What won the race: Fighting off repeated challenges by Dylan Thornton, polesitter Jake Neal of Omaha, Neb., led all the way Friday at Marshalltown Speedway for a $4,500 Dale DeFrance Memorial victory. Neal took the checkers in the Malvern Bank East-West Series combo event by 0.952 of a second over Thronton while Chad Simpson was third in the 44-lapper.

Quotable: "It feels awesome. This race is super special to me, especially because we won it before," Neal said. "Darrel and Dale (DeFrance), they’re just awesome people to do this race like they do and put the effort in is just amazing and I thank them so much for it."

Key notes: Neal, winning for Al Humphrey Motorsports, also won the DeFrance Memorial in 2022 in a Rick Hunnicut-owned car. ... Runner-up Dylan Thornton made multiple bids exiting turn two and entering turn three but couldn't find a way past. ... Three early cautions slowed the race, the first on the first attempted start with Corey Zeitner, Jeff Tharp and Dylan Sillman piling up between turns three and four. ... On the third lap, Tharp was in another three-car tangle in turn three, this time with Troy Daly and J.C. Wyman. ... On the seventh lap, Sillman went over the turn-two banking. ... The 23-minute feature concluded at 11:24 p.m. ... Chad Holladay scratched from the feature. ... The ninth annual Dale DeFrance Memorial honored a longtime Marshalltown racer who died on May 22, 2017, at the age of 81; Dale’s son, Darrel DeFrance, was one lap down to the race winner in finishing 17th.

On the move: Bill Leighton Jr. of La Vista, Neb., started 21st and finished ninth.

Winner's sponsors: Jake Neal's Al Humphrey-owned Infinity Race Car is powered by a Mullins Race Engine and sponsored by Downtown Recyclling, Cooney Motorsports, Todd's Body & Glass, Joyce Agronomics, and Bilstein Shocks.

Points chase: East Series after Marshalltown: T1. Blair Nothdurft (1,522); T1. Tad Pospisil (1,522); T3. Charlie McKenna (1,492); T3. Jesse Sobbing (1,492); 5. Jason Hahne (1,472). West Series after Marshalltown: 1. Jesse Sobbing (1,330); 2. Blair Nothdurft (1,326); 3. Tad Pospisil (1,324); 4. Jake Neal (1,314); 5. Kyle Berck (1,298).

Current weather: Overcast, 68°F

Car count: 31

Fast qualifier: Chad Simpson

Time: 14.246 seconds

Polesitter: Jake Neal

Heat race winners: Kyle Berck, Curt Schroeder, Corey Zeitner, Jeff Aikey

Consolation race winners: Blair Nothdurft, Jason Hahne

Provisional starters: Bill Leighton Jr., C.J. Horn, Darrel DeFrance, J.C. Wyman, Kale Kosiski, Mike Collins

Next series race: July 25, Winneshiek Raceway (Decorah, IA) $3,000