There are some all-time statistics included at the end, dating back to 1967. While the track was believed to have opened in 1965, my records date back to the beginning of the 1967 season. All of the “all-time” statistics include races from only the five divisions that currently compete today. For those inquiring minds, Modifieds started competing in 1983, Hobby Stocks in 1989, Stock Cars in 1993 and SportMods in 2008. The information included for the Late Models dates back to 1967.
Note: Last year, I included all B Mod stats with the SportMods. I have discontinued making the B Mods (which ran weekly from 2004-2007) a part of the all-time numbers. The all-time SportMod stats included toward the end of the Stats Blitz are stand-alone and include only information since the start of the 2008 season.
Enjoy!
Car Count
Division - Average - High - Low
Late Model - 24.3 - 27 - 21
Modified – 29.0 - 34 - 24
Stock Car – 21.3 - 27 - 17
SportMod – 35.8 - 42 - 30
Hobby Stock – 25.5 - 27 - 23
TOTAL – 135.9 - 152 - 119
Points
* 183 drivers have earned points so far this season.
* Among those 183 drivers, 76 different hometowns are represented.
* Only two of five points leaders have won features: Brian Irvine (Stock Car) and Jamie Whitaker (Hobby Stock). Points leaders without victories include Tyler Bruening (Late Model), Troy Cordes (Modified) and Joel Rust (SportMod).
* No driver has held the points lead all four weeks. Troy Cordes (Modified) and Brian Irvine (Stock Car) have been atop the standings for the last three weeks.
* There have been three different points leaders in each the SportMods and Hobby Stocks through four weeks.
Troy Cordes (71) has been atop the I.M.C.A. Modified standings for three straight weeks. His 18-point edge over second place is currently the largest lead at the speedway. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
IN THE HUNT
* 26 drivers have remained in the top-10 in the points every week this season. Those drivers include:
Late Model (6): Tyler Bruening, Dale Hackwell Jr., Brian Hunter, Drew Johnson, Greg Kastli, Curt Martin;
Modified (5): Troy Cordes, Max Corporon, Darin Duffy, Jerry Luloff, Clint Wendel;
Stock Car (5): Norman Chesmore, Brian Irvine, Sean Johnson, Dan Trimble, Jarod Weepie;
SportMod (4): Danny Dvorak, Kurt Hogan, Joel Rust, Duane Van Deest;
Hobby Stock (6): August Bach, Vince Buchholz, Josh Irvine, Eric Larson, Justin Lichty, Wes Stanek Jr.
Feature Winners
* There have been 15 different feature winners in 20 feature events this season.
* There have been no repeat winners in the Hobby Stock division. Read below for more information on that potentially history-making streak.
* Four drivers have multiple wins: Jeff Aikey (Late Model), Max Corporon (Modified), Brian Irvine (Stock Car) and Austin Lucas (SportMod).
History in the making?
Late Model: Jeff Aikey is currently riding a back-to-back winning streak. While that may not seem like that grand of an accomplishment, the track record is three straight Late Model wins as no driver has ever won four straight Late Model features at Independence. The four drivers sharing the record of three straight wins include:
Ed Sanger – 1972 and two separate three-race win streaks in 1973 for three total
Gary Crawford – 1979, 1985, 1993 for three total
Rick Wendling – Two separate three-race win streaks in 1996 for two total
Curt Martin – 1992, 1999, 2004 for three total
Jeff Aikey will match history next week if he wins his third straight Late Model feature. No driver in Independence history has ever won four straight. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
Modified: Max Corporon will be going for his third win in the first five weeks of the season this Saturday night. That has been done a total of only five times in the division’s 27-year history at the track. Previous Modified drivers to win three features over the first five weeks of the season include:
Jack Mitchell – 1984
Greg Kastli – 1986
Mark Noble – 1987
Steve Droste – 1996
Scott Hogan – 2004
This Saturday, Max Corporon will be looking for his third Modified win in the first five weeks of 2010. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
Stock Car: Brian Irvine is riding a three-race winning streak entering June 5. Only four drivers in track history have won at least four consecutive Stock Car features. They are:
Larry Portis – 1995 (won six in-a-row)
Dan Trimble – 1994 (won six in-a-row) and 2000 (four straight)
Chris Wessner – 1999 (won five in-a-row)
Brian Irvine – 2007 and 2009 (streaks of four straight wins each)
Brian Irvine can enter a class of his own if he makes it to victory lane this Saturday. It would be his fourth straight Stock Car win, which would make him the only driver in track history to possess three winning streaks of at least four-straight races or more. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
Hobby Stock: There have been four different Hobby Stock feature winners through the first four weeks of the season. The longest streak of different winners to start the season in that division is six. Listed below are the most number of different consecutive winners to start a season.
6 – 2002
5 – 1997, 1999, 2006, 2010?
4 – 1991, 1992, 2001, 2007, 2010
Top-10s
* 102 drivers have earned at least one top-10 finish this season.
* 7 drivers have earned top-10 finishes in all four features:
Late Model: Tyler Bruening;
Modified: Troy Cordes;
Stock Car: Brian Irvine, Sean Johnson, Dan Trimble, Norman Chesmore;
SportMod: Joel Rust;
Hobby Stock: None.
Top-5s
* 60 drivers have earned at least one top-5 finish this season.
* Only four drivers have earned top-5 finishes in all four features:
Late Model: Tyler Bruening;
Modified: Troy Cordes;
Stock Car: Brian Irvine;
SportMod: Joel Rust;
Hobby Stock: None.
Top-3s
* 40 drivers have earned at least one top-3 finish this season.
* Brian Irvine (Stock Car) is the only driver to score top-three finishes every week this season (3, 1, 1, 1).
Feature Lap Leaders
* 35 drivers have led at least one lap of feature competition.
* Division lap leaders include:
Late Model (6 total different lap leaders): Jeff Aikey (39 laps led), Dale Hackwell Jr. (25), Travis Smock (20), Bobby Hansen (8)
Modified (9): Richie Gustin (19 laps led), Adam Johnson (17), Max Corporon and Brett Ladehoff (13 each);
Stock Car (5): Brian Irvine (32 laps led), Justin Temeyer (20), Dan Trimble (14), Dave Stricker (12);
SportMod (7): Austin Kaplan (18 laps led), Austin Lucas (9), Josh Sherbon, Rod McDonald and Jeramia Boynton (6 each)
Hobby Stock (8): Justin Lichty and Max Leonard (each led 15 laps), Chris Wiltse (12), Josh Irvine (11).
Heat Races
* There have been 50 different heat race winners in 68 heat races.
* Of the 14 drivers who have won multiple heat races this season, only Josh Sherbon (SportMod) has won his heat all four weeks. Darin Duffy (Modified) and Dave Stricker (Stock Car) are the only three-time heat winners.
The heat is on! Josh Sherbon is the only driver at Independence to go 4-for-4 in heat race qualifiers this season. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
Efficiency Stats
* A total of 99 races have been run this season.
* A total of 970 laps have been completed.
* A total of 109 caution flags have been thrown.
* The Hobby Stock division (17 cautions in 18 total events) has had the best caution per race ratio by averaging .94 cautions for every race.
* The Late Model division (18 cautions in 196 total laps) has had the best caution per race lap ratio by averaging .09 cautions per lap completed.
Since the year 1967...
* 634 Late Model feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 94 different winners. On average, a new Late Model winner visits victory lane every 6.7 events.
* 404 Modified feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 76 different winners. On average, a new Modified winner visits victory lane every 5.3 events.
* 252 Stock Car feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 38 different winners. On average, a new Stock Car winner visits victory lane every 6.6 events.
* 27 SportMod feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 11 different winners. On average, a new SportMod winner visits victory lane every 2.5 events.
* 313 Hobby Stock feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 82 different winners. On average, a new Hobby Stock winner visits victory lane every 3.8 events.
* Overall, in the last 43-plus seasons, there have been 1,630 features completed in the five divisions that currently compete at the speedway.
Qualifying Streaks
* The longest currently active feature qualifying streaks for weekly competition in each division include:
Late Model: Darren Ackerman has qualified for 49 consecutive features. His last miss was June 3, 2006.
Modified: Jerry Luloff has qualified for 187 consecutive features. His last miss was July 5, 1997.
Stock Car: Jarod Weepie has qualified for 126 consecutive features. His last miss was June 9, 2001.
Hobby Stock: Josh Irvine has qualified for 52 consecutive features. His last miss was May 27, 2006.
SportMod: Kaleb Bentley, Jim Buhlman and Danny Dvorak have qualified for all 27 features dating back to the first one at the speedway on June 21, 2008.
Jerry Luloff has qualified for 187 consecutive I.M.C.A. Modified features at Independence, dating back to July of 1997. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
Stuff Nobody Should Know…
* All four Hobby Stock winners have had inside starting positions (1, 3, 7, 9)
* All three of Brian Irvine’s Stock Car feature wins have come from a fifth row starting spot or deeper. His starting positions have been 10, 12 and 17. He is the only driver this season to win a feature after not qualifying for a redraw or invert spot in his heat race. Ironically, the only other feature winner in the division this season, Justin Temeyer, won his feature after starting on the pole.
* Irvine’s first Stock Car win of the year (May 1) was the 250th Stock Car feature in Independence history. It was his 29th win in the division.
* None of the four winners in the SportMod division have come from front row starting spots.
* All four Late Model feature winners have come from the first two rows.
* A car with a letter in its number (19G, 24R, 3C, 12X, 12D, 83C and 57B) has led 77 of 79 total Modified feature laps. 71 and 01 are the only “non-letter” numbers to lead a lap, each of those coming on the first lap (May 1 and May 22).
* Brett Ladehoff (Modified) became the first driver in at least 10 years to hold the lead of a single feature event three separate times. On May 29, he led laps 1, 5-13 and 15-17. No, I don’t know the last person to accomplish this feat; however it was before I started keeping the statistic in 2000.
Three times a leader... Brett Ladehoff led the May 29 I.M.C.A. Modified feature three separate times. He finished, go figure, third in the event. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)
That's it for May, check back after June for the next Blitz!
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