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Joel Rust gets back-to-back Hawkeye Dirt Tour wins
Jun. 8, 2016 12:07 am
MARSHALLTOWN — A little more than two weeks ago, Joel Rust had never won an IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified main event.
Two weeks and two races later, Rust has two wins — and whether he'll say it or not, has made a statement among IMCA Modified competitors.
Rust and Oelwein's Brian Irvine raced side-by-side for nearly the entire 30-lap event, and it came down to a photo finish. It was Rust's high line that got it done.
'I just had to keep it straight (coming to the checkers) and keep my line and I had it,' Rust said. 'I knew Brian was there. He was there the whole time. My car kind of faded just a little bit. I had to keep the tail behind me and keep it straight.
'We've got this new car this year and it's been so good. We're having fun. I haven't thought about big picture yet. It's just so fun in the moment.'
Rust could only give a half shrug with a wide smile when the race was done.
He ran the weekly show at Marshalltown on Friday, and said he wasn't very good. He and his team went back to what had worked in the past, and his car lit up. Starting near the front helped, but he had to deal with Irvine the entire way.
'You try some stuff at weekly shows to see if it makes it better or worse, and we found out we made it worse. We put it back and it was pretty good,' Rust said. 'It was really fun racing (Irvine). You have to really appreciate when a guy races you clean. I saw him there multiple times and he never once took my line away. He raced me clean and I appreciate it.'
Despite a slick — and challenging — Marshalltown Speedway racing surface, the HDT Modifieds were only slowed by one caution.
Many times on a slick surface, drivers have a hard time keeping the car underneath them. Irvine, who gave a laugh of his own after the race when asked what he thought of the finish, said not getting too 'freaked out' over the conditions is what makes guys fast on a slick track.
Irvine searched and searched while feathering his car through the corners over the final five laps to get around Rust, and came up three feet short.
'Joel got around me in the middle of the race there, and then looked up with five to go, pushed and got to him; but I was a lap too short, I guess,' Irvine said. 'I was trying to find something where I could pass him. You can't drive through somebody obviously. He was in a better spot, I think.
'People get kind of freaked out by the slick stuff, but you've just got to slow down. It's easy to stay out of people as long as you keep your car underneath you.'
Rust and Irvine finished ahead of Kyle Brown in third, Jake Murray in fourth and Richie Gustin in fifth — in a field of cars that resembled an IMCA Supernationals A-main as much as a Hawkeye Dirt Tour main event.
The Grundy Center driver laughed when asked what a win like this says to his competitors. All he wanted to do was stay patient — something that worked for him at Benton County Speedway in the HDT opener.
'I've learned in these long races you've just got to tell yourself to be patient. If I keep myself patient, then I'm pretty good,' Rust said. 'I don't know (what this says). You let them tell me.'
IMCA HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR MODIFIEDS
MARSHALLTOWN SPEEDWAY RESULTS
1. 26j Joel Rust; 2. 26 Brian Irvine; 3. 21k Kyle Brown; 4. 48j Jake Murray; 5. 7sr Richie Gustin; 6. 92 Josh Most; 7. 81d Scott Davis; 8. 4tw Tim Ward; 9. 11x Tom Berry Jr; 10. 10k Ronn Lauritzen; 11. 1x Chris Abelson; 12. 19d Darrin Duffy; 13. 12x Trent Jackson; 14. 77 Kurt Kile; 15. 31 Corey Dripps; 16. 57v Mike Van Genderen; 17. 71c Troy Cordes; 18. 83g Josh Gilman; 19. 12d Joe Docekal; 20. 12 Mark Elliott; 21. 93 Matt Werner; 22. 19 Jimmy Gustin; 23. 20rt Ricky Thornton Jr.; 24. 3 Kelly Shryock.
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Grundy Center driver Joel Rust races out of Turn 2 ahead of Josh Most (92) during hot laps for IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds at Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. (Jeremiah Davis/The Gazette)
Oelwein's Brian Irvine leads Rod McDonald (49) out of Turn 2 during their IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified heat race at Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. (Jeremiah Davis/The Gazette)