Murty is King of the Katwalks winner at Boone

By Joyce Eisele

BOONE, Iowa (July 20, 2024) – Fans were treated to some great racing at Iowa’s Action Track on Saturday night, which at times provided three and four wide racing.

The main attraction of the night at Boone Speedway was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars with the running of the $5,000 to win King of the Katwalks and the “Game Changer,” Dallon Murty walked away with that crown. 

Fifty-one Stock Cars checked in for the night to try their hand at winning the $5,000. The King of the Katwalks was presented by Van Eaton Pork & Fox Welding/Vermeer. The 28-car starting field for the 40-lap feature was determined by heat winners and passing points through the heats, plus four provisionals were added on to the back of the starting grid.

The top 12 starters were brought to the frontstretch for a draw for their starting spots.

Tommy Fain, Abilene, Texas, was the lucky recipient of the pole starting position, with Murty starting in position two. Murty immediately took advantage of that starting spot, took to the topside of the track and led the field.

Six cautions marred the race, but each time Murty had no trouble on the restarts and led every lap to seal the title of King of the Katwalks. Jeff Mueller started 10th and challenged Murty at times as he dug his way on the bottom of the track in an attempt to catch him. Ninth place starter Jake McBirnie was also a late-race contender, getting to second spot, but could do no better.

McBirnie finished in second, with Mueller going third. Fourth went to Scott Olson and Kelly Shryock came from 13th starting spot to finish in fifth.

The post-race interview with Murty, now guaranteed a starting spot in the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational, was a nostalgic one as his dad Damon Murty had stood in last year’s King of the Katwalks victory lane but was not at the track on this night to join his son in celebration.   

Trevor Fitz, the transplanted Californian, got his first win in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and Taylor Kuehl was smooth and cool in taking the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature.  Wayne Gifford took the honors in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division and it was Joe Glick winning the Stealth Racing STARS Mod Lite main event in a borrowed car.

Jason Masengarb jumped to the immediate lead from his pole starting spot in the Mod Lite main. He was still leading the pack when a caution flew at lap nine when Cole Paul’s machine erupted in flames on the backstretch and the race was red flagged.

Paul was not injured and when the racing action picked back up, Randy Bryan and 10th place starter Glick were ready to pounce on the leader. It didn’t take long until Bryan took over the top spot but Glick wasn’t done yet.

When the green was held high with two laps to go, Glick had made the pass for the lead and held that to the flying checkers and the win. Bryan had to be content with second place, Masengarb went third.

Glick, who is in the points race at the track, had suffered damage the previous night, and with his own ride out of commission, was in the borrowed hotrod belonging to Jeff Stensland.

The Northern SportMod feature was 18 laps.

Chris Webb led from the pole but Kuehl came out of nowhere after starting eighth and was on Webb’s bumper by lap three.

Kuehl had the lead the following lap. Kuehl then ran away and hid and was oh so smooth and cool on her run to the finish in the caution-free race.  She finished over six seconds ahead of second place Jake Sachau who started 14th on the starting lineup. Dusty Lynch finished in third.

Up next was 20 laps of IMCA Modified racing.

Jason Bass, Fort Dodge, Iowa racer, started on the pole and held the lead the first two laps until Fitz slid his way into the lead on lap three. Fitz, who now calls Marshalltown, Iowa home, would never relinquish that top spot the rest of the race and took home his first win at Boone.

Jake McBirnie started 12th, pestered Fitz for most of the latter part of the race, trying everything at times for a way around the leader, but to no avail and had to settle for the runner-up spot on this night. Todd Shute started deep in the field in 15th, caught and challenged McBirnie late in the race, but had to be content with a third place run.

The finale of the evening was 15 laps of Hobby Stock feature racing.

Seth Butler led lap number one but at lap two, veteran racer Gifford, who started sixth, was at the helm.  The race was red flagged on lap two when Keith Burg took an easy rollover in turn one.  When the race restarted, Gifford continued his run at the front of the field, challenged at times by Solomon Bennett, Butler, his son Braden Gifford, and Mike Smith.

It was not a lead however, that Gifford would ever relinquish as he went home to the flying checkers and the win. Bennett took second place, outlasting Smith in third.

Saturday night, July 27, is Salute to Veterans’ night at the races.  The grandstand will open at 3:30 p.m. for a special night honoring all veterans in attendance with free admission, a meal, a goodie bag, and other giveaways.  The fan zone will have specially wrapped cars on display for fans to see along with their drivers.

Modifieds will be racing for $3,000 to win, the Stock Cars $2,000, and SportMods and Hobby Stocks both $1,000.  Hot laps are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. with opening ceremonies to follow, and racing at 7.