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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 4th 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 A Main: 1. #78 Shannon Anderson, Altantic Stock Cars Heat 1. #10K Keith Knop, Shelby A Main: 1. #92B Brian Blessington, Breda
Heat 1. #3 Kevin Sather, Ankeny A Main: 1. #3 Kevin Sather, Ankeny Modifieds Heat 1. #83G Josh Gilman, Dexter A Main: 1. #83G Josh Gilman, Dexter
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