The Sportsman Street Stock Series visited Iowa Speedway for their Spring Season opener on Tuesday night, with 25 cars showing up to battle. The night got started off with qualifying, and it was Ty Majeski that put his car on the top of the charts with a lap time of 27.045 seconds, with Bill Martin starting on the front row beside him.
At the drop of the green flag, Majeski quickly pulled out into the lead while Martin settled in behind him. But Martin would quickly face pressure from behind as Cody Kelley would make his move up into the 2nd spot, with Robby Roy and Ryan Borges right behind them in the top 5. As the field battled it out early on, the first caution would come out for an incident further back in the pack on lap 6.
On the restart, Majeski jumped back out into the lead, while the top four sorted things out and ran single file. While the top four began to pull away out front, the battle was on for the 5th spot as Borges and Tim Bills would swap the position a number of times as they ran side-by-side. But just behind them, TJ Graves and Todd Sipe were battling just inside the top 10. Sipe got the run off of the corner to make a move to the inside of Graves, but as they entered the next corner, they would get together which sent Graves around to bring out the next caution.
With the yellow flag back out, some of the leaders decided it was time to head down pit road for new tires, including Majeski who pitted out of the lead. This handed the lead over to Martin, with a number of other cars staying out with him, which left Majeski back just outside the top 10 for the next restart.
Out front, Marin began to pull away from the pack on the lap 23 restart, with Mike Whited not too far behind. As the top two separated themselves out front, there was plenty of two and three wide action behind them as the drivers with new tires were making their way to the front. It didn’t take long for Majeski and Roy to make their way back up into the top 5, and by lap 29 Majeski had caught Whited for the 2nd spot, and got by him for the position just before the next caution came out the next lap.
After seeing Majeski come through the field on new tires, Martin decided it was time to head down pit road himself to get some fresh rubber, handing the lead back to Majeski. On the restart, Majeski pulled out into the lead, but Kelley was right there following in his tire tracks about a car length behind. Kelley looked to keep pace with Majeski, but couldn’t get the run he needed to make a move. Behind the top two, Matt Rolfe found him in the 3rd spot not too far behind, with Borges and Bills settled into the top 5 as well. With the top 5 spread out up front, Martin was working his way back towards the front, and would get up to the 6th spot by lap 44 before the next caution came out a few laps later on lap 47.
Once again, the different pit strategies came into play, and the top 5 all headed back down pit road, giving the lead back to Martin. With the laps winding down, the race looked as if the winner would be the driver who played out the strategy the right way. A couple of quick cautions over the next part of the race, would allow Majeski to pick off some cars and work his way back up to the second spot for the lap 66 restart.
With Martin still the lead and in control for the restart, the rest of the field behind him was anxious to go, and the pack would get bottled up on the restart. Martin would eventually take off and pulled into the lead, but Majeski was right there looking to get by. Majeski looked to be faster on the newer tires, and looked low on Martin a couple of times but Martin would get the run to stay out in front.
With the laps winding down, and the field bottled up from the restart, there was plenty of action behind the top two. Jeff Hoggard held the 3rd spot, but was facing pressure from behind with Rolfe and Roy looking to get by. As they battled, Bills, Borges, Kelley and others would join the fight, and the whole group of cars would run two, three, and even four wide fighting for the spot. They were able to keep everything clean and straight for a few laps until some contact while four wide would result in Borges and Bills getting most of the contact and would both go around, collecting others behind them to bring out the final caution of the race.
Out front, Majeski made another move to the inside of Martin for the lead, but Martin was able to hold him off just as the caution came out, allowing Martin to hang onto the top spot. Martin would lead the field around for the green and checkered flags, picking up the victory which would be his 3rd win to start the season in just two nights. Majeski would finish in the 2nd spot, with Roy, Rolfe, and Kelley surviving the late battle to hang onto top 5 finishes.
Penalties:
Robby Roy – Aggressive Driving – Warning
Next week the Sportsman Street Stocks will head to New Smyrna for a 50 lap feature under the lights for their second race of the season.
For full results and points, click HERE.