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Kay collects Dale DeFrance Memorial checkers at Marshalltown Speedway

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Aug. 4) – Rain may have delayed the festivities one week, but the celebration was bigger than ever Friday night for the Dale DeFrance Memorial at Marshalltown Speedway.

An impressive 177 race teams packed the pits and a standing-room only crowd was on-hand for the sixth annual event, which was postponed from last week due to heavy rain that fell at the track shortly after the program got underway.

To say the wait was worth it for Justin Kay was an understatement as the Wheatland driver raced away from the pack to take home a $4,644 payday in the 44-lap main event for SLMR Late Models.

Kay, who started inside row two, made a nifty crossover move to steal the lead from pole-sitter Charlie McKenna prior to the completion of the first lap. He then built a straightaway advantage by the fifth circuit and was entering slower traffic just eight laps into the event when the caution flag waved.

Kay again mastered the top side of the speedway on the restart before encountering traffic again at the 17 lap mark, forcing him high and low to race through backmarkers while McKenna and Bill Leighton chased the leader through lapped cars.

Following another stoppage just past midway, Kay exchanged sliders with McKenna on the restart before opening up a straightaway lead over his nearest pursuer with 16 laps to go.

Kay maintained the point for the duration to score the impressive win ahead of McKenna, who held off a late surge from 12th starting Jason Rauen by nine one-hundreths of a second for runner-up honors. Andy Eckrich raced from the fifth row to finish fourth.

Cayden Carter, driving the Maguire DeJong #30, led all 34 laps to score the win in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature. Carter extended his advantage to half a straightaway each time following a pair of restarts over the first half of the event.

Following the final stoppage on lap 14, Carter once again paced the field and held off pressure from Tom Berry Jr. to seal the $3,044 payday. Tripp Gaylord ran third ahead of Jacob Hobscheidt, who came from the sixth row to finish fourth.

Damon Murty traded the top spot with Kaden Reynolds early in the 24-lapper for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars. Once he broke free, however, Murty ran away to victory.

Running the top groove to perfection, Murty sailed to the $1,444 win by over a straightaway ahead of Reynolds, Austin Kaplan and Jeff Mueller in the caution-free event.

Carter VanDenBerg held the early lead in the 24-lap feature for Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods. From the pole position, VanDenBerg paced the field while Brayton Carter worked through the pack from a fourth row start.

After chasing VanDenBerg and Travis Peterson for numerous laps on the low side of the speedway, Carter found a quicker groove to the outside of the lead pair. He worked past the front-runners in the waning laps to take the thrilling win and $1,044 in the process. VanDenBerg, Peterson and Ben Chapman rounded out the top four in the green-to-checkers event.

Dylan Nelson won an entertaining 24-lapper for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks. Racing from the sixth row, Nelson was making his way through the pack while Eric Knutson and Joren Fisher battled side-by-side for the lead.

Nelson raced his way into contention just prior to a lap six caution, then raced the low side into the lead shortly after racing resumed. Nelson and Fisher swapped the lead before Nelson settled in front a short time later.

Fisher stayed on Nelson’s rear bumper throughout the remainder of the event and attempted a slider on the leader exiting turn four coming to the checkers. Nelson crossed him over exiting the turn to sneak away to the $744 victory. Calvin Dhondt and Aaron Martin completed the top four.

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