Three new dads deliver Father's Day weekend wins at Independence

A trio of drivers who became new fathers within the past few months took advantage of the Father's Day weekend to celebrate in victory lane at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday. Proud papas Sean Johnson (IMCA Stock Cars), Darin Duffy (IMCA Modifeds) and Quinton Miller (IMCA Hobby Stocks) each earned their first victories of the season during mid-season championship action at Independence Motor Speedway.

Although it was mid-season, the 135 drivers on-hand competed under the regular format of heat race qualifying and average point inverts to lineup the five features on the night. In the end, all five divisions provided the packed grandstand with a fantastic night of racing.

Perhaps the best race of the night was the first on the track as Johnson not only scored his first win of the season in the Stock Cars, he did so by ending the hot streak of Brian Irvine. Entering the night, dating back to last season, Irvine had won 10 of the last 13 features in the division and 12 of the last 18, including three straight. He was looking to become the first driver in track history to possess three separate four-race winning streaks in a career.

At the start of the 20-lapper, pole-sitter Tim Helle shot into the lead as he quickly put a few car-lengths on the field while second row starter Phil Holtz gave chase. Holtz, driving the #56T of Justin Temeyer, settled into the second spot on the first lap and started to chase down the leader. While the leaders started to pull away, Johnson and Irvine were working through the field from their sixth row starting spots.

By the time Holtz and Dave Stricker worked past Helle on the fifth circuit, Irvine worked his way into the top five with Johnson close behind. Stricker took over the top spot as Irvine and Johnson each advanced another position before the race's only yellow flag waved on lap eight.

When racing resumed, Stricker held the point while Irvine and Johnson pressured Holtz and Helle. They made their way around that pair one lap later as the top three remained unchanged until late in the event. With only two laps to go, Johnson powered beneath Irvine's #26, then set his sights on Stricker. Johnson used a last lap pass on the low side of Stricker's #89B to drive to the exciting victory. Stricker held on for second while Irvine ran third. Helle and Holtz completed the top five.

Sean Johnson drove his #8R to IMCA Stock Car victory lane on June 19 at Independence to break Brian Irvine's three-race winning streak. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

Vern Jackson made quick work of his second row starting spot to burst into the lead in the 20-lap Modified main event. Pole-sitter Todd Conrad settled into the second spot with Jason Seegmiller in third. Duffy took little time making his way through the field from his fifth row start as he worked into the top three in just three laps.

Passing Conrad on lap four, then Jackson one lap later, Duffy found himself at the front of the pack just a handful of laps into the event. While Duffy led, J.D. Auringer and Max Corporon were also trying to make their way to the front as they battled for fourth. Contact between those two drivers brought out the caution flag on lap 14.

On the restart, Duffy held the point with Jackson and points leader Troy Cordes right behind him. Duffy quickly distanced himself from the field once more to drive to the victory ahead of Jackson and Cordes. Jerry Luloff ran fourth and Adam Johnson, who started the event 17th after winning a B feature, came home fifth. For Duffy, it was his first win of the season and the 34th of his career at Independence as he sits atop the all-time wins list for the division at Independence.

No stranger to victory lane, Darin Duffy scored his 34th career IMCA Modified win at Independence. Buchanan County Fair Queen Sara Morine presents the hardware. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

Pole-sitter Don Arnold held the early lead in the 15-lap Hobby Stock feature. He paced the field for three laps before Quinton Miller worked his way into a challenge for the lead. Miller motored around Arnold just prior to a lap four caution. He pulled away from the pack when racing resumed to score his first win of the season. Miller's win marked four straight seasons with a win for his #73. Justin Hanson raced through the field from a fifth row start to come home second while Vince Buchholz ran third. Rod Grother and Jamie Whitaker, the points leader entering the night, ran fourth and fifth. By virtue of their finishes, Whitaker and Hanson ended the night tied atop the division's standings.

Quinton Miller raced to his first IMCA Hobby Stock win of the season. He became the fifth different winner in the division in as many nights in 2010, one shy of the all-time record to start a season in the division. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

In the IMCA Late Models, Jeff Aikey was looking to join a short list of drivers to earn three consecutive feature wins in that division. Entering the night with two straight wins, Aikey hoped to join Ed Sanger, Gary Crawford, Curt Martin and Rick Wendling on that exclusive list.

At the start of the 25-lapper, Dean Wagner took charge. His stay out front was short-lived, however, as Jason Rauen rocketed to the front on lap two after starting in the fourth row. A pair of early cautions slowed the event and kept the field bunched up with Aikey only a couple of spots out of the lead.

A long green flag run began when racing resumed following a lap three yellow. During that time, Rauen continued to lead and pulled away from his competitors while Aikey did battle with Wagner for second. By the time Aikey made his way around Wagner on lap 10, Rauen built a straightaway lead. Fourth-running Darren Ackerman also gained ground on Aikey and Wagner during the time that duo battled.

Rauen's lead slowly started to evaporate by the time he entered lapped traffic midway through the event. While Rauen navigated the backmarkers, Aikey ran the low groove to perfection, closing the gap and eventually pulling onto the leader's rear bumper in just a handful of laps.

As the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic in turn four on lap 16, Rauen got sideways and, with contact from Aikey, spun in the low side of four to bring out the yellow. Since the leaders made contact and were both involved in the incident, both were sent to the rear of the pack for the ensuing restart.

With the leader now gone, Ackerman and Wagner started side-by-side on the front row for the restart. When the green flag waved, Ackerman shot into the lead and pulled away from the field to score the victory, his first of the year. Points leader Tyler Bruening made a late charge to come home second while Andy Eckrich, making his first visit to the speedway for weekly racing, finished third. Wagner and Curt Martin completed the top five. The win capped off a busy weekend for newlywed Ackerman as he got married the day before.

Newlyweds Darren and Jennifer Ackerman celebrate in IMCA Late Model victory lane. It was Ackerman's 15th career Late Model win at Independence. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

Josh Sherbon became just the second driver in the three-year history of the IMCA SportMods at Independence to earn back-to-back wins in the division. From the fourth row, Sherbon worked into the lead after just three laps to drive to the win, the sixth of his career at Independence. Tyler Droste came from a fifth row start to finish second and Austin Kaplan, who started alongside Droste, finished third. Nathaniel Smith and Jason Doyle completed the top five. By virtue of his second place finish, Droste caught Joel Rust in the standings. Those two drivers enter next week tied for the points lead in the SportMods.

Josh Sherbon earned his second straight IMCA SportMod win at Independence and the sixth of his career at the speedway. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

It was another great night at Indee. What appeared to be the biggest crowd of the season witnessed 135 cars compete in 25 events, the last of which ended at 10:26. Up next for me, assuming the 70% chance of rain for tomorrow doesn't hold true, is a return trip to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for more mid-season championship racing. I plan to dust off my scoring pen for the first time in a couple years and crunch some numbers at BCS. Like Independence, that mid-season event will feature a normal race night format as qualifying events and features are slated for all five divisions.