124 Race Teams Pack Maquoketa Speedway For Kunes Nissan Night At The Races
IMCA HOBBY STOCKS – UELAND AUTO
-Dalton Weepie
Maquoketa, Iowa (July 8, 2023) – Saturday night the weatherman provided near perfect conditions for racing at the Maquoketa Speedway and the drivers and fans responded by packing the infield with 124 race teams and a really nice crowd took in an action packed program that saw the final checkered flag of the night wave at 10 pm.
The Kinion Auto Sales IMCA Late Models saw 17 drivers take the green flag for their 25 lap feature. One minor caution slowed the feature before a lap was completed then the main event went flag to flag. Chance Huston led early taking off from his pole position start. Huston had built a comfortable lead before rookie Late Model driver, Jaden Fryer, was able to close driving his number 8 around the extreme high line of the ¼ mile. Fryer advanced from the third row and closed in on Huston with less than ten laps to go. Fryer overtook Huston and went on to collect his first ever IMCA Late Model feature win. Huston was able to hold on for second just ahead of a fast closing Bryce Garnhart.
The Kunes Nissan IMCA Modifieds provided another thriller in their 20 lap main event. Matt Short took the point from his outside front row start and appeared to be on his way to the feature win. As the laps wound down the race leaders encountered lapped traffic causing congestion for the leaders. Austin Blume took the lead with two laps to go but slid off the track coming off of turn two giving the lead back to Short. Blume made one last charge entering turn three on the final lap and this time the move worked and Blume took the checkers by a nose ahead of Short and third place finisher Mark Schulte.
An outstanding field of 31 Amhof Trucking IMCA Sportmods signed in for Saturday nights racing program at the Maquoketa Speedway. With the field qualified down to 24 starters for the main event, the race was only slowed twice for minor cautions and the drivers raced every inch of the smooth track providing three and sometimes four wide racing. When the checkers flew it was Jarrett Franzen picking up his second consecutive feature win in the very tough IMCA Sportmod class. Franzen charged to the front from his third row start and led the majority of the race. Lapped traffic tightened things up as the laps wound down but Franzen was able to hold off a fast closing Austin Stamm for the win. Justin Becker advanced from the fifth row to take third turning in an outstanding run.
Jerry Miles took advantage of a front row start in the QCJeeps.Com IMCA Stock Cars and led the main event flag to flag to score his second win of the season at the Maquoketa Speedway. Miles took the win approximately ten car lengths ahead of Jacob Ellithorpe and Richard Nelson rounded out the top three.
Another outstanding field of 21 drivers checked in Saturday night in the Ueland Auto IMCA Hobby Stock division. It was a special night as the Maquoketa Speedway saw a first time ever winner makes his way to the Oly’s Garage Victory Lane. Second generation driver Dalton Weepie made the long tow from Dunkerton to Maquoketa for the second time this year and the youngster scored the win. Weepie took the green from the outside front row and led every lap on his way to his first ever win. In his fourth year of racing Weepie took the win by a slim margin over Tucker Richardson and Randy La Mar.
The Legends Direct INEX Legends provided another three and four wide racing event as the hot shoes in the Legends class battled their way to the front. Michael Weber added another feature win to his impressive 2023 resume. Weber took the lead from Griffin McGrath and went on to score the big win. Jordan Miklas battled and overcame and early race spin to come back and finish second.
22 Drivers took the green flag in the Hawkeye Auto Sport Compact Class on Saturday night. When the checkered flag flew it was Drew Wise picking up his first Maquoketa Speedway win of the year. Wise was able to hold off Michael Snyder for the win. Snyder advanced from the sixth row to take second ahead of Jacob Welter.
The Maquoketa Speedway will be off on Saturday, July 15th as the Jackson County Fairgrounds will be holding a huge Dog Competition. Weekly IMCA Racing will return on Saturday, July 22nd with a full program of racing.
Maquoketa Speedway Saturday, July 8 Feature results (top Five)
Kinion Auto Sales IMCA Late Models
- 8 Jaden Fryer-Freeport, IL
- 35 Chance Huston-East Moline, IL
- 3 Bryce Garnhart-Lanark, IL
- 01 CJ Horn- Aurora, IN
- 60 Dalton Simonsen-Fairfax
Kunes Nissan IMCA Modifieds
- 19B Austin Blume-Mt. Morris, IL
- 7M Matt Short-Maquoketa
- 27M Mark Schulte-Delhi
- 11 Ray Cox Jr.-Maquoketa
- 99M Charlie Mohr-Bettendorf
Amhof Trucking IMCA Sportmods
- 33 Jarrett Franzen-Maquoketa
- 118 Austin Stamm-Orangeville, IL
- 35 Justin Becker-Bernard
- 41 Ian Hurst-Dubuque
- 3 Tyler Soppe-Sherrill
QCJeeps.Com IMCA Stock Cars
- 4 Jerry Miles-Bernard
- 72 Jacob Ellithorpe-Maquoketa
- 80N Richard Nelson-Dyersville
- 27 Chase Zaruba-Sabula
- 99 Scott Jordan-Wapello
Ueland Auto IMCA Hobby Stocks
- 3W Dalton Weepie-Dunkerton
- 28T Tucker Richardson-Morning Sun
- 4R Randy LaMar-Buffalo
- 8L Lukas Short-Maquoketa
- 20 Jimmy Doescher-Hollandale, WI
INEX Legends
- 8 Michael Weber-Marion
- 44 Jordan Miklas-Hartland, WI
- 64 Griffin McGrath-Cedar Rapids
- 5 Dave Eberle-Freeport, IL
- 52JR Kacey Korsmo-Atkins
Hawkeye Auto Sport Compacts
- 14 Drew Wise-Davenport
- 58 Michael Snyder-Bettendorf
- 49 Jacob Welter-Farley
- 66 Steven Phillips-Fulton, IL
- 20 Henry Hess-Dubuque
Category: Iowa
