The Hobby Stocks joined the weekly racing program at Independence at the start of the 1989 season. They ran unsanctioned that first year before being sanctioned for one year with I.M.C.A. in 1990. The division ran unsanctioned again from 1991-1993. The division returned to being I.M.C.A. sanctioned for a single season in 1994, then ran without a sanction from 1995-2001. Since 2002, the Hobby Stocks have been I.M.C.A.-sanctioned at the speedway. Below is a yearly recap of the Hobby Stocks since their first season at Independence. Along with complete Hobby Stock stats at the end of the blog, I've included additional Stock Car numbers that weren't a part of that blog a couple weeks ago.
1989
Ken Irvine scored the first win in division history on April 29, 1989. It was the first of a division leading seven wins for Irvine that season, including victories during mid-season championships and on championship night. Steve Holthaus wasn't far behind in the win column as he collected six victories in 1989 en route to the division's first track championship. A trio of one-time winners rounded out the list of victors during the 16-week season, including Quinton Reinking, Lon Gadow and Rick Johnson. Irvine ran second in the final standings, followed by Johnson, Warren Middlestaedt and Gary Peiffer. Reinking, Rick Suckow, Jerry Luloff, Don Bushaw and Craig Coventry rounded out the top 10 in the division's inaugural season.
1990
A total of nine winners broke through to score wins in 1990 when the division was first I.M.C.A.-sanctioned. It would hold up to be the largest number of different winners in a single season throughout the first 10 seasons the Hobby Stocks competed at Indee. On top of that, it was the second shortest season in that span as only 12 race nights dodged the rain. Irvine and Gadow were the only multi-race winners that year as Irvine scored three wins and Gadow raced to victory lane twice. Gadow's wins came in the first two weeks of the season. Other winners that year included Forrest Frost, Todd Temeyer, Luloff, Suckow, Reinking, Milo Matthias and Coventry. Gadow took a 42 point margin into championship night, already clinching the title prior to Suckow's win in the finale. The season closed with seven consecutive different faces in victory lane.
1991
Gadow scored his lone win of 1991 on opening night. Reinking, Frost and Johnson followed up with victories as four different drivers were victorious to start the season before Johnson went back-to-back on May 25 and June 1. Luloff then won four events over the span of eight weeks on his way to the track title. Gadow, Suckow, Matthias and Reinking all scored single wins that year while Johnson and Frost were each victorious three times. Derek Reisner earned back-to-back wins in the final two weeks of the season to round out the list of winners. Frost ran second to Luloff in the final standings, followed by Gadow, Dave Sweerin and Temeyer.
1992
In 1992, Frost became the first driver in the division to win the "grand slam" by earning feature wins on opening night, mid-season championships and season championship night, plus winning the track title. In all, Frost won five features during the 17-week season to take title honors by a 40-point margin ahead of Johnson. Other winners that year included Suckow and Bret Dage, who won three times each, and Johnson, who nabbed a pair of victories. One-time winners included David Rice, Gadow, Matthias and Duane Duffy. Suckow, Dage and Steve Farr completed the top five in the final standings.
1993
Poor weather led 1993 to be the second shortest season in division history as only 11 shows were run. Despite that low number, eight different drivers found victory lane, including seven straight different winners to open the season. Johnson was the only driver to earn multiple victories. He ended the season with four trips to the winner's circle, including wins on opening night, mid-season championships and season championships. Other winners included Kevin Hoehne, Vince Buchholz, Farr, Dage, Dale Hackwell Jr., Temeyer and Chris Wessner. Despite his dominance, Johnson came up two points short of Dage in the final standings as Dage became the division's fifth different track champion in as many years. Farr, Jeff Franck and Terry Johnson rounded out the top five in the final standings. Rounding out the top 10 were Temeyer, Hoehne, Roger Ciesielski, Mike Ihde and Hackwell. The season marked the first time in division history that no driver earned back-to-back victories during the year.
1994
Hoehne strung together a three-race winning streak, the longest at the time, to open the 1994 season. Those victories, combined with a win during mid-season championships, propelled Hoehne to the division title in a return to I.M.C.A. racing. Rice joined Hoehne as the only four-time winner that season, while Wessner rounded out the multi-race winners with three victories. Single race winners included Ihde, Ciesielski and Ron Hufford. Current Modified driver Troy Cordes earned his only Hobby Stock victory in Independence that season. In the final standings, Jason Rohde ran second to Hoehne, 58 points out of the lead. Ciesielski, Franck and Wessner completed the top five. Cordes, Dave Swarts, Jeff Roete, Jerry King and Temeyer completed the top 10.
1995
A record was established in 1995 that remains in tact today as Chris Wessner dominated the weekly wars to post nine Hobby Stock wins. Wessner, who won the championship race to close 1994, opened 1995 with back-to-back wins. Along with a win two weeks later, Wessner strung together five wins in a row during the middle of the season, a mark that has been matched only once, but never topped. Wessner closed out his track championship run with a win on the final night to earn the championship by an astounding 88 points ahead of nearest challenger Todd Temeyer. Jeff Roete won one feature that season and finished third in the final standings. Butch Reid and Jeff Wedemeier completed the top five. Dage scored one win to finish sixth in the points ahead of Tim Meeker and Kurt Kastli. One-time winner Buchholz finished ninth and Cliff Gray ran 10th. Tim Bartholomew also visited victory lane in 1995.
1996
Despite Wessner's dominance once again in 1996, his seven feature wins were not enough to garner back-to-back points titles. Instead, veteran Temeyer scored three wins on the way to his first track championship. Wessner once again opened the season in dominant fashion, winning four of the first five features. Temeyer prevented Wessner from making it five weeks of perfection in week three. Temeyer visited victory lane twice more, Butch Reid scored a pair of wins and Dage, Dwan Waddell and Cliff Tharp scored wins before Wessner closed the season with three straight victories. In the final standings, Temeyer edged Wessner by just two points with Dage, Zac Boehmer and Kastli completing the top five. Roete, Gray, Tharp, Bartholomew and Nick Wroten rounded out the top 10.
1997
In his first full season in the division, Adam Johnson became another first time champion in the division. His title in 1997 made it nine different titlists in a row in the Hobby Stock division. Johnson was one of eight different drivers to see victory lane in the track's longest season in history - 19 events without a rainout, the only such season in track history. Following Rohde's opening night win, Roete, Wroten, Boehmer and Reisner made it five different winners to open the season before Roete won his second on week six. Although his first win didn't come until mid-season championship night, Bartholomew led all drivers with five trips to victory lane as he won half of the season's final 10 events, including championship night. Johnson, Roete, and Wroten earned three wins apiece while Meeker collected two victories. Johnson's margin of triumph in the final standings was 11 points ahead of Doug Otto. Boehmer, Roete and Bartholomew completed the top five. Wroten, Jerome Wilson, Meeker, Ryan DeGroot and Gerry Shaver ran sixth through 10th.
1998
Nick Wroten dominated the 1998 season. Not only was he the only driver to score back-to-back wins, he put together a five-race winning streak late in the season to match Wessner's 1995 feat to drive to the track championship. Danny Dvorak (3 wins) and Tim Meeker and Jarod Weepie (2 wins each) completed the list of multi-race winners. Boehmer also scored a win while Patrick Stansbery and Justin Temeyer earned their first career Hobby Stock wins to round out the list of 1998 winners. Wroten won the title by 79 points ahead of Roete, while Weepie ran third in his rookie campaign. Waddell and Boehmer completed the top five. Reid, Wilson, Stansbery, Meeker and Bartholomew rounded out the top 10.
1999
Doug Otto led a list of 10 feature winners in 1999 as he scored five victories during his track championship run. Otto scored bookend victories with season opening and season championship wins on his way to the title. Justin Temeyer, the only driver to score consecutive victories that season, ended the year with three wins, while Weepie rounded out the list of multi-race winners with two victories. Along with wins by Waddell, Boehmer and Stansbery, a number of drivers earned their first Hobby Stock wins in 1999. That list included Randy Wheeler, Jim Aschenbrenner, Chad Clubine and Chris Schares. Otto bested Weepie by 16 points in the final standings. Stansbery and Roete tied for third while Scooter Dulin finished fifth. Wilson, Justin Temeyer, Wedemeier, Schares and Brad Forbes completed the top 10.
2000
Veteran Jeff Roete piloted his Ford to a division-leading five feature wins to drive to his first track title. Roete notched opening night and mid-season wins along the way to his championship run. Stansbery tallied three victories, including championship night, while Clubine won twice. Single event winners included Justin Temeyer, Dulin, Schares and Aschenbrenner. Stansbery ran second to Roete in the final standings ahead of Forbes, Dulin and Justin Temeyer. Wedemeier, Mike Hiller, Rod Abbas, Wheeler and Jim Ball completed the top 10.
2001
Stansbery started of the 2001 season with one of his three victories that year, which included a win during mid-season championships. Scooter Dulin, also the winner of three features, collected top honors in week two on his way to the track championship. Chris Schares earned the win in week three. He eventually topped all drivers with four wins that season, but it took a late season surge to get there. Schares won three of the last four features of the season, including championship night. John Meyer, Brasch and Forbes also scored victories. Dulin's margin of victory was 40 points in the final standings ahead of Stansbery. Wedemeier, Hiller, Schares, Abbas, John Roete, Ball, Alvin Larsen and Brasch completed the top 10.
2002
The 2002 season was the third and final return of the Hobby Stocks to I.M.C.A. The division has been sanctioned at the track since the first race of that season. Meyer opened that season in victory lane, the first of six different drivers in a row to score wins. After Stansbery, Brasch, Shane Ebaugh, Guy Stacy and Jeff Wedemeier kept the cycle going, Stansbery was the first to double-up in week seven as he scored his second and final victory of the season. John Roete was victorious the following week before J.R. Kahler scored three wins in a row during the month of July. Along with Kahler's July 20 triumph, Lloyd Bacon, John Roete, Jason Goedken and Jeff Wedemieier, the championship night winner, made it five different winners to close the season. Stansbery's two wins were good enough to clinch title honors. He edged Wedemeier by 18 in the final standings. John Roete, Brasch and Meyer completed the top five. Ebaugh, Chris Luloff, Goedken, Joe Sprague and Jason Niedert ran sixth through 10th.
2003
Kahler opened the season with a victory before Vince Buchholz strung three straight wins together in the following weeks. May 31 started off the Brian Irvine era at the speedway as he visited victory lane for the first time in his career that evening. The win was his first of eight victories in 2003. Irvine had two separate two-race winning streaks, along with a three race streak to end the season. Goedken scored a pair of wins that season and Stansbery reached the winner's circle once. Kyle Scheel also scored the first, and only, victory of his career on June 14. Despite Irvine's dominance, he had nearly as many finishes outside the top 10 as he did wins, allowing Buchholz to steal title honors, his first championship.
2004
Irvine opened the season with four straight wins, stretching his streak to seven straight victories over the course of the two seasons. Just as he did in 2003, Irvine collected eight wins in 2004. This time, Irvine took advantage of his successes as he scored his first career track championship. Aside from Irvine, Chris Luloff also found his share of success as the second-year driver earned five wins. Rod Grother and Shane Ebaugh also earned wins in 2004 as an all-time low of four drivers earned victories that season. Irvine won the title by 57 points ahead of Stansbery. John Roete, Luloff and Niedert rounded out the top five. Grother, Wilson, Buchholz, Brian Happel and Sprague completed the top 10.
2005
It took 17 seasons, but 2005 resulted in the first repeat champion in the Hobby Stocks. An unthinkable 16 consecutive different drivers earned championship honers before Stansbery broke through for his second title to add to his 2002 crown. Stansbery accomplished his second title despite not winning a single feature event throughout the 16-week season. Ten other drivers shared the wealth that season with victories. Multi-race winners included Rod Grother, who led the division with three wins, including season championship night, and two-time winners Luloff, Buchholz, Josh Steere and Paul Shepherd. One-time winners included first-time wins for a quintet of drivers - Bill Meyer, Happel, Sprague, Perry Thomsen and Travis Michels. Stansbery earned the title by 65 points over Grother. Buchholz, Tim Swope and Luloff ran third through fifth. Completing the top 10 were Bill Meyer, Ball, Mark Butler, Jeremiah Wilson and Ebaugh.
2006
This season marked the first time the points at the top of the Hobby Stocks ended in a tie. Coincidentally, it was also the first year I.M.C.A. broke ties at the track level. Prior to 2006, ties at the track level resulted in co-championships (ask Jerry Luloff, Darin Duffy, Curt Martin and Darren Ackerman). Jamie Whitaker was hoping that rule wouldn't take effect until the following year as he lost a tie-breaker to Shepherd by virtue of Shepherd's two feature wins to Whitaker's none in 2006. Shepherd's two wins came back-to-back, including one during mid-season championships. Throughout the 14-week season, a record 11 drivers posted wins. That's a record that still stands today and is one of those that may never be broken. The only other multi-race winner was Luloff, who scored three victories, his last of which came on championship night. Buchholz, Grother and Bill Meyer also collected wins that season while Ryan Bochmann, Kevin Robinson, Ball, Don Arnold and Matt Brown earned their first wins in the division. In the final standings, Grother, Buchholz and Stansbery completed the top five while Ball, Jeremiah Wilson, Josh Irvine, Bill Meyer and Wes Stanek Jr. ran sixth through 10th.
2007
Micheal (yes, that's how he spells it) Smith opened the season with a win in 2007 as six different drivers were victorious over the first seven weeks of the season. John Meyer, Josh Irvine, Luloff, Brandon Davis and Greg Sweerin also earned wins with Irvine the only one to double-up in the span. Irvine added three more wins that year, including mid-season and season championship nights to drive to his first division crown. Justin Lichty earned the first two victories of his career in back-to-back weeks just after mid-season. Quinton Miller did the exact same thing in the following two weeks. Jeremiah Wilson also scored his first career win at Independence the week before championship night. Irvine won the title by 48 points ahead of Grother with Buchholz, Bill Meyer and Adam Gebel rounding out the top five. Miller, Jeremiah Wilson, Brown, Ball and Sprague completed the top 10.
2008
The spring wind storm made for a shortened season, but it wasn't short on excitement as six drivers earned wins in the nine-week season. Luloff led the way with four wins, including opening night and season championship night, to drive to his first career division title. Miller, Brown, Whitaker, Lichty and Josh Irvine completed the list of winners. In the end, Luloff squeezed past Irvine by eight points in the final standings with Jeremiah Wilson, Buchholz and Whitaker completing the top five. Curt Hilmer, Al Sweerin, Miller, Stanek and Nate Sweerin ran sixth through 10th.
2009
Josh Irvine became just the second Hobby Stock driver to repeat as champion in the division's 21 seasons in Independence. Irvine scored seven wins in the 14 night season to win his second title in three years. Along with opening night and season championship wins, Irvine had a four-race win streak in the middle of the season to drive to the championship. Stanek had back-to-back wins early in the year, while Brown, August Bach, Lichty, Miller and Mark Butler were also victorious. Irvine's championship margin was by 21 points over Miller. Stanek, Lichty and Brown completed the top five. Justin Hanson, Jeremiah Wilson, Sprague, Buchholz and Arnold rounded out the top 10.
HOBBY STOCKS (1989-2009/current)
Career wins
1. Chris Wessner, 20
2. Brian Irvine, 16
3. Chris Luloff, 15
4. Josh Irvine, 13
5. Patrick Stansbery, 11
T6. Ken Irvine, 10
T6. Nick Wroten, 10
T6. Rick Johnson, 10
T9. Forrest Frost, 9
T9. Jeff Roete, 9
Most consecutive seasons with at least one win (all-time) - 6 (Patrick Stansbery, 1998-2003)
Most consecutive seasons with at least one win (current) - 3 (Josh Irvine, Justin Lichty, Quinton Miller)
First-time winners per month - 23 (July), 19 (June), 18 (August), 17 (May), 4 (April)
Total features - 309
Total different feature winners - 81
Longest win streak (within same season) - 5, (Chris Wessner in 1995, Nick Wroten in 1998)
Longest win streak (over two seasons) - 7, Brian Irvine (2003-2004)
Most wins in a single season - 9, Chris Wessner (1995)
Most number of different feature winners in a season - 11 (2006)
Career track championships
2 - Patrick Stansbery (2002, 2005)
2 - Josh Irvine (2007, 2009)
1 - Steve Holthaus (1989)
1 - Lon Gadow (1990)
1 - Jerry Luloff (1991)
1 - Forrest Frost (1992)
1 - Bret Dage (1993)
1 - Kevin Hoehne (1994)
1 - Chris Wessner (1995)
1 - Todd Temeyer (1996)
1 - Adam Johnson (1997)
1 - Nick Wroten (1998)
1 - Doug Otto (1999)
1 - Jeff Roete (2000)
1 - Scooter Dulin (2001)
1 - Vince Buchholz (2003)
1 - Brian Irvine (2004)
1 - Paul Shepherd (2006)
1 - Chris Luloff (2008)
Most consecutive different feature winners (within same season) - 8 (2005)
Most consecutive different feature winners (over two seasons) - 7 (1990-1991, 2001-2002)
Most consecutive different feature winners to start season - 6 (2002)
Most consecutive different feature winners to end season - 8 (2005)
Most opening night feature wins - 2 (Lon Gadow, Chris Wessner), 1 (Ken Irvine, Forrest Frost, Rick Jahnson, Kevin Hoehne, Jason Rohde, Danny Dvorak, Doug Otto, Jeff Roete, Patrick Stansbery, John Meyer, J.R. Kahler, Brian Irvine, Josh Steere, Rod Grother, Micheal Smith, Chris Luloff, Josh Irvine)
Most season championship feature wins - 3 (Chris Wessner), 2 (Brian Irvine, Chris Luloff, Josh Irvine), 1 (Ken Irvine, Rick Suckow, Derek Reisner, Forrest Frost, Rick Johnson, Tim Bartholomew, Nick Wroten, Doug Otto, Patrick Stansbery, Jeff Wedemeier, Rod Grother)
Track champion with fewest feature wins - 0, Patrick Stansbery (2005)
Most 2-race win streaks (within same season) - 4 (Chris Wessner)
Most 3-race win streaks (within same season) - 1 (Chris Wessner, Brian Irvine, Chris Luloff, Vince Buchholz, Kevin Hoehne, J.R. Kahler)
Most 4-race win streaks (within same season) - 1 (Brian Irvine, Josh Irvine)
Most 5-race win streaks (within same season) - 1 (Chris Wessner, Nick Wroten)
Season championship feature winner/Track champion (same season) - Josh Irvine (2007, 2009), Forrest Frost (1992), Chris Wessner (1995), Nick Wroten (1998), Doug Otto (1999), Brian Irvine (2004), Chris Luloff (2008)
Seasons with no back-to-back feature winners - 1993, 2005, 2008
Bookend wins (won season opening and season championship features in same season) - Chris Wessner (1995, 1996), Ken Irvine (1989), Forrest Frost (1992), Rick Johnson (1993), Doug Otto (1999), Brian Irvine (2004), Chris Luloff (2008), Josh Irvine (2009)
Most days between first and most recent feature wins - 4725, Vince Buchholz (12 years, 11 months, 8 days)
Average number of race nights per season - 14.7
Average number of different feature winners per season - 7.5
1st feature winner in division history - Ken Irvine (4/29/89)
50th feature winner in division history - Rick Suckow (6/6/92)
100th feature winner in division history - Chris Wessner (8/26/95)
150th feature winner in division history - Jarod Weepie (8/22/98)
200th feature winner in division history - Guy Stacy (6/8/02)
250th feature winner in division history - Bill Meyer (7/9/05)
300th feature winner in division history - Josh Irvine (6/20/09)
STOCK CARS (1993-2009/current)
My original blog detailing the Stock Car history at Independence was dated January 13. Following that post, I decided to add a few different stats for the other divisions that were not included in that recap for the Stock Cars. Here they are:
First-time winners per month - 10 (May), 9 (June, July), 8 (August), 2 (April)
Total features - 248
Total different feature winners - 38
Most opening night feature wins - 5 (Dan Trimble), 3 (Brian Irvine), 2 (Larry Portis, Tom Schmitt), 1 (Lon Gadow, Ken Irvine, Jarod Weepie, Fabian Seitz, Norman Chesmore)
Track champion with fewest feature wins - 0 (Jerry Schipper in 1997, Jarod Weepie in 2008)
Most 2-race win streaks (within same season) - 8 (Dan Trimble)
Most 3-race win streaks (within same season) - 3 (Dan Trimble)
Most 4-race win streaks (within same season) - 2 (Brian Irvine)
Most 5-race win streaks (within same season) - 1 (Chris Wessner)
Most 6-race win streaks (within same season) - 1 (Larry Portis, Dan Trimble)
Season championship feature winner/Track champion (same season) - Dan Trimble (1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002), Lon Gadow (1993), Larry Portis (1995), Brian Irvine (2009)
Seasons with no back-to-back feature winners - 2006
Bookend wins (won season opening and season championship features in same season) - Dan Trimble (1994, 1998, 1999, 2000), Brian Irvine (2007, 2009), Lon Gadow (1993), Larry Portis (1995), Tom Schmitt (2004)
Most days between first and most recent feature wins - Amazingly, two drivers are tied for this record at 5,488 days each. Both Dan Trimble and Norman Chesmore have gone exactly 15 years and nine days between their first and most recent feature wins.
Average number of race nights per season - 14.6
Average number of different winners per season - 5.8
1st feature winner in division history - Lon Gadow (7/24/93)
50th feature winner in division history - Larry Portis (7/20/96)
100th feature winner in division history - Tom Schmitt (7/10/99)
150th feature winner in division history - Tom Schmitt (4/26/03)
200th feature winner in division history - Jarod Weepie (5/27/06)
250th feature in division history - will be second Stock Car feature of 2010
That completes the Hobby Stocks and Stock Cars. All that remains are the Modifieds and Late Models. I hope to have the Modifieds done sometime later this week and the Late Models next week.
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