Murphy tops Monster Jam in MPLS

By Jason D Searcy

A local racer is making a name for himself in motorsports, but maybe not the way that he originally planned, he is one of the hottest names in Monster Jam and was named the 2017 Rookie of the Year.

You might remember Camden Murphy (22) from Itasca (IL), he started his career by racing locally in Karts and Legends Cars before stepping up to the UARA Late Models and the Midwest Truck series.  He won the Midwest Truck feature at the famed Thunderstruck93 event at Elko Speedway (MN) in 2013, it was his first ever Truck win. “I always loved ELKO, I remember that day being all about survival, we were having some bad luck and then everything just turned our way, it’s a day I will never forget,” said Murphy “especially being in that unique victory lane.”  He edged out Jacob Van Wazer, Natalie Decker and Jerry Wood on that day. Link to 2013 #Thunderstruck93 article CLICK HERE

Murphy had numerous wins in the Midwest Truck series and narrowly lost the title to Derek Kraus in 2015.   Since then Murphy has been searching for the right opportunity and financial support to make a living in motorsports.  Murphy has had 21 total NASCAR starts driving for small underfunded teams like: Rick Ware Racing, Copp Motorsports, JJC Racing and Beaver Motorsports in the NASCAR Truck series and 1 start in the NASCAR Xfinity series, he has never scored a Top 10 finish.

“With the struggles of finding funding I looked for as many different avenues in Motorsports that I could, knowing that driving is all I wanted to do,” said Murphy “I found myself with the opportunity to go to Monster Jam University.”  Murphy made the most of that opportunity working directly with 11-time World Finals Champion Tom Meents, he impressed the right people and got a job driving a 12,000 lb Monster Truck. Now funding is not an issue, he has equal equipment to the best drivers in Monster Jam and he has excelled.

Murphy has quickly become one of the hottest new stars on the premier Stadium Tour of Monster Jam.  After driving a new truck named Pirate’s Curse last year, he is currently behind the wheel of Bakugan Dragonoid, a wild looking truck designed from the Japanese animated cartoon and video game.

Every Monster Jam event now is divided into three competitions (Racing, Two-Wheel Skills and Freestyle) with the fourteen trucks taking part in each competition, fourteen points for first on down to 1 point for last.  The points are tallied at the end of the night to determine the Overall Champion.

US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis (MN) hosted Monster Jam on Feb 16th and Cameron Murphy won the Racing competition beating John Gordon in Bad Company in the finals and earlier defeating monster truck royalty Ryan Anderson (son of pioneer Dennis Anderson) in Son-uva Digger, it was the fourth racing win for Murphy.  He then thrilled the 30,000+ in attendance with an incredible show of driving skill balancing his monster truck nose down with a stoppie on its front wheels and walking it across half the stadium, he scored a 9.4 besting rising star Morgan Kane who was driving Grave Digger, it was the second two-wheel skills win of the season for Murphy.  He then performed a backflip and finished 6th on his freestyle behind his mentor Tom Meents driving Max-D. With his two wins Murphy scored enough points to take his second overall event Championship with Ryan Anderson finishing runner up. Camden Murphy was the star of the show on this night.

Even with all of his success in Monster Jam, Murphy has not forgotten about his NASCAR dream.  “As of right now, I am fortunate enough to have many opportunities on all 3 levels (of NASCAR).  However I am limited due to lack of funding, as many drivers can relate” said Murphy. “All I can say is that you will find me in a seat almost every weekend, be it racing or start-and-parking, you’ll find me somewhere.”  Murphy hopes to make his 2019 NASCAR season debut either in California or Texas.

There is no doubt that he has now proven that in equal equipment, Camden Murphy can win behind the wheel of a Monster Truck and has become one of the best drivers in the series.  Hopefully someday that local racer will be given the very same opportunity in NASCAR. Somebody please tell that Japanese company that NASCAR fans like Dragons too.

2018 MN Asphalt Driver of the Year

Baiden Heskett, 27, from Farmington (MN) has been named by Speed Talk on 1360 radio the 2018 MN Asphalt Driver of the year.  The hometown for Heskett is Alvarado (TX) but has lived in Minnesota the last two years. Heskett had an incredible year of racing in the Great North Legends division at Elko Speedway.  He won his first Championship by a whopping 288 points, won 11 feature events, scored an incredible 163 passing points, (never finishing worse than his starting position) and he had a TOP 5 finish in all 24 feature events he raced in at ELKO.  “Racing in Minnesota has helped me become a better driver,” said Heskett “there is a bunch of talent up here and ELKO is the best track to race at in the nation, it’s racy and you can go side by side.”

In 2018 Heskett won a massive total of 30 feature races at an impressive list of tracks including: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (TX), Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids (IA), Jefferson Speedway in Cambridge (WI), Slinger Speedway in Slinger (WI), Elko Speedway in Elko (MN) and Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells (WI).   

Heskett also excelled at the National level, he was awarded the most prestigious title in all of Legends Car racing.  The 2018 INEX Asphalt Pro division points title becoming the first ever Minnesota based driver to do so.

In fact, racers from this area did well as a whole with Ryan Braseth from Ulen (MN) winning the Young Lions overall title on dirt and Great North Legends owner Tim Brockhouse from Shakopee (MN) winning the overall asphalt Masters title.  Brockhouse, who won the MN Asphalt Driver of the Year award in 2016, is proud of his successful protege “I taught him everything I know, almost.”

Baiden Heskett plans on staying in Minnesota for the 2019 season and is setting even higher goals, he is gunning for both the Asphalt and Dirt Pro Division INEX titles.  “Texas will always be my home, but I think I can call Minnesota my home now too.” said Heskett.

Past winners of the MN Asphalt Driver of the Year:

2017- Conrad Jorgenson

2016- Tim Brockhouse

2015- Jacob Goede

2014- Jacob Goede

2013- Ricky Martin

2012- Jonathan Eilen

2011- Chad Walen

2010- Brent Kane

2009- Adam Royle

2004- Dan Fredrickson

2018 Speed Talk Wrap up

2018 was a banner 10th year for Speed Talk on 1360 radio on KRWC

We had the honor to interview drivers from many different forms of racing including:

ARCA at ELKO! and Iowa Speedway
Gus Dean
Christian Eckes
Riley Herbst
Sheldon Creed
Natalie Decker
Chandler Smith
Zane Smith
Chase Purdy
Harrison Burton
Willie Mullins

IndyCar at Iowa Speedway
Wil Power
Zach Veach

NASCAR Xfinity and Trucks at Iowa Speedway
Ryan Truex
Jusin Haley
Austin Cindric
Kaz Grala
Ty Majeski
Brandon Jones
Riley Herbst
Jesse Little
Johnny Sauter

Elko Speedway weekly racers
Jacob Goede
Dave Reed
Robby Carter
Jeremy Wolff
Jon Lemke
Julie Jorgenson
Sammy Smith
Bryce Blohm
Brody Willett
Norm Grabinger
Taylor Goldman
Nick Oxborough
Bryan Wrolstad
Michael Stoer
Brent Kane
Baiden Heskett
Paul Hamilton
Eric Campbell
Joe Prusak

Bandit Big Rig Series
Mark Noble

Flat Track Motorcycle
Bryan Smith
Bronson Bauman

ERX
Tim Dehann

Road Racing
Matt Peterson

Local Dirt Tracks and WISSOTA 100
Jon Lewerer
Dexton Koch
Eric Martini
Jeremy Nelson
Dustin Holtquist
Dave Mass
Adam Prieve
Shane Howell

MOST LISTENED TO INTERVIEWS of 2018:
Dean's Soundcloud
1- Jon Lewerer interview Listen HERE
2- ELKO Recap 8/11 (Goede, Wrolstad, Sammy Smith) Listen HERE
3- Mark Noble interview Listen HERE

Jason's Soundcloud
1- Michael Haggar win Race Call Listen HERE
2- Julie Jorgenson win Race Call Listen HERE
3- Owin Giles win Race Call Listen HERE
4- Taylor Goldman interview Listen HERE
5- Michael Stoer interview Listen HERE

We were also honored to talk to Carson Gramm from WISSOTA and legendary dirt track announcer Ron Krog multiple times this year, plus Doug Selle, Skip Pollack and Adam Brachle too.  It was fun to see Dean Reller make his TV debut as the pit reporter on the Speed Sport coverage of the WISSOTA 100 (the Kottschade boys were excited) and Jason got his 10 seconds of fame on the MavTV coverage of the ELKO ARCA race.

You can listen to podcasts of Jason's interviews and Race calls HERE

You can listen to Deans interviews and FULL SHOW podcasts HERE

Our final wrap-up show of 2018 here available on a podcast HERE

Our full podcast listings of 2018 are HERE

We also want to thank Jordan Bianchi and Dan Plan for contributing their insights to the show weekly also Shane Carlson for helping out numerous times in 2018.

Please Support our sponsors, they make this show possible.

Performance Driving School at BIR
ELKO Speedway
Cotten's NAPA
Lou Fegers Racing Equipment Delano
Highway 55 Trailer Sales Buffalo
STB Screen Printing and Embroidery

Our MOST CLICKED stories of 2018 were:
1- Local Drivers steal the show at Monster Jam  HERE
2- Willie Mullins small team success in ARCA  HERE
3- Speed Talk returns for 10th year
4- Gus Dean wins ARCA at ELKO HERE
5- Allgaier wins Xfinity at Iowa HERE

6- Creed wins ARCA at Iowa HERE
7- Jorgenson is 2017 Driver of Year HERE
8- Hinchcliffe wins Indycar at Iowa HERE

We had 22,840 unique page views this year and went over 270,000 for the past 10 years.

Thank you for listening... hope to see you again in Spring of 2019 for our 11th year on KRWC
Jason and Dean

Photo credit: Tom Venturini (Jason and Pete)
Photo credit: 7K racing (Dean on TV)
Photo credit  Dean Reller (Becky Monster Jam and Iowa Speedway burnout)

Speed Talk on 1360 2018 Podcast Listing

Listen for Speed Talk radio every Saturday 10-11am (Central) on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the free Tunein app for your phone April - September.

SPECIAL Post-Season PODCAST EDITION plus a special Birthday surprise for Dean Reller.  LISTEN HERE November SPEEDTALK Podcast

2018 Listing of Podcasts from Speed Talk on 1360

9/29/28 9/29/18 FULL SHOW  Shane Carlson joins Dean and Jason on remote at Minnesota Mile Motorcycle Race interviewing Bryan Smith  9/22/2018 Full Show 9/22/18 
9/22/2018  Brody Willett interview 9/15/18 Full Show, NASCAR Talk, Dean from Wissota 100, Norm Grabinger, Dan Plan Full Show 9/15/18  9/8/18 Full Show Jordan, Dan plus Shane Howell Full Show 9/8/18 9/1/18 Full Show Jordan Bianchi, Dan Plan, Carson Gramm 9/1/18
9/1/18 Carson Gramm interview Wissota 100 Carson Gramm 8/25/18 Jordan, Dan, Jacob Goede, Brent Kane, Mark Noble Full Show 8/25/188/25/18 Mark Noble interview Bandit Big Rig Series
8/18/18 Local Segment: Jon Lemke, Mike Stoer, Dan Plan ELKO Segment
8/18/18 Skip Pollack Interview about MN racing history Skip Pollack
8/11/18 Jacob Goede, Bryan Wrolstad, Sammy Smith ELKO Recap 8/11/18
8/4/18 Bryce Blohm, Oxborough, Goldman, Full Show 8/4/18
7/28/18 Ron Krog, Jordan Bianchi, Dan Plan Full Show 7/28/18
ARCA race at Elko Speedway recap ARCA ELKO recap 2018
Iowa 250 and MMs200 Iowa Speedway Recap Iowa 250 recap and Interviews
Riley Herbst LIVE from Iowa Speedway Riley Herbst
July 28th Full Show with Ron Krog interview July 28 2018
July 14th Full Show with ARCA & Indycar Iowa Recap July 14 2018 Full Show
Jordan talks about SBNation Job and Richmond Preview Jordan Bianchi 4/21/18
Jeremy Wolff and Shane Carlson interviews Wolff 4/21/18
Doug Selle talks Kenseth and NASCAR Doug Selle
Dave Reed Thunder Car driver Dave Reed
Carson Gramm from WISSOTA Carson Gramm
Matt Peterson on Road Racing with WRL Matt Peterson 
UMSS Traditional Sprint Car Driver Jon Lewerer
Eric Martini, Dexter Koch, Joe Prusak Local Segment 5/26/18
Jon Lemke Great North Legends winner Jon Lemke 
Eric Campbell TC winner at ELKO Eric Campbell
Adam Prieve, Dave Mass, Tim Dehann, Jon Lemke Local Segment 6/9/18
Adam Brachle from Youth Impact Racing Adam Brachle 
Julie Jorgenson Local Segment 6/23/18
Interview with ARCA driver Willie Mullins Willie Mullins Interview

Previous years Podcast Listings
2017 Podcasts
Pre 2017 Podcasts

History of I-94 Speedway Podcast series I-94 Raceway History

Dean's Podcast Page
Jason's Podcast Page 

Listen for Speed Talk on 1360 Radio every Saturday 10-11am LIVE on 1360am or KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the Free Tunein App Tunein April - September

Feature winning Race Calls by Jason Searcy at Elko Speedway
Thunderstruck93 Finish 2018
Chad Walen 5/26/18
Chris Marek 5/26/18
Roller Girl 5/19/18
Stocker VS Goede 6/2/18
Taylor Goldman 7/28
Nick Oxborough win 7/28
Joey Prusak win 7/14
Chris Marek win 7/14
Final laps of ELKO ARCA race 2018
Owin Giles win
Jacob Goede win
Julie Jorgenson 2nd win
Sammy Smith 1st win Race Call
Roller Girl vs Prusak Race Call
Mike Stoer win Race Call
Lemke vs Goede Race Call



Please Support our local Sponsors
Elko Speedway ELKO
Performance Driving School at BIR BIR Performance
Cottens NAPA Cottens NAPA
Lou Fegers Racing Equipment LFRE
Highway 55 Trailer Sales Highway 55 Trailers
STB Screen Printing and Embroidery STB 

Listen to Speed Talk on 1360 Radio Saturdays 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the free Tunein app April - September

Gus Dean with emotional ARCA win at ELKO

Gus Dean #32 from Bluffton (SC) scored an emotional win for owner Kevin Cywinski and Win-Tron racing on Saturday night during the ARCA racing series presented by Menards Sioux Chief PowerPex250 presented by CW Metals and MatrixCare at Elko Speedway.

His crew chief Jamie Jones made a daring call to not pit for tires on lap 60 of the 250 lap race when almost all the other cars on the lead lap did so, the only other car not to pit was the #77 of Joe Graf Jr.

Gus Dean had the lead after that first caution period and led the race for 9 laps but then the strategy almost backfired as there was a long green flag run after that caution, Gus Dean went a lap down on older tires and then actually spun on the track on lap 160 putting him two laps down.  Dean then pitted for tires with the rest of the teams, but the difference was that his team had an extra set of tires as a result of not pitting on that first caution.  Dean did a great job of racing hard and being in position for the free pass.  Numerous cautions mid-race made it possible for him to get back on the lead lap and with those extra tires in the pits he had the advantage the last race run.

Here is the audio recap of the race with interviews included ARCA Recap

Sixteen year old Chandler Smith #20 was dominant for a large portion of the race and at one time had a half lap lead, he led 160 of the 250 laps in total.  Chase Purdy #8 and Chandler Smith  had a great battle for the lead after multiple restarts, after one of the restarts Smith spun, he went to the tail of the field and the car never seemed to be the same, he finished 6th.

Chase Purdy #8 had the lead for 31 laps and looked to be on the way to his first career win until disaster struck with less than 10 laps remaining in the race, in dramatic fashion his car erupted into flames and the race was red flagged.

Here is the Race Call of that event by Elko Speedway announcers Jason Searcy and Dean Reller.  Chase Purdy fire Race Call

After a lengthy cleanup the final few laps of the race was very exciting and the large crowd rose to it's feet in unison.  Here was the race call with Jason and Dean.  Final Laps of 2018 ARCA race at ELKO


Gus Dean #32 was the winner, the margin of victory was .857, this was his first win for Win-Tron racing.
Here is our interview with an excited Gus Dean Winner interview at ELKO

The only other car on the same tire strategy as Gus Dean was the #77 car driven by Joe Graf Jr who drove a Bando car at Elko Speedway ten years ago when lived in Medina (MN) up until the age of 11, then the family moved to New Jersey.   Graf Jr drove a great race but was disappointed to finish in 3rd place after getting moved up the track by Gus Dean on the final restart.

The second place finisher was #15 Christian Eckes from Middletown (NY), he also finished second in this race at Elko Speedway in 2017.  Earlier in the evening Eckes earned his first career General Pole fast time award.    Here is his post race interview Christian Eckes interview

Local favorite #25 Natalie Decker drove a very smart race, she stayed on the lead lap and was aggressive late and moved up to finish a tie for her career best of 5th place.  Here is our post race interview with her Natalie Decker Interview

Point leader #28 Sheldon Creed had a tough night and finished 15th, second in points #41 Zane Smith started up front but faded back quickly, he finished a disappointing 12th.  Joe Gibbs developmental driver #18 Riley Herbst was in contention all night and finished 4th after starting the race last due to a part failure in qualifying, here is our post race interview with him Riley Herbst ELKO interview

Final Results:

1- #32 Gus Dean
2- #15 Christian Eckes
3- #77 Joe Graf Jr
4- #18 Riley Herbst
5- #25 Natalie Decker
6- #20 Chandler Smith
7- #27 Travis Braden
8- #78 Blaine Perkins
9- #55 Eddie Fatscher
10- #2 Robert Bruce
11- #34 Mike Basham
12- #41 Zane Smith
13- #3 Willie Mullins
14- #8 Chase Purdy
15- #28 Sheldon Creed
16- #11 Dick Dohney
17- #48 Brad Smith
18- #10 Darrell Basham

The time of the race was 1hr 29min.

Former Viking player and current Vikings radio Color Commentator Pete Bercich is a big motorsports fan and was in attendance at the race.  MavTV broadcast the race LIVE.

Listen to Speed Talk on 1360 radio Saturday 10-11am for a full recap of this event.  Listen on the free Tunein app by searching KRWC or KRWC1360.com


*Jason Searcy and Tom Venturini photos

Mullins proving a small team can have success in ARCA

By Jason D Searcy

Willie Mullins #3 from Fredricksburg (VA) is looking to prove a point, that a small team can have success in the big money world of ARCA racing.

Mullins is a former Road Racer who raced at his local track at Summit Point in Jefferson County in West Virginia for years before making the jump to the ARCA series. "We wanted to make the next step and do something a little bit different," said Mullins.  His team started racing old ARCA cars at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville (NJ) beginning in 2008, he had moderate success and eventually scored a Top 15 finish in 2012.

The team acquired an old NASCAR series car that was once from the Robert Yates stable, it was one of the cars raced by Elliott Sadler, then it came to the ARCA series and reached victory lane with Grant Enfinger behind the wheel.  Willie and the team went Super Speedway racing and they scored an 8th place finish the very first time he raced at the high banks of Daytona International Speedway in 2016.

They are a very small team that has had success racing against some big budget operations like Venturini Motorsports and Driver Development programs from Joe Gibbs and Jack Roush.  This February Mullins scored a career best finish at Daytona by avoiding the wrecks and staying out of trouble the first 2/3rds of the race, then getting aggressive and moving up at the end to finish in second place.

 
Mullins says that ARCA has made some changes that have helped even the playing field, including the new engine package. "The first key is the Ilmor 396, when we brought that out the first year we finished 8th at Daytona, before that if we would've had a Triad engine, we would've been at Top 20 car at best," said Mullins.

The new Five Star body package has also benefited the smaller teams who made the investment in a new body, "that has closed up the field a little more," said Mullins "you don't have to have wind tunnel time and you don't have to have all the tricks on the body to be competitive."

The team has also stayed competitive by limiting their schedule to the biggest tracks on the schedule, (Daytona and Talladega) and now coming to the smallest track on the schedule, the 3/8th mile oval at Elko (MN) Speedway.  "ELKO is such a short track you have to be up on the wheel, you've got to attack every corner and have to be trying to get to the front, if not the leader will catch you" said Mullins "if we can stay on the lead lap the first 3/4 of the race, then we can run to the front at the end."

Willie Mullins had problems during a pit spot and finished fourteenth at Elko Speedway in 2017 but is looking for a better finish this year.  They have hired pit crew members that all have experience in the NASCAR Cup Series and they will pit both his car and his teammate Robert Bruce who is driving the #2 car.  Kevin Belmont, brother of long-time NASCAR driver Andy Belmont, will be the spotter for Willie at Elko Speedway.

Expectations are high for the Willie Mullins and Robert Bruce teams as they go into the Elko Speedway race on Saturday July 15th.  Gates open at 1pm, General Pole Qualifying at 5:45pm, Autograph session at 7:15pm and the Race will begin at 9pm.  It also will be broadcast LIVE on MavTV.  Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com or ARCARacing.com

Both cars this weekend racing at the ARCA Sioux Chief PowerPex 250 presented by CW Metals and MatrixCare at Elko Speedway will be sponsored by CW Metals in Monticello (MN).  Willie and Robert Bruce will be at CW Metals for an Open House on Friday July 13th 2018 from 10am-2pm.  Free Food and Prizes will be given away plus tours of the facility.

Both Dean and Jason will be at this event reporting for Speed Talk on 1360 radio and will be doing a LIVE remote broadcast on KRWC radio 1360am.

Here is an interview done with Willie on KRWC in 2017 Willie 2017 on Speed Talk
Here is an interview done with Willie on KRWC in 2018 Willie Interview on Speed Talk 2018



Listen for Speed Talk on 1360 Radio every Saturday 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or search KRWC on the free Tunein app.

Hinchcliffe Wins IndyCar Iowa Corn 300

The mayor of Hinchtown takes his second win at Iowa.  James Hinchcliffe made a late race pass of dominant Josef Newgarden to win the IndyCar Iowa Corn 300 at the Iowa Speedway.

Josef Newgarden took the lead early on and dominated most of the race, but it was Hinchcliffe who made a great run in the last 50 laps that really locked up his bid for the win.  With 50 remaining, Hinch moved by second running Pigot and then 5 laps later, he moved by Newgarden to take the lead.  The blistering pace set by Newgarden coupled with only one caution (on lap 139) for Zach Veach put all but five cars on the lead lap headed into the stretch run.  It looked all but certain for Hinchcliffe, but Ed Carpenter spun to bring out the yellow with seven laps remaining.  With too little time remaining, the race ended under yellow giving the win to Hinchcliffe.  Pigot would finish second, Takuma Sato took home third, while Newgarden finished a disappointing fourth.

Results Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway

1. James Hinchcliffe
2. Spencer Pigot
3. Takuma Sato
4. Josef Newgarden
5. Robert Wickens
6. Will Power
7. Graham Rahal
8. Simon Pagenaud
9. Alexander Rossi
10. Ed Carpenter
11. Sebastian Bourdais
12. Scott Dixon
13. Ed Jones
14. Charlie Kimball
15. Max Chilton
16. Marco Andretti
17. Tony Kanan
18. Zachary Claman De Melo
19. Ryan Hunter-Reay
20. Zach Veach
21. Gabby Chaves
22. Matheus Leist

Time of Race: 1:47:32.4666 seconds
Average Speed: 149.636
MOV: Under Caution
Lead Changes: 4
Cautions: 2 for 17 laps
Lap Leaders: Josef Newgarden 229, James Hinchcliffe 45, Will Power 23, Takuma Sato 3

Listen to Speed Talk on 1360 radio Saturdays 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or on the free Tunein app by searching KRWC

Creed Wins ARCA Fans With Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway

ARCA Racing Series Points leader Sheldon Creed added a few more to the talley as he won the Fans With Benefits 150 at the Iowa Speedway.  Creed started from the pole and was at or near the front most of the race as he recorded his 3rd career ARCA win and his third win of the season.

Michael Self took the lead from Creed and after a pit stop that put him back a few spots it was a restart tangle with Riley Herbst who had a similar fate that knocked both out of contention for the win.

Hear from race winner Sheldon Creed here




Chandler Smith came home in second.
Hear from 2nd place Chandler Smith here

Chase Purdy finished 3rd

Zane Smith finished fourth.
Hear from 4th finishing Zane Smith here.

Harrison Burton finished in 6th.
Hear from 6th finishing Harrison Burton here

Natalie Decker had a rough going as she finished 16th.  She is looking forward to the next race at Elko Speedway.
Hear from Natalie Decker here


Results:  ARCA Racing Series Fans With Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway
1. Sheldon Creed
2. Chandler Smith
3. Chase Purdy
4. Zane Smith
5. Joe Graf Jr.
6. Harrison Burton
7. Mason Mitchell
8. Bret Holmes
9. Travis Braden
10. Sam Mayer
11. Christian Eckes
12. Max Tullman
13. Rick Clifton
14. Darrell Basham
15. Brad Smith
16. Natalie Decker
17. Riley Herbst
18. Michael Self
19. David Sear
20. Gus Dean
21. Dick Doheny
22. Con Nicolopolous
23. Wayne Peterson

Margin of Victory: .239 seconds
Cautions: 5 for 30 laps
Time of Race: 1:19:56
Average Speed 98.521 mph
Lap Leaders:  Sheldon Creed 1-18, 74-85, 87, 96, 101-109, 111-150 (81); Michael Self 19-37, 39-63 (44); Riley Herbst 38, 64-66 (4); Harrison Burton 67 (1); Zane Smith 68-73, 86, 88-95, 110 (16); Joe Graf Jr. 97-99 (3); Travis Braden 100 (1)

Listen to Speed Talk on 1360 Radio Saturdays 10-11am on KRWC1360.com or on the free tunein app by searching KRWC

Iowa 250 presented by Enogen

Here is our Audio Recap (including interviews) of the entire weekend at Iowa Speedway

Iowa Speedway Opening Weekend 2018 RECAP

Justin Allgaier #7 won the 8th annual Iowa 250 presented by Enogen NASCAR Xfinity series race at Iowa Speedway.  The entire race was really a dog fight from beginning to end, the lead was swapped numerous times but Allgaier led 182 of the 250 lap event.  "It was a fun day and Cole (Custer) and the other guys all raced me clean, we performed well today," said Allgaier after the race.  Christopher Bell #20 had a fast car all race long, he took the lead two times, but was immediately passed back by Allgaier both times.

Bell finished second place, he started the race at the back of the field after failing tech and not attempting a lap in qualifying. Daniel Hemric #21 finished third and led two laps, #00 Cole Custer had a strong car and led two laps as well he finished fourth, #19 Brandon Jones finished a strong fifth place finish.  Here is our post-race interview Brandon Jones (photo below with Jason Searcy)

"The hot and slick track conditions made for great racing, plus the talent in this series is incredible" said Iowa 250 winner Justin Allgaier.  Former Iowa Speedway winner Elliott Sadler #1 Brushed the wall in the first segment and fell back he eventually finished 28th place.

Riley Herbst driving #18 for Joe Gibbs made his Xfinity series debut and finished 6th, here is our interview post-race Riley Herbst (photo below)

Ty Majeski #60 had a career best 7th place finish in the #60, here is our interview with him post-race Ty Majeski.  Majeski said he was happy to finally get a good run with his Roush team, he also said it was nice to have his Late Model guys in attendance watching him race.

Kaz Grala finished 10th in the 61 car, here is our exclusive interview with him Kaz Grala in what could be his final race in the Xfinity series because of a lack of sponsorship.

Pole sitter Austin Cindric #22 finished 11th after racing up front for much of the race.  Cindric earned  his first career Xfinity series pole.  Here is our interview with him Austin Cindric

Justin Haley was making his Xfinity Series debut and he finished 12th, here is our exclusive interview with him from pit road.  Justin Haley

The weather was blistering hot and the race lasted 2 hours 8 minutes.

Dean Reller, Jason Searcy and Shane Carlson will have a full recap of the Iowa Speedway NASCAR weekend including all the interviews on Speed Talk on 1360 Radio Click this Link for the Podcast
 Recap of Opening Weekend 2018 at Iowa Speedway

Speed Talk on 1360 radio from 10-11am (Central) every Saturday on 1360am or search KRWC on the free Tunein app for your phone or go to KRWC1360.com for your lap top.

For additional coverage, go to our Facebook page Speed Talk on 1360 Facebook group

Photo credits Dean Reller and Jason Searcy