Larson, Merkes, Soppe, Hunter are IMCA winners at Maquoketa

Hobby Stock, Modified, Northern SportMod, Results, Stock Car

By Jerry Mackey

MAQUOKETA, Iowa (June 15, 2024) – Chalk up Saturday IMCA feature wins at Maquoketa Speedway for Jeff Larson, Kyle Merkes, Tyler Soppe and Sheldon Hunter.

The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature saw defending track champion Larson add another feature win to his 2024 resume. Larson shot to the top of the track from his third row start and quickly worked to the front.

Larson was able to get by early race leader Mark Schulte as the race closed in on the halfway mark. Charlie Mohr also found the high side to his liking advancing from a fourth row start to move into second late in the race. Mohr was able to close on Larson but was not able to pose a serious threat to the leader. Mohr crossed under the checkers in second ahead of Schulte. 

The IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars put on their usual hotly contested feature race with plenty of door-to-door racing.

For the first time, Farley driver Merkes raced to the win in the very tough class. Merkes raced into the lead getting by pole sitter Andrew Chelf. Merkes held the point the remainder of the race, taking the win ahead of Joe Bonney and Leah Wroten. 

The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod main event saw 22 drivers take the green.

Soppe jumped out front from the outside front row start and sailed on to the feature win. The field was bunched up a couple of times late due to minor spins but Soppe proved to be up to all challengers in scoring the win. Austin Stamm advanced from a seventh position start to take second ahead of Corey Kuntzelman. 

The final race of the night was the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock main and the feature could very well have been the race of the night as many as five drivers had a shot at the win on the final lap.

The lead pack swelled to five as the race went on with the lead being swapped several times. Hunter was able to get to the checkers first just ahead of Lane Vohringer and Jordan Miles. 

The IMCA Sunoco Late Models will be back in action Saturday, June 22 along with all other weekly classes. Hot laps will take to the track at 6 p.m. with racing to follow. 

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