One hundred nine cars signed in for the ninth night of weekly points racing at Independence Motor Speedway. A trio of drivers made return trips to victory lane while a pair of others scored their first wins of the season.
In the 25-lap I.M.C.A. Late Model feature, 25 cars took the green flag. Pole-sitter Tom Struve set the early pace while Bryan Klein and fellow front row starter Joel Brasch settled in behind him. Darin Burco used the low groove to motor into second place after four laps and then went to work running down Struve, who distanced himself by a few car-lengths from the rest of the field.
The field was slowed for caution on lap eight, allowing Burco and Brian Hunter, who started fifth, to restart right behind him. The leaders remained unchanged until Burco spun on lap 12 to bring out the yellow flag. By the time the caution flag waved, Darren Ackerman moved into the third spot after starting 12th.
When racing resumed, Ackerman swept around his competitors and into the lead, driving away from the field until a lap 23 caution slowed the race one final time. Setting up a two-lap dash to the finish, Ackerman again drove away from his nearest challengers to score the victory, his second straight. Hunter crossed the line in second followed by Rick Wendling, who started 19th. Travis Smock came home fourth after a seventh row start. Tyler Bruening finished fifth.
Adam Johnson held the early lead in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. Modified feature. He paced the field while Jason Snyder and J.D. Auringer gave chase. Johnson held the top spot despite a quartet of cautions that littered the first half of the event. During that time, Troy Cordes worked his way into the mix at the front of the pack after starting outside of row five.
Johnson continued to lead until both Snyder and Cordes worked around the race leader with only five laps to go. Snyder led the field until the lapped car of Scott Strauss held him up on the low line of the speedway. Cordes motored around both cars on the high side en route to the win, his first of the season. Snyder ran second. Darin Duffy, Justin O'Brien and Ronn Lauritzen completed the top five.
Johnson, who crossed the line in third, refused a claim placed on his engine by Mike Krall. Auringer finished fourth, however he also refused a claim on his engine placed by Patrick Flannagan. Both drivers were disqualified from the event and lost all points earned this season.
In the I.M.C.A. Stock Car feature, Justin Temeyer quickly worked into the lead from his second row start. He led the field while Brian Irvine worked his way into a challenge for the top spot after starting fifth. Irvine moved to the outside of Temeyer and inched ahead at the line just prior to a lap seven caution.
On the restart, Irvine drove away to score the win, his fifth of the season. Jarod Weepie ran second, holding off Justin Temeyer and Dan Trimble who finished third and fourth, respectively. Points leader Phil Holtz finished fifth after starting 16th.
Lucas Lundry was looking to make it back-to-back wins in the I.M.C.A. SportMods. From a second row start, Lundry shot into the lead on the first lap and paced the field until Danny Dvorak inched ahead just before the caution flag waved on lap six. Following the restart, Dvorak ran away from the field to drive to his third win of the season. Jake Strayer raced from a 10th starting spot to take home runner-up honors ahead of Kevin Robinson. Points leader Kyle Bentley and Mary Handberg completed the top five.
Mark Butler led the first two laps of the 15-lap I.M.C.A. Hobby Stock feature until Matt Brown swept under him to take charge on lap three. Brown led the field until just past the midway point when August Bach motored into the lead. Bach survived a pair of late cautions to score the win, his first of the season. Brown, Marcus Wayne, Quinton Miller and Jeremiah Wilson completed the top five.
Race Night Notes:
Wagner Returns: It was good to see Dean Wagner back behind the wheel of a Late Model. Wagner piloted the Three-Wide Media car that served as the Legends car over the past few weeks. I understand Wagner will be behind the wheel of that machine (now the number 60) for the duration of the season unless Larry Moore is able to head north and spend a night in it. Moore was scheduled to compete in the car a few weeks ago, however a late scheduling snafu prevented his visit to northeast Iowa.
Right at home: August Bach drove to his first win of the season in the Hobby Stock division in a car that is no stranger to the winner's circle. Bach recently purchased the car formerly driven by past I.M.C.A. champion Bill Bonnett. In victory lane, Bach stated Bonnett currently sits at 147 feature wins.
Thanks for the loaner: Rick Paulson displayed good sportsmanship by allowing Jim Buhlman to drive his SportMod tonight. Buhlman, who entered the night second in the standings by just a couple of points to Kyle Bentley, suffered mechanical problems in hot laps. Paulson gave up his ride so Buhlman could keep his title hopes alive.
Back-to-back Ack: Darren Ackerman became just the second driver since the 2005 season to win back-to-back Late Model features. The last driver to do so was Rick Dralle last year. Dralle's wins came on July 26 and August 2.
Take two: Every feature winner on July 25 either won or finished second in their heat race.
Stats to Come: The monthly Stats Blitz will be making its return to positivelyracing.com later this week. This month's blitz will include a look back at the first nine weeks of racing as we head into the final month of action at Independence.
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