Boeckman Wins John Wetzel Memorial

Story by Josh Reynolds

Stuart, IA (May 29) – After two long weeks with no races, engines roared to life once again on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at Stuart Speedway. Jer Pedersen, Josh Gilman, Jeff Kruse, David Schlicht, Randy Killen and Andy Boeckman took home the hardware and the increased purses for the second ever John Wetzel Memorial. John was a long time Hobby Stock racer at Stuart and having raced against him personally, I know John would have been very pleased with the turnout and the racing. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention another fallen racer that was remembered for the past ten years on Memorial Day weekend at Stuart. Ron Little was known throughout Iowa as a hard-nosed racer who would help out his fellow racer, drive his heart out on the track, and share a cold one with anyone willing afterward. John and Ron were much the same in those respects and are remembered and missed greatly to this day.

            IMCA Sport Compacts were first on the grid with Mark McCoy and Jer Pedersen on the front row. Pedersen led the first lap, but third starting David Archibald drove by to lead the next three. Pedersen held his composure and reeled Archibald back in to take over on lap five and go on to score the victory. Cory Flanigan, McCoy, Adam Kralik and Jordan Peters finished in the top five and Archibald got the heat race win.

            Next up on the tacky clay were the IMCA Modifieds. Scott Bash and Bill Davis Jr. brought the field to green with Davis taking immediate control of the race, leading the first eleven laps. Lap twelve, however, belonged to tenth starting Josh Gilman. Gilman took command through lap traffic all the way to the checkered flag. Giving chase was Randy Havlik, Davis Jr., Kent Croskey and Dennis Pittman. Croskey and Gilman were the heat race winners.

            Sticking with the big tire/small tire format, the 6 Cylinder FWD’s were next with Jim Britton and Mark McCoy on the front row. Lukas Onstot led the first two laps, and that’s when tenth starting Jeff Kruse drove around everyone to lead the last six laps and take the feature win. Onstot ended up in second with Jer Pedersen, McCoy and Cory Flanigan rounding out the top five. McCoy took home the heat race win.

            James Reichart and Austin Paul led a field of nineteen IMCA Northern Sportmods to the green flag, but Dylan Book would be the leader for the first two laps of the race. Nick Roberts took over on lap three and kept the lead until ninth starting David Schlicht snatched it away on lap eight. Cory Tharp and Clinton Luellen came together on lap ten causing Luellen’s car to explode in flames and Tharp’s car to barrel roll through turns one and two, coming to rest on his top. Thankfully, both drivers escaped harm and walked away. When the racing resumed, Schlicht would walk away from the field to snag the feature win for the second Memorial Day race in a row. This weekend is always a special one for Schlicht as he grew up across the street from Ron Little and helped out on Ron’s car when he got older. Point leader Mike Pruitt kept things in his favor with a second place run while Roberts, Eric Elliot and Jake Strayer rounded out the top five. Pruitt, Book and Trevor Oberholtz picked up the heat race wins.

            Seventeen IMCA Stock Cars were next up with Marcus Fagan and Bryan Snell leading the field. The two would duel for the top spot with Fagan leading the first four laps and Snell the next two. Lap seven would belong to eighth starting Randy Killen and that would be the show as Killen dominated the rest of the way to the checkered flag. Fagan wound up in second with Jeff Anderson, Snell and Tom Killen finishing out the top five. Anderson and Brian Blessington ended up with the heat race wins.

            Last up on the speedway was the race everyone came to see, the John Wetzel Memorial for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Nyle Godwin and Phillip Castellano drew numbers one and two, and Promoter Chuck Vanderheiden stopped all nineteen cars on the front straightaway to give the front row a shot to start at the back to double their winnings if they should win the race. Godwin accepted the challenge and that moved Brandon Pruitt to the pole. As the race started, now seventh starting Andy Boeckman roared around all the cars in front of him to take the lead. The only real excitement left after that was to see how many cars Boeckman would lap. That number was 15! John Watson, Jason Kohl, Curt Ganoe and Austin Luellen were the top five, and with Boeckman lapping Luellen on the last lap, only the top four cars were left on the lead lap. What a dominating performance! Ganoe, Shannon Anderson and Boeckman were the heat race winners.

We’d like to thank all who came out to enjoy the races and especially the families of John Wetzel and Ron Little. Always know that these two men will not be forgotten. Please join us next week for Roy Sargent Building, Inc. Night at the Races!

 

Hobby Stocks - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 9 62B    Andy Boeckman    Lake View, Ia 40.00  
2 7 4W    John Watson    Des Moines, Ia 39.00  
3 4 27    Jason Kohl    Missouri Valley, Ia 38.00  
4 10 20    Curt Ganoe    Stuart , Ia 37.00  
5 12 3A    Austin Luellen    Minburn , Ia 36.00  
6 3 10B    Brandon Pruitt    Dexter , Ia 35.00  
7 15 5A    Tyler Pickett    Boxholm , Ia 34.00  
8 1 11G    Nyle Godwin    Redfield , Ia 33.00  
9 16 17    Nathan Lange    Stuart , Ia 32.00  
10 2 35X    Phillip Castellano    Norwalk , Ia 31.00  
11 6 67    Ed Mahlstedt    Bagley , Ia 30.00  
12 19 4C    Curt Reed    Des Moines, Ia 29.00  
13 11 35    Gina Gruebel    Lacona , Ia 28.00  
14 5 78    Shannon Anderson    Atlantic , Ia 27.00  
15 13 3X    Mike Hansen    Atlantic , Ia 26.00  
16 8 31    Rex Bonnett     - 25.00  
17 18 00    Adam Hagan     - 24.00  
18 14 66    Andy Mahlstedt    Bagley , Ia 23.00  
19 17 3    Nathan Rorebeck    Norwalk , Ia 22.00  
 


 

 
Stock Cars - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 8 81x    Randy Killen    Des Moines, Ia 40.00  
2 1 1F    Marcus Fagan    Adair , Ia 39.00  
3 10 78    Jeff Anderson    Atlantic , Ia 38.00  
4 2 3S    Bryan Snell    Coon Rapids, Ia 37.00  
5 5 1K    Tom Killen    Des Moines, Ia 36.00  
6 3 48    Kevin Godwin    Earlham , Ia 35.00  
7 14 56    Jamie Schirm    Dexter , Ia 34.00  
8 9 92B    Brian Blessington    Breda , Ia 33.00  
9 15 54    Robbie Merkle    Des Moines, Ia 32.00  
10 16 11    Steve Campbell    Des Moines, Ia 31.00  
11 11 25    Bob Daniels    Des Moines, Ia 30.00  
12 13 711    Michael Walrod    Desoto , Ia 29.00  
13 4 11S    Scott Seaman $    Des Moines, Ia 28.00  
14 6 23K    Dave Gettler    Adair , Ia 27.00  
15 17 64    Scott Bailey    Carlisle , Ia 26.00  
16 12 77T    Trenton Jeanes    Chariton , Ia 25.00  
17 7 23A    Jeremy Gettler    Adair , Ia 24.00  
 


 

 
SportMods - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 9 19    David Schlicht    Grand Junction, Ia 40.00  
2 5 92P    Michael Pruitt    Redfield , Ia 39.00  
3 4 23JR    Nick Roberts    Des Moines, Ia 38.00  
4 6 9E    Eric Elliot     - 37.00  
5 8 18J    Jake Strayer    Newton , Ia 36.00  
6 10 2    Bill Wears    Des Moines, Ia 35.00  
7 14 64    Casey Gruebel    Lacona , Ia 34.00  
8 7 99K    Kody Havens    Wiota , Ia 33.00  
9 3 B00K    Dylan Book    Adel , Ia 32.00  
10 2 A5    Austin Paul    Monroe , Ia 31.00  
11 12 46    Trevor Oberholtz    Adair , Ia 30.00  
12 15 42    Matt Hays    Panora , Ia 29.00  
13 18 13T    Taylor Musselman    Norwalk , Ia 28.00  
14 11 3L    Clinton Luellen    Minburn , Ia 27.00  
15 19 4    Cory Tharp     - 26.00  
16 17 34J    Jerry Hinton    Adel , Ia 25.00  
17 1 28    James Reichart    Winterset , Ia 24.00  
18 13 66A    Anthony Onstot    Norwalk , Ia 23.00  
19 16 32L    Ty Luellen    Minburn , Ia 22.00  
 


 

 
Modifieds - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 10 83G    Josh Gilman    Earlham , Ia 40.00  
2 7 3z    Randy Havlik    Madrid , Ia 39.00  
3 2 1    Bill Davis Jr    Des Moines, Ia 38.00  
4 4 12C    Kent Croskey    Polk City, Ia 37.00  
5 3 58    Dennis Pittman    Jamaica , Ia 36.00  
6 9 22D    Daniel Hilsabeck    Waukee , Ia 35.00  
7 8 37    Alison Quick    Redding , Ia 34.00  
8 1 14B    Scott Bash    Windsor Heights, Ia 33.00  
9 5 14    Ron Bash    Stuart , Ia 32.00  
10 11 4    Tony Hilgenberg    Waukee , Ia 31.00  
11 6 131S    Ed Seibert    Dexter , Ia 30.00  
12 12 31R    Rex Parkison    Earlham , Ia 29.00  
 


 

 
Spt Compact - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 2 11    Jer Pedersen    Grand Junction, Ia 38.00  
2 4 75    Cory Flanigan    Storm Lake, Ia 37.00  
3 1 3X    Mark Mccoy     - 36.00  
4 8 199    Adam Kralik     - 35.00  
5 6 7P    Jordan Peters    Des Moines, Ia 34.00  
6 7 86    David Sciranko    Harlan , Ia 33.00  
7 3 82B    David Archibald    Harlan , Ia 32.00  
8 5 18    Jacob Peters    Des Moines, Ia 31.00  
 


 

 
6 cyl. FWD - Feature
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 10 57    Jeff Kruse    Harlan , Ia 40.00  
2 4 67    Lukas Onstot    Norwalk , Ia 39.00  
3 3 11    Jer Pedersen    Grand Junction, Ia 38.00  
4 2 3X    Mark Mccoy     - 37.00  
5 5 75    Cory Flanigan    Storm Lake, Ia 36.00  
6 1 51B    Jim Britton    Indianola , Ia 35.00  
7 6 7M    Jodie Maben    Clearfield , Ia 34.00  
8 7 86    David Sciranko    Harlan , Ia 33.00  
9 8 7P    Jordan Peters    Des Moines, Ia 32.00  
10 9 18    Jacob Peters    Des Moines, Ia 31.00 DNS