MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — After severe storm damage seemingly brought an end to the racing season at Marshalltown Speedway, the track plans to be back in action on Friday evening.

The track will utilize portable LED lighting supplied through a partnership between RPM1/Racing Performance Manufacturing and BOSS LTG to light the track for the final six events.  Track officials continue to work to repair damage to the facility suffered during the Aug. 10 storm.

“The storm would have been a week ago Monday,” said Toby Kruse, Marshalltown Speedway promoter. “My biggest concern was we lost half the lighting that lights up the race track. If we can’t relight the track, we’re done. I started looking into some lighting and I have a friend, Adam (Adamson), who runs Park Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota. He turned me on to Alton (McBride Jr.) and Alton is working with BOSS and RPM1.

“It took a small miracle, but he said, ‘If we pull some strings we might be able to get some temporary lighting in there so you can finish your season.’ Through that course of phone calls and everybody going above and beyond it is all coming to fruition.”

RPM1, through its alliance with BOSS LTG, is sending a semi-truck from Baton Rouge, La., with two BOSS LTG stadium emergency light tower rigs to Marshalltown Speedway. The 32 lights, which will arrive at the track late afternoon or early evening Thursday, will replace the approximately 26 lights lost in the storm.

“We have worked all weekend on the logistics to pull this off for and with the great people of Marshalltown Speedway,” said RPM1/Racing Performance Manufacturing President and Founder Alton McBride Jr. “None of this could happen without the alliance and like minds of two great American companies, RPM1 and BOSS LTG.

“This is our company passion and mission. We are all short-track racers and motorsports industry professionals who have spent our lives in this sport,” McBride continued. “We set out in 2009 to chase our dream of revitalizing and helping short track racing survive and re-learn to flourish upon forming this sports lighting company. We will continue this effort for the next decade and we will improve and help our short tracks and grassroots facilities. Part of achieving a better world for our grassroots racing facilities nationwide in all forms of motorsports is simply to be available to help.”

After getting through the remainder of the schedule, Kruse hopes to install new permanent lights to replace those damaged by the storm, which featured 99 mph winds equivalent to that of a level two hurricane. Despite the damage, the track has lost only one night of racing.

“We only lost one night of racing with what they’re calling a level-two hurricane in the middle of Iowa,” said Kruse of the storm. “Most people wrote us off. They’re like, ‘They’re done.’ It’s pretty overwhelming. We will finish this season off.”

Kruse noted it was important to get the track back open not just for him, but for his competitors. He noted that several drivers who race regularly at Marshalltown who are in contention for IMCA national championships.

“The most important thing, if they wouldn’t have stepped up and we couldn’t put this together, our season would have been done,” Kruse said. “We have three drivers that potentially could win IMCA national championships. By saving the season it could help these drivers still win national championships. It was a pretty critical thing.”