-Story by Debbie Sweeney,
July 20th -Radical Cycle Night
The Stuart Speedway once again overcame heavy overnight rains and threatening skies on Sunday, July 20 and provided some great racing action for the fans on Radical Cycle Night.
The IMCA Sport Mods welcomed six new cars to the Speedway for some tough competition. Heat races were claimed by Jack Myer of Ankeny and Kent Croskey of Polk City. The top three finishers in each heat then competed in a six-lap inverted start Casey’s General Stores Trophy Dash, with Joel Bushore of Boone taking home the hardware. The A-Main was a barnburner, with the 15-lap event going green to checkers. Jimmy May of DeSoto lead from the start, with Kent Croskey and Shay Woods of Humeston in close pursuit. Further back in the back, Bushore and Kevin Sather of Ankeny were slowly threading their way through the field. Sather made his way to second by lap 10, and passed May on lap 14 for the lead with Bushore following. At the checkers, it was Kevin Sather picking up his 19th feature win of the season, Bushore second, May third, and David Schlicht of Adel fourth. Bushore currently holds a slim 4-point lead over Josh May of DeSoto, with just 12 points separating positions one through six.
IMCA Stock Car action was also action-packed, as a strong field of cars battled for real estate. Don Wear of Des Moines, Brian Blessington of Breda and Jamie Morey of Earlham all picked up heat race wins. The Stock Car 20-lap main also went green to checkers, with Wear and Mike Goldsberry of Runnells ruling the top two positions through lap 8. Blessington threw his name into the mix on lap 9, stole the lead from Goldsberry on lap 11 and never looked back as he made his first trip to Stuart Speedway’s victory lane in 2008. Tim Bengard of Exira made an impressive run from mid-pack to finish second, with Goldsberry and Wear rounding out the top four. Mike Nichols of Harlan is the current point leader, with Josh Daniels of Des Moines just 13 points behind.
A good field of IMCA Hobby Stocks were on hand, including four first-time visitors to the Speedway. Aaron Rudolph of Scranton, Steve Roberts of Ankeny and Jamie Schirm of Dexter took home heat race wins. The top six in points then competed in a 6-lap inverted start Australian Pursuit sponsored by Hawkeye Auto Salvage, with Jamie Schirm the victor. Shannon Anderson of Atlantic wasted no time in making his way to the front in the main as he came from his sixth row starting position to the lead by lap three. Anderson continued his mastery of the Speedway for the remainder of the 15-lap race for another trip to victory lane. Rudolph, Mike Hansen of Brayton and Steve Anderson of Winterset finished second through fourth respectively. Shannon Anderson leads the points, with Mike Hansen second and Jamie Schirm third.
The IMCA Modifieds closed out the evening, with the 20-lap main once again caution-free. Terry Pruitt of Dexter looked poised to capture his first feature win of the season as he lead the first nine laps, but Todd Shute of Des Moines had other ideas. Shute claimed the lead from Pruitt on lap 10, while Pruitt and Josh Gilman of Earlham battled for positions 2 and 3. At the line, it was Shute, Gilman, Pruitt and Ryan Giles of West Des Moines. Heat race winners were Terry Pruitt and Rex Parkison of Earlham. Randy Havlik of Waukee and Todd Shute are currently tied for the point lead, with Josh Gilman just 5 points behind.
Hobby Stock:
Australian Pursuit: 56 Jamie Schirm Dexter, IA
Heat 1. 38r Aaron Rudolph Scranton, IA
Heat 2. 12 Steve Roberts Ankeny, IA
Heat 3. 56 Jamie Schrim Dexter, IA
Main:
1. 78 Shannon Anderson Atlantic, IA
2. 38r Aaron Rudolph Scranton, IA
3. 3 Mike Hansen Brayton, IA
4. 1a Steve Anderson Winterset, IA
5. 93 Randy Anderson Atlantic, IA
6. 00 Kyle Dirks Nevada, IA
7. 7+ Ray Timmerman Norwalk, IA
8. 56 Jamie Schirm Dexter, IA
9. 11g Nyle Godwin Redfield, IA
10. 5W Chad Waddell Redfield, IA
11. 5 Keith Miner Granger, IA
12. 59G Joey Gyles St. Charles, IA
13. 21m Ross Marshall Johnston, IA
14. 99 Adam Hersel Atlantic, IA
15. 17 Nate Lange Menlo, IA
16. 79 Charles Belew Adel, IA
17. 12 Steve Roberts Ankeny, IA
18. 5x Joey Edler Cambridge, IA
Stock Car:
Heat 1. 28w Don Wear Des Moines, IA
Heat 2. 92b Brian Blessington Breda, IA
Heat 3. 6j Jamie Morey Earlham, IA
Main:
1. 92 Brian Blessington Breda, IA
2. 19b Tim Bengard Exira, IA
3. 02 Mike Goldsberry Runnells, IA
4. 28w Don Wear Des Moines, IA
5. 3s Bryan Snell Bayard, IA
6. 63 Mike Nichols Harlan, IA
7. 19j Jay Schmidt Tama, IA
8. 25j Josh Daniels Des Moines, IA
9. 6j Jamie Morey Earlham, IA
10. 10x John Wilson Winterset, IA
11. 23h Rick Houseman Winterset, IA
12. 6 Jay Cain Waukee, IA
13. 76 Norman Belew Redfield, IA
14. 11 Steve Campbell Des Moines, IA
15. 55 Cory Bushnell Madrid, IA
16. 32t Tim Feltner Earlham, IA
17. 23 Jeremy Gettler Adair, IA
18. 1f Marcus Fagan Adair, IA
19. 55x Steve Hill Des Moines, IA
Sport Mod:
Trophy Dash: 87 Joel Bushore Boone, IA
Heat 2. 77 Jack Myer Ankeny, IA
Heat 3. 12c Kent Croskey Polk City, IA
Main:
1. 3 Kevin Sather Boone, IA
2. 87 Joel Bushore Boone, IA
3. 5j Jimmy May DeSoto, IA
4. 19 David Schlicht Adel, IA
5. 77 Jack Myer Ankeny, IA
6. 92 Michael Pruitt Redfield, IA
7. 99 Josh May DeSoto, IA
8. 321 Andy Tierman Woodward, IA
9. 41 Jeremy Embrey Granger, IA
10. 20 Shay Woods Humeston, IA
11. 08 Roger Harpster Omaha, NE
12. 92b Brandon Pruitt Dexter, IA
13. 11t Tyler Olson Sioux City, IA
14. 12c Kent Croskey Polk City, IA
15. 2g Geoff Olson Sioux City, IA
Modifieds:
Heat 1. 78 Terry Pruitt Dexter, IA
Heat 2. 31r Rex Parkison Earlham, IA
Main:
1. 5 Todd Shute Des Moines, IA
2. 83G Josh Gilman Earlham, IA
3. 78 Terry Pruitt Dexter, IA
4. 9 Ryan Giles West Des Moines, IA
5. 3z Randy Havlik Waukee, IA
6. 31r Rex Parkison Earlham, IA
7. c19 Jeremie Hedrick Green Bay,WI
8. 49j Jason Murray Hartford, IA
9. 14B Scott Bash Creston, IA
10. 73 Brad Moriarty Des Moines, IA
11. 22 Chris Pruitt Stuart, IA