange, Menlo
7. #11 Beau Kaplan, Ankeny
8. #2C Corey Madden, Avoca
9. #O Dave Pymek, Johnston
10. #38R Aaron Rudolph, Scranton
11. #93 Randy Anderson, Atlantic
12. #59G Joey Gyles, St. Charles
13. #2 Eli Boyd, Guthrie Center
14. #4W John Watson, Des Moines
15. #1A Steve Anderson, Winterset
16. # 3 Mike Hansen, Brayton
17. #79 Charles Belew, Adel
18. #5 Keith Minor, Granger
19. #9R Matt Hugreth, Ames
20. #33D Rusty Gyles, Norwalk
21. #00Z Jay Zuecher, St. Charles (DNS)
22. #10B Brandon Pruitt, Dexter  (DNS)
23. #12 Steve Roberts, Ankeny  (DNS)
 

Stock Cars

Heat 1. #10K Keith Knop, Shelby
Heat 2. #19B Tim Bengard, Exira
Heat 3. #63 Mike Nichols
Australian Pursuit: #19B Tim Bengard, Exria
 

A Main:  

1. #92B Brian Blessington, Breda
2. #19B Tim Bengard, Exria
3. #55 Cory Bushnell, Madrid
4. #6J Jamie Morey, Earlham
5. #10K Keith Knop, Shelby
6. #02 Mike Goldsberg, Runnells
7. #11 Steve Campbell, Des Moines
8. #25J Josh Daniels, Des Moines
9. #27 Gary Bass, Des Moines
10. #3S Bryan Snell, Bayard
11. #83 Mike Harris, Acora
12. #1F Marcus Fagan, Adair
13. #63 Mike Nichols, Harlan
14. #27C Cory Adams, Urbandale
15. #10X John Wilson, Winterset
16. #76 Norm Belew, Redfield
17. #23 Jeremy Gettler, Adair
18.  #23H Rick Houseman, Winterset (DNS)

Sport Mods

Heat 1. #3 Kevin Sather, Ankeny
Heat 2. #13 Brett Moffitt, Grimes
Trophy Dash: #3 Kevin Sather, Ankeny
 

A Main:

1. #3 Kevin Sather, Ankeny
2. #87 Joel Bushore, Boone
3. #13 Brett Moffitt. Grimes
4. #5J Jimmy May, Desoto
5. #12C Kent Croskey, Polk City
6. #99 Josh May, Desoto
7. #77 Jack Meyer, Ankeny
8. #8 Brad Iverson, Grinell
9. #C4 Chris Wilson, Winterset
10. #19 David Schlicht, Adel
11. #92 Mike Pruitt, Redfield
12. #11 Chad Dills, Shelby
 

Modifieds

Heat 1. #83G Josh Gilman, Dexter
Heat 2. #5 Todd Shute, Des Moines
Heat 3. #14B Scott Bash, Stuart

A Main:               

1. #83G Josh Gilman, Dexter
2. # 5 Todd Shute, Des Moines
3. #3Z Randy Havlik, Waukee
4. #12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown
5. #31R Rex Parkison, Earlham
6. #22 Chris Pruitt, Stuart
7. #17B Ben Hoesing, Boone
8. #73 Brad Moriarty, Des Moines
9. #42B Bobby Bowman, Winterset
10. #131S Ed Siebert, Dexter
11. #19 Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown
12. #55D Nick Deal, Walnut
13. #15A Carl Allbee, Jefferson
14. #14 Scott Bash, Stuart
15. #66 Gordy Head Jr., Des Moines
16. #14 Ron Bash, Stuart  (DNS)
17. #78 Terry Pruitt, Dexter