IMCA Frostbuster earns its name in Marshalltown

MARSHALLTOWN - The IMCA Frostbuster event was so named because of its placement on the calendar and what that means to Iowa.

It lived up to its named on Friday night at Marshalltown Speedway, where a few hundred more fans braved temperatures in the 30s and a biting wind to watch 196 cars battle it out in one of the region's premier season-opening events.

The conditions obviously didn't deter many, and the fans stuck around late into the night.

'I certainly didn't order this cold,” said promoter Toby Kruse. 'But we'll take cold and dry over hot and wet any day of the week.”

So why brave such chilly conditions for several hours of racing?

What makes bundling up in ice-fishing attire and wrapping in blankets worth it - not to mention fans traveling across the state to come watch. They have to be crazy, right?

No, that's just the passion of race fans who waited through a long winter for racing to return to this part of the country.

'I love racing, so why not?” said Elk Run native Carl Scoles, who along with his wife, caught the race in Vinton on Thursday, and plan to keep heading west to watch the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models on Saturday at Crawford County Speedway in Denison.

'It's been a long winter, and people just love this. I think everybody loves it, that's why they're here.”

Carl and his wife Barb were wrapped up in a blanket, and when asked that same question - why brave the cold - Barb glanced at her husband and laughed.

She likes her racing, she said, but getting her to brave the cold was one of those compromises husbands and wives make. All for the love of motorsports.

'I'm usually more of a fair weather racer, but his brother couldn't come so I said I would,” said Barb, through a laugh. 'I'll have to come up with something (for him to do with me).”

The dedication of the race fans wasn't lost on the officials or the racers.

With the car count being near a record - 196 is second in Frostbuster history to 207 at Marshalltown several years ago - and the stands being packed, it signaled an apparent renewed health in the sport not seen in a few years.

'They're all hungry, they're ready to go racing,” Kruse said. 'A lot of us in the industry talk, and we can't put our finger on (how healthy the sport is). It's bizarre because it had been in decline.

'The only thing that's different is the gas prices. That's been a huge stimulus right now. I think everyone around the country is going to see a good year.”

The competition level within that 196 cars was as high as any season-ending national event, with drivers from 10 states making the trip to Marshalltown after 12 states - plus Canada - were represented at Benton County Speedway in Vinton.

That much is obvious when looking at the results of a NASCAR veteran in Kenny Schrader, who finished 12th in Night 1 of the Frostbuster at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa and didn't even qualify for the A-main in Vinton or in Marshalltown.

Schrader said it's been frustrating trying to dial in his brand-new chassis against such stout competition, but has at the same time reveled in the commitment of the racers as much as the fans to show weather and miles are less of a factor that they used to be.

'Seventy Mods - and all good ones, too, that's what's neat about it,” Schrader said. 'Our sport is pretty healthy right now. People are ready to go racing. They come through this swing because they know they're going to get good racing and racetracks and well-run shows.”

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