Scott Hogan dueled Richie Gustin throughout the first 34 laps, then held off Tim Murty over the final six circuits to drive to victory in the Hogan Memorial at Benton County Speedway. It was Hogan's fourth win in the 16-year history of the event that honors the memory of his parents, Dick and Janet Hogan.
Pole-sitter Tim Stevens grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag as Gustin drove into second from his inside second row starting spot. Hogan, who started alongside Gustin, made his way past J.J. Wise for third on lap three.
Using the high line, Gustin worked past Stevens for the lead exiting turn two on the fourth lap. Hogan followed him to the front one lap later just prior to a lap five caution. Hogan spent the next handful of laps running down Gustin before making his way beneath Gustin's #19G on lap 12. Hogan snuck past the leader just as they encountered lapped traffic.
Hogan and Gustin then swapped the top spot while navigating the backmarkers in a thrilling battle out front before a mandatory caution at the midway point of the event halted the field on lap 20. During that time, pit crews were given five minutes to make any changes to the cars before racing resumed.
MODIFIEDS (Running order following first 20-lap segment - starting positions in parentheses)
1. (4) 33D Scott Hogan
2. (3) 19G Richie Gustin
3. (2) 68 J.J. Wise
4. (5) 19M Tim Murty
5. (14) 19J Jay Schmidt
6. (6) 12D Joe Docekal
7. (21) 71 Troy Cordes
8. (7) 18 Jerry Luloff
9. (11) 25C Ricky Stephan
10. (26) 18L Michael Long
11. (10) 17 Brian Krall
12. (15) 3C Max Corporon
13. (18) 27M Mark Schulte
14. (16) 57B Dennis Betzer
15. (19) T23 Tony Olson
16. (20) 7L Landon Cassill
17. (24) 15M Jason Murray
18. (13) 7M Mike Weikert
19. (17) 85 Johnathan Thimmesch
20. (12) 24R Adam Johnson
21. (8) F7 Patrick Flannagan
OFF (22) 32X Chris Snyder
OFF (23) 01 Ed Thomas
OFF (9) 1 Dan Chapman
OFF (1) 49T Tim Stevens
DNS (25) 00 J.D. Auringer
When the green flag fell to start the second half of the event, Hogan again took charge with Gustin in tow. The leaders built more than half of a straightaway lead over the field when the yellow flag waved once again on lap 25.
Prior to returning to green flag conditions, Gustin suffered a broken tie rod on the front left of his machine, however he was deemed able to continue since it did not affect his ability to race. Hogan, continuing to run the top side, powered out front once more when racing resumed as Gustin pressured from the low side. At this time, Murty worked past Wise for third . The leaders swapped positions numerous times before Gustin finally came to a stop in the middle of turn four on lap 34 when he dropped a drive shaft, ending his impressive run on three wheels.
On the final restart, Murty started on Hogan's rear bumper, however his multiple challenges were denied as Hogan drove to victory lane. Murty ran second ahead of Troy Cordes, who made an impressive run through the field to finish third after starting 21st.
The event, which guaranteed $1,250 to the winner, offered a number of other bonuses, including lap money. While the potential payout was $3,500 to the winner, Hogan pocketed a cool $2,900 for his efforts.
MODIFIEDS (final results - lap 20 running order in parentheses)
1. (1) 33D Scott Hogan
2. (4) 19M Tim Murty
3. (7) 71 Troy Cordes
4. (5) 19J Jay Schmidt
5. (8) 18 Jerry Luloff
6. (10) 18L Michael Long
7. (9) 25C Ricky Stephan
8. (3) 68 J.J. Wise
9. (11) 27M Mark Schulte
10. (16) 7L Landon Cassill
11. (6) 12D Joe Docekal
12. (11) 17 Brian Krall
13. (18) 7M Mike Weikert
14. (19) 85 Johnathan Thimmesch
15. (2) 19G Richie Gustin
16. (15) T23 Tony Olson
17. (21) F7 Patrick Flannagan
18. (12) 3C Max Corporon
19. (14) 57B Dennis Betzer
20. (20) 24R Adam Johnson
21. (17) 15M Jason Murray
22. (OFF) 32X Chris Snyder
23. (OFF) 01 Ed Thomas
24. (OFF) 1 Dan Chapman
25. (OFF) 49T Tim Stevens
26. (DNS) 00 J.D. Auringer
A total of 33 Modifieds signed in to compete. Defending race champion Michael Long started the event at the tail of the field after taking the recent champion provisional. He failed to qualify through his heat race after he intentionally spun Jerry Dedrick while under caution, resulting in his disqualification from that event. Long advanced 20 positions in the feature to come away with hard charger honors.
Points racing was held in all other weekly divisions at the speedway. Two and three-wide racing was common throughout the racing in those divisions, as well.
In the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature, Jason Deshaw held the early advantage until Phil Holtz was able to work beneath him to steal the top spot on lap four. Mechanical problems sidelined the leader a handful of laps into the event, allowing Damon Murty to take charge. Murty powered to the lead and distanced himself from the field by over a straightaway by the time he saw the checkers fly. Deshaw ran second ahead of Justin Temeyer, who was relegated to restart at the tail following a lap four caution.
STOCK CAR
Feature (top 10)
1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 21 Jason Deshaw
3. 56T Justin Temeyer
4. 83E Thomas Thompson
5. 10 John Schaefer
6. 15 Norman Chesmore
7. 6X Bob Ahrendsen
8. 9 Kendall Arp
9. 4Q Richard Quail
10. 7H Phil Holtz
Curt Hilmer drove to the win in the IMCA SportMod 15-lapper. Although he started outside of the front row, Hilmer was pressured throughout the event by Mike McDonald and Dave Schulze. McDonald applied pressure early before Schulze stole second away a handful of laps into the event. Schulze's challenges over the final 10 laps were unsuccessful as Hilmer drove to the win.
SPORTMOD
Feature (top 10)
1. 22H Curt Hilmer
2. J2 Dave Schulze
3. 95 Mike McDonald
4. 40J Jason Doyle
5. 08 Bryan Rodman
6. 1 Austin Kaplan
7. 14 Shane Ebaugh
8. 26J Joel Rust
9. 3R Danny Dvorak
10. 00 Jim Buhlman
Jacob Keiser led wire-to-wire in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Keiser survived a trio of cautions and late pressure from Wes Stanek Jr. to take the win. Brad Forbes raced from a sixth row start to take third ahead of Doug Laughridge.
HOBBY STOCK
Feature (top 10)
1. 07 Jacob Keiser
2. 16 Wes Stanek Jr.
3. 09 Brad Forbes
4. 25 Doug Laughridge
5. 55 Vince Buchholz
6. 67 Justin Stander
7. 77 Rod Grother
8. 19X August Bach
9. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.
10. 16J Josh Bly
Brad Chandler drove the low groove to the front of the pack in the IMCA Sport Compact feature. Chandler worked beneath Dustin Stansberry on the third lap to take charge. He held off late pressure from Nathan Chandler and Gary Peiffer to score the victory.
SPORT COMPACT
Feature (top 10)
1. 2nd Brad Chandler
2. 22 Nathan Chandler
3. 36DD Gary Peiffer
4. 3 Dallas Chandler
5. 88 Neil Nabholz
6. 11 Steve Miedke
7. 88J Jim Hanson
8. 07 Joe Goodenbauer
9. 57K Ross Kitner
10. 8M Jacob McVay
It was another successful running of the Hogan Memorial. While a lot of tracks run memorial races throughout the course of the season, the Hogan Memorial has really grown into quite an attraction. A packed house witnessed some of the best racing the region has offered so far this season. It truly has the feeling of a special event and all of the hard work the Hogans and BCS officials put into it really pays off.
Next up for me is the Corn Belt Clash on Wednesday night to kick off the 2010 Buchanan County Fair. It's your one shot to see the CBC in action at Independence this season. IMCA-sanctioned Stock Cars and SportMods will also be competing. See you there!
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