With the Jones County Fair events in Monticello canceled on Sunday, I made a trip to Vinton for the annual "Watch Where You Walk Weekend" at Benton County Speedway as the annual Benton County Fair was in the final day of its 2010 edition.
Just one week ago, Joe Docekal earned his first career IMCA Modified victory. His attempt to go back-to-back on this night provided a catch as it was discovered the track lights were not working when the evening's finale, the 20-lap IMCA Modified headliner, rolled onto the speedway shortly before 8:30.
Despite that hurdle, Docekal overcame the odds and rolled into victory lane for the second consecutive Sunday on the 1/4-mile oval.
From his outside third row start, Docekal rocketed into the lead after just one lap. A trio of cautions slowed the event as the field attempted to get a second lap in the books. Thursday night fair race winner Jerry Luloff also made a quick move to the front from his fourth row start. He split through the field and into second by the time that second lap was completed.
Docekal built an advantage of over half of a straightaway while J.D. Auringer and Scott Hogan were maneuvering through the field from mid-pack starts. Auringer worked past Buck Swanson for third just prior to a lap seven caution while Hogan sat fifth.
On the restart, Docekal again pulled away leaving Luloff to do battle with Auringer. Running the low side, Auringer pulled even with Luloff and took a slight edge at the line the next time around. As those two battled, Hogan made his way under Swanson for fourth.
Just as leader Docekal was starting to show signs of smoke under the hood of his #12D, Luloff and Auringer made contact exiting turn two on the 10th lap. As those two got together on the low side of the speedway, Hogan breezed past them on the high side of the back stretch into second. One final caution waved after the 12th circuit as dusk was rapidly attempting to turn into nightfall.
On the restart, Smoky Joe continued to lead although he was heavily pressured by Hogan. Those two pulled away from the field and Docekal was able to hold off Hogan to score the win. Auringer ran third ahead of Patrick Flannagan and Luloff.
In victory lane, when asked about the smoke, all Docekal could say was, "We had oil pressure and it wasn't hot, so what the hell?" What more could you say?
Kyle Parizek led wire-to-wire to take the victory in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock main event. From his outside row two start, Parizek quickly made his way into the lead with Justin Stander and Al Sweerin in tow. A number of cautions littered over the next handful of laps did not deter Parizek as he built up a lead of over half of a straightaway by the event's midway point.
Rod Grother, who had been running the low line from his fourth row start, and Vince Buchholz, who came from the fifth row, engaged in an exciting battle for the runner-up spot until Grother broke free with only five laps to go. Grother then briefly challenged for the lead until he slowed on the back straightaway, taking him out of contention.
Parizek led the remainder of the event unchallenged to score the victory ahead of Buchholz. Points leader Scott Pippert, who was 20th on the starting grid, made a great showing by coming home third. Brad Forbes and Michael Peterson completed the top five. In her first appearance of the season, Malena Betzer drove to an impressive sixth place finish.
Steve Miedke led at the drop of the green in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. Miedke paced the field, but was pestered by Brett Vanous throughout the early stages of the event. Vanous worked beneath Miedke for the lead just prior to a lap seven caution, however his stay out front was short-lived as he stopped on the high side of turn two one lap later to bring out another yellow flag.
Gary Peiffer inherited the point and led the final six circuits to score the victory ahead of Bryce Bailey. Dallas Chandler, Miedke and Merv Chandler rounded out the top five.
Outside front row starter Kevin Rose led early in the IMCA Stock Car main event while Justin Temeyer was making his way through the field. From his fourth row starting spot, Temeyer worked the low groove into the top five after one lap and into the runner-up spot the next time around. On lap three, Temeyer worked under Rose and into the lead while Damon Murty was working the high groove.
As Temeyer led, Murty made his way into second place a few laps later, but was sitting many car-lengths out of the lead. Temeyer maintained his advantage out front to take the checkers first in the caution-free event. Murty ran second ahead of Norman Chesmore and Rose. Scooter Dulin made a late-race pass on Jason Deshaw to take fifth.
A number of cautions in the IMCA SportMod feature didn't slow Jake Strayer. Strayer led at the drop of the green and continued to pull away from the pack following a number of restarts. Austin Kaplan, Danny Dvorak and Drew Fish engaged in a thrilling three-car battle for the runner-up spot midway through the event with Kaplan breaking free late. Strayer, however, could not be touched as he drove away to the win. Kaplan ran second at the line ahead of Fish, Jared VanDeest and Jim Buhlman.
Great job to the BCS crew for getting the show in with (just) enough daylight to spare for the Modifieds... Richie Gustin was on-hand tonight breaking in his new Harris chassis. While he went from the back to the front in what seemed like a split second in his heat, Gustin pulled off early in the Modified feature while running in the middle of the pack... Dvorak, who challenged throughout the SportMod feature, spun late in the event taking him out of contention... Ronn Lauritzen, who was forced to restart at the rear of the Modified feature when he pulled to the infield for assistance with his window net during an early caution, made a nice run through the field to finish sixth.
Next on my schedule is the Corn Belt Clash at Fayette County Speedway in West Union on Tuesday. Along with series Late Models, the weekly divisions will be competing for points as this year's Fayette County Fair gets underway. Race time is set for 7 p.m. See you there!
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