Thornton and Wollam Score First Wins at Marshalltown
Race results and recap from Marshalltown Speedway from June 3, 2016.
Two drivers, Ricky Thornton, Jr. in the Modified division, and Jeff Wollam in Stock Cars, scored first wins of the 2016 season at the Marshalltown Speedway on Fridaynight. Sam Wieben scored his second SportMod feature win, and Mike Morrill won for the second time in the Mod Lite class. The man who has been unstoppable in the IMCA Hobby Stocks, Eric Stanton, kept his perfect season going by winning for the sixth time in a row.
Ricky Thornton, Jr., the Candler, Arizona driver who is calling Iowa home for the summer, made his presence known in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Thornton started thirteenth and grabbed the lead away from last week's winner Eric Elliott at lap nine. From there on, Thornton took his ride to the topside and never looked back on his way to the checkers. Jake Murray finished second from starting ninth, and third went to eleventh place starter Jimmy Gustin with a late race charge. Kyle Brown finished fourth after starting seventh, and Ronn Lauritzen came from tenth starting spot, to round out the top five. Thornton has had several wins at various tracks, but this was his first victory at Marshalltown this season.
Veteran racer Jeff Wollam returned to victory lane in the IMCA Stock Car division. Wollam, who had run in the top three all night long, made the last lap pass on the back stretch, slipping under Donavon Smith and beating him to the checkers for the win. Smith, had to settle for the runner up spot, third went to Tyler Pickett, fourth to tenth place starter Austin Evens, and Steve Meyer started eighth and finished fifth. Wollam had not won at Marshalltown since August of 2011.
Young Ethan Braaskma led the pack of IMCA Northern SportMods in their 18-lap feature through the first eleven laps. The caution at lap eleven was Braaksma's nemesis and Sam Wieben's good fortune. On the restart, Wieben got the jump on Braaksma and flew to the lead. Wieben held the top spot to the checkers and the win. Last week's winner Jared VanDeest came from twelfth starting spot to finish second and Braaksma held third. It was a tight finish for fourth and fifth, with Cory Rose just beating out Travis Peterson. Wieben won for the second time at the track this year.
Eric Stanton has been unstoppable in the IMCA Hobby Stock division and it was no different on Friday night. He took the win for the sixth straight time, making for a perfect regular season. Stanton started ninth and was in the lead at lap four, keeping it the remaining eleven laps to the checkers flying. Gene Nicklas finished as the runner up, third went to Dustin Graham, Gary Pfantz was fourth and lady racer Leah Wroten was fifth.
Mike Morrill made it back to back feature wins in the Mod Lite class. Morrill led all fifteen laps on the way to victory in the caution free race. Josh May finished second, over Randy Bryan in third, Joel Glick was fourth and Eric Turner rounded out the top five.
Next Up: The IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series and Hawkeye Dirt Tour visit the Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday, June 7 (read more).
MARSHALLTOWN SPEEDWAY
WEEKLY RACING SERIES
MARSHALLTOWN, IA
JUNE 3, 2016
Finish | HOBBY STOCK | Hometown |
1 | Eric Stanton | Carlisle , Ia |
2 | Eugene Nicklas | Grinnell , Ia |
3 | Dustin Graham | Boone , Ia |
4 | Gary Pfantz | State Center, Ia |
5 | Leah Wroten | Independence , Ia |
6 | Brandon Pitts | Ames , Ia |
7 | Riley Songer | Ankeny , Ia |
8 | Mitchell Thomas | Marshalltown , Ia |
9 | Eric Knutson | Grimes , Ia |
10 | Andy Peck | Newton , Ia |
11 | Craig Lovig | Marshalltown , Ia |
12 | Gregg Anderson | Perry , Ia |
13 | Preston Merical | Collins , Ia |
14 | Allen Fleener | Altoona , Ia |
15 | Travis Merical | Marshalltown , Ia |
16 | David Simpson | Ankeny , Ia |
Finish | MOD LITE | Hometown |
1 | Mike Morrill | Altoona , Ia |
2 | Josh May | De Soto, Ia |
3 | Randy Bryan | Ames , Ia |
4 | Joe Glick | Des Moines, Ia |
5 | Erin Turner | Newton , Ia |
6 | Kevin Grisham | Ogden , Ia |
7 | Larry Sorenson | Ames , Ia |
Finish | SPORT MOD | Hometown |
1 | Sam Wieben | Dysart , Ia |
2 | Jared Vandeest | Holland , Ia |
3 | Ethan Braaksma | Newton , Ia |
4 | Cory Rose | Boone , Ia |
5 | Travis Peterson | Gladbrook , Ia |
6 | Randy Roberts | Boone , Ia |
7 | Neil Follett | Conrad , Ia |
8 | Curt Hilmer | Dysart , Ia |
9 | Eric Larson | Holland , Ia |
10 | Logan Rogers | Freeport , Il |
11 | Andy Edwards | Parkersberg , Ia |
12 | Dakota Sellers | Vinton , Ia |
13 | Shawn Hunter | Zearing , Ia |
14 | Tom Rawlins | Kellogg , Ia |
15 | Ryan King | Montour , Ia |
16 | Jami Ritter | Keystone , Ia |
17 | Jake Mcbirnie | Boone , Ia |
18 | Blair Simmons | Des Moines, Ia |
19 | Kevin Yearington | Des Moines, Ia |
20 | Shawn Cooney | Des Moines, Ia |
Finish | STOCK CAR | Hometown |
1 | Jeff Wollam | Marshalltown , Ia |
2 | Donavon Smith | Lake City, Ia |
3 | Tyler Pickett | Boxhom , Ia |
4 | Austin Evens | Independence , Ia |
5 | Steve Meyer | Grundy Center, Ia |
6 | Kyle Everts | Holland , Ia |
7 | Chris Wilse | Huxley , Ia |
8 | Jon Braathun | Story City, Ia |
9 | Kevin Balmer | Garwin , Ia |
10 | Curt Balmer | Green Mountain, Ia |
11 | Dave Atcher | Laurel , Ia |
12 | Matt Deaton | Newton , Ia |
Finish | MODIFIED | Hometown |
1 | Ricky Thorton Jr | Chandler , Az |
2 | Jacob Murray | Hartford , Ia |
3 | Jimmy Gustin | Marshalltown , Ia |
4 | Kyle Brown | Kellogg , Ia |
5 | Ronn Lauritzen | Jesup , Ia |
6 | Racer Hulin | Laurel , Ia |
7 | Adam Larson | Ames , Ia |
8 | Brian Irvine | Oelwein , Ia |
9 | Joel Rust | Grundy Center, Ia |
10 | Jon Snyder | Ames , Ia |
11 | Tim Ward | Mesa , Az |
12 | Scott Simatovich | State Center, Ia |
13 | Tyler Gross | Ankeny , Ia |
14 | Tony Cox | Boone , Ia |
15 | Andrew Kinser | Marshalltown , Ia |
16 | Derek Reimer | St Anthony, Ia |
17 | Shawn Ritter | Keystone , Ia |
18 | Austin Emry | Kellogg , Ia |
19 | Jake Strayer | Newton , Ia |
20 | Eric Elliott | Boone , Ia |
21 | David Brown | Kellogg , Ia |
22 | Trent Jackson | Marshalltown , Ia |
23 | Zach Rawlins | Newton , Ia |
24 | Jenae Gustin | Marshalltown , Ia |