A great crowd welcomed a season-high 130 race teams to the pits at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night for the fifth night of weekly racing in 2009.
In the I.M.C.A. Late Model division, Dale Hackwell Jr. quickly worked to the front of the pack from a fourth row start. Sitting in third after a lap one caution, Hackwell used the top groove of the speedway to work his way into the lead on the following lap.
Jon Passick and Rick Dralle gave chase with Passick briefly assuming command following a third lap caution. Passick snuck under the race leader, only to see Hackwell fight back on the high side and take charge once more on the eighth circuit.
Meanwhile, Dralle was working the low groove of the speedway into contention. Dralle worked under Passick on the 10th lap of the 25-lapper and set his sights on Hackwell. Unable to power ahead on the low side of the speedway, Dralle remained patient as the leaders encountered lapped traffic late in the event.
A lapped car running the high side forced Hackwell, who lost the brakes on his No. 145, to move one groove lower. Dralle pulled under both Hackwell and the backmarker in turns three and four for a thrilling pass as the white flag waved. Exiting the corner, Dralle held the edge and he led the final lap to score the win. Hackwell ran second followed by Luke Goedert, Greg Kastli and Darin Burco.
In the I.M.C.A. Modified 20-lapper, Ed Thomas held the early lead until Johnathan Thimmesch made his way out front following a second lap caution. As Thimmesch paced the field, Darin Duffy and J.D. Auringer were making their way through traffic from respective fifth and sixth row starts.
Duffy made his way into second place after only six laps and into the lead just one lap later. With Duffy out front running the high side of the speedway, Auringer worked through the field on the low side and into second with only four laps remaining.
Auringer mounted a challenge late, however Duffy held on to take the win, his second of the season. Justin O'Brien, Thimmesch and Jerry Luloff completed the top five.
Danny Dvorak took the lead on lap two of the I.M.C.A. SportMod main event and never looked back to score his second win of the season. Challenged late by Jake Strayer, Dvorak denied his advances to take the victory. Drew Fish, points leader Kyle Bentley and Josh Sherbon rounded out the top five.
Justin Temeyer took advantage of his outside front row starting position to drive to the win in the I.M.C.A. Stock Car 20-lapper. Temeyer held off challenges from Brian Irvine early and Jason Hocken late to take his first win of the season. Hocken, Jarod Weepie, Dan Trimble and Jay Schmidt completed the top five.
Matt Brown was looking to score his second consecutive win in the I.M.C.A. Hobby Stock division. He appeared to be on his way as he led the first half of the event untouched. Josh Irvine, however, had other plans as he motored past the race leader at the midway point of the 15-lapper on his way to the win, his second of the year. Todd Reitzler, Brown, Justin Lichty and Vince Buchholz chased Irvine to the checkers.
While the open wheel classes did struggle with cautions, the show was pretty smooth. Starting a little past 6:30 and ending right at 11 p.m., fans were provided with 26 events in the five divisions. Over 200 children also took part in a candy dash following qualifying events.
Next Saturday night, originally scheduled as Mid-Season Championships, will feature a regular night of racing. Qualifying heat races and features are on tap for Budweiser night that evening. After that, the Deery Brothers Summer Series for I.M.C.A. Late Models and the American Stock Car Shootout will be held at the speedway on Wednedsday, July 1. Scheduled to be a part of that event is a helicopter flyover by the Iowa National Guard. The Stock Car Legends Series will also be on-hand for the evening, a kickoff to the Independence Day holiday weekend.
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