Following two straight rainouts, we were finally able to get the second show of the season in at Independence Motor Speedway. A great field of cars was on-hand as 124 drivers signed in to compete.
The I.M.C.A. SportMods were up first as 26 drivers signed in to compete in that division. At the start of the scheduled 15-lapper, pole-sitter Danny Dvorak took charge. He quickly pulled away from the pack while Chris Luloff and Joel Rust battled behind him for second.
Luloff won the fight for the runner-up spot, but he could not catch Dvorak as Dvorak survived a handful of cautions to win the time-shortened event.
The I.M.C.A. Stock Cars had, hands down, the most exciting race of the night. Nineteen cars took the green flag in the 20-lapper with pole-sitter Justin Temeyer taking control early. Kevin Rose settled into second on the second lap after starting one row behind Temeyer.
While the leaders battled, Brian Irvine was making his way through the field from a sixth row start. Irvine worked his way into the top five after only five laps and then made his way into the top three by lap eight to set up an exciting race at the front of the pack.
Irvine challenged the lead pair in an exciting three-wide battle at the midway point of the event. He edged around Temeyer on lap 10 only to have Rose follow suit. Rose then worked the low groove of the speedway as the lead pair ran side-by-side for a handful of laps until the caution flag slowed the action on lap 13.
On the restart, Irvine continued to fend off the challenges of Rose while Temeyer was receiving pressure from Mike Mauer for third. Irvine held on to score the exciting win ahead of Rose while Mauer made a late run on Temeyer to steal third place honors.
If not for a handful of cautions that led to a time-shortened event, the I.M.C.A. Modifieds may have challenged the stock cars for the most exciting event of the night. Jimmy Gustin took the early lead from his pole position start as Darin Duffy and Troy Cordes worked from fifth and sixth row starts, respectively.
While Duffy and Cordes worked through traffic, Ronn Lauritzen was pressuring Gustin at the front of the pack. With the leaders battling, Duffy worked his way into contention on the eighth lap while Cordes ran fifth as the field was slowed for caution a couple of times in the early going.
By the time the caution flag waved for a fourth time on lap eight, Gustin remained out front with Lauritzen second, Duffy third and Cordes fourth. The time limit expired under the caution period, setting up one final chance to end the race under green.
When racing resumed, Duffy went to work on the high side and quickly disposed of Lauritzen. He then moved alongside of Gustin for the lead as the field completed lap 11. Duffy inched ahead of Gustin at the line just before the caution flag waved a final time, ending the event. Gustin was scored second and Cordes made his way around Lauritzen for third.
In the I.M.C.A. Hobby Stock division, the yellow flag ruled early, as well. After taking the lead from Joe Sprague on the second lap, Wes Stanek Jr. held the point through a handful of stoppages in the 15-lapper.
Staying committed to the low side, Stanek led the remainder of the race, holding off Don Arnold to take the win. Vince Buchholz made a late race pass on Quinton Miller to take third,
The I.M.C.A. Late Models lined up using the draw/redraw format throughout the night, as dictated by I.M.C.A. rules. Late Models use this format for the first two points races of the season. Dale Stolte took advantage of his pole position redraw for the 25-lapper to score the wire-to-wire win.
Fellow front row starter Tyler Bruening pressured Stolte early and late, but was never able to mount a serious challenge as Stolte was just too fast off the corners. Travis Smock came from the fourth row to take third and, Rick Wendling, who was substituting in Jill George's No. D1, fnished fourth.
Overall, it was a great night of racing. Track conditions were much improved from those on opening night. It was a very slick track on Saturday night which made it difficult for the drivers to navigate at times, however it was incredibly smooth and fast. There were some delays in realignments under caution, which will hopefully be worked out in the near future.
Due to the desire to finish the show in a more timely manner than opening night, two-wide restarts were scrapped in place of single file restarts for the features. Time will tell, but this may actually be the way to go for the duration of the season.
One quick note, the framework for the grandstands has been constructed and is now in place at the speedway. The project will hopefully be completed in the next couple of weeks. If you haven't been to Independence yet this season, you will definitely want to stop by and check out the new grandstands. I don't think there will be a bad seat in the house.
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