5/28/2023
Stuart Speedway
Murty/Schafroth Whole Hog Qualifier Winners
The 3rd annual Whole Hog 50 sponsored by VanEaton Pork kicked off Sunday at Karl Chevrolet of Stuart International Speedway. Winners for the night were Jon Padilla, Ben Kraus, Damon Murty, Buck Schafroth, Tristan Grape, Brayton Carter and Todd Shute.
IMCA Mod Lites were first to the track for the final night of the 3-day swing for the Cornbelt Clash sponsored by Stealth Racing. Jon Padilla led early and often in this one with Josh May stalking him in second. May and Austin Gray had a couple of chances with cautions but Padilla had the line and stayed smooth to take the win. Gray came home second with Justin Kinderknecht third, May faded to fourth and Brandon Freeburg fifth. Padilla took home an extra $1000 for the Clash points title, May $500 and Kinderknecht $250 to round out the top 3.
Bobby Daniels led the Outlaw Mini Mods through some early red flags for rollovers. All drivers were ok, and once they got going it was Daniels and Kaden Rice out front. Ben Kraus tracked down Daniels and took the lead on lap 8, cruising to the feature win. Nathan Kilwine finished second with Daniels third, Rice fourth and Clayton Vanderploeg fifth.
Next up was the 1st of 2 Whole Hog 50 qualifiers for the IMCA Stock Cars. The top 4 from each qualifier would be locked in for the 50 lap/$5000 to win Memorial Day finale with the rest of the field being filled out from the heats and B features on Monday. Lineups were determined by passing points from the heats and it was Chanse Hollatz leading Damon Murty and Austin Bouzek in the early stages. Murty stayed within striking distance, and with lap traffic coming into play he was able to pounce on lap 19 to take over the lead. Hollatz gave it his all but it was Murty coming out on top to take the win. Hollatz crossed in second with Bouzek third and Austin Meiners fourth.
Whole Hog 50 qualifier #2 came out next and the duo of Buck Schafroth and Jeff Mueller traded turns out front through lap 4. Once that battle was settled it was Schafroth dominating the rest of the way to take the win in the caution free race. Mueller finished second with Nick Roberts third and Michael Jaennette fourth.
IMCA Hobby Stocks were next on the track and Skylar Pruitt shot out to the lead with Tristan Grape and John Watson close behind. Grape used the bottom side of the track to get up beside Pruitt and eventually took the top spot on lap 7. Grape would sail to the win with Pruitt second, Watson third, Seth Janssen fourth and Calvin Dhondt fifth.
Brayton Carter pulled the #1 pill and jumped out to the early lead in the IMCA Northern SportMod feature with Mitchell Morris and Amber Cook in tow. A lap 6 caution was the only thing slowing down Carter as he drove to the comfortable win. Matt Avila finished second with Arie Schouten third, Morris fourth and Garrett Nelson fifth.
Last up for the night’s racing was the IMCA Modifieds and it was Todd Shute blasting out to the lead early on. Nick Roberts, after drawing the lowest number in the field at the start of the night, made his way to second on lap 2 as Shute set sail on the top side. Roberts inched closer each lap and got up beside Shute on lap 17, but the #5 switched up his line and drove away from there to take the win. Roberts settled for second with Jacob Hobscheidt third, Chase Rudolf fourth and Josh Gilman fifth.
We would like to thank all who came out to support the race track at our third event of the year. Join us tomorrow night for the finale of the Whole Hog 50 and the $5000 to win IMCA Stock Car feature. They will be joined by IMCA Northern SportMods, Hobby Stocks, Sport Compacts and Outlaw Mini Mods. See you then!
Photo Credit: Motorsports Photography
Article Credit: Josh Reynolds
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