Toland Tops Deery, Irvine wins in Stock Car Series at Independence

For Rob Toland, it had been over three years since his last win in the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models. At Independence Motor Speedway on Wednesday night, it was more relief than celebration for the veteran Davenport driver as he emerged from his car in victory lane.

Early on, it looked like pole-sitter Mark Burgtorf was going to notch another mark in the win column as he put his #7B into the lead at the drop of the green of the 50-lapper. Following a first lap caution, Burgtorf quickly pulled away from the field, leaving Toland and Kevin Blum to battle for second.

Burgtorf extended his advantage to a straightaway margin by lap 13 when he encountered a pair of backmarkers exiting turn four. When those lapped cars got together and spun, Burgtorf was left with no where to go as he drove into the pile-up, ending his night.

On the restart, Toland started inside the front row with Blum to his outside. That pair, along with Terry Neal, who restarted outside of row two, engaged in a thrilling three-car battle at the front of the pack. Blum shot into the lead when the green flag waved, but was quickly pursued by Toland, who inched ahead on lap 19. Those two drivers swapped the lead for numerous laps, while Neal was looking for racing room behind them.

With around 15 laps to go, Toland started to pull away from his competitors while Blum and Neal battled for second. Neal eventually cleared Blum with only six laps to go, but could not reel in the leader as Toland drove to the win. Dan Shelliam made a strong run through the field from an 11th place start to finish fourth. Likewise, Ray Guss Jr. finished fifth after starting 13th.

Rob Toland (39) battles to the inside of Kevin Blum (54) for the lead midway through the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models feature. Toland went on to win while Blum finished third. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

Late Model Results
1. 39 Rob Toland
2. 28C Terry Neal
3. 54 Kevin Blum
4. 16S Dan Shelliam
5. 58 Ray Guss Jr.
6. 16 Tyler Bruening
7. 29 Jeremiah Hurst
8. 69 Tom Goble
9. 57 Mark Preston
10. 56 Andy Eckrich
11. 93 Jay Johnson
12. 99D Darrel DeFrance
13. 73 Greg Kastli
14. 22 Charlie McKenna
15. 25 Bryan Klein
16. 78 Rick Wendling
17. 44 Luke Goedert
18. 21G Cory Goldbeck
19. 27 Darin Burco
20. 98 Travis Smock
21. 92 Josh Most
22. 7B Mark Burgtorf
23. 77 Jeff Aikey
24. 40 Joel Callahan

In conjunction with the Deery Series, the IMCA Great American Stock Car Series held its third race in four nights. With a couple of pivotal late-race cations, it was Brian Irvine making his way to the winner's circle.

At the start of the 30-lap event, pole-sitter Chris Ullrich assumed command as he led the first two circuits while second row starter Sean Johnson went to work on the high side. The leaders ran in side-by-side formation for a handful of laps before Johnson finally broke free on lap nine.

While Johnson started to pull away from the pack, Jarod Weepie challenged Ullrich as Brian Irvine and Damon Murty were working through traffic from respective fourth and fifth row starts. Irvine made his way into third at the midway point of the event and Murty followed him through two laps later.

Johnson's lead, over half of a straightaway at the time, disappeared when the yellow flag waved on lap 22. When racing resumed after another pair of cautions, Irvine challenged to the inside of Johnson before making his way to the front on lap 24.

Irvine led the final six laps to score the victory, his second in three nights of the series. Irvine also won at Marshalltown Speedway on Monday. Johnson ran second at the line ahead of Murty, Norman Chesmore and Ullrich.

Brian Irvine (26) works to the inside of Sean Johnson (8R) late in the IMCA Great American Stock Car Series feature. Irvine made the winning pass with only six laps remaining. Johnson finished second. (photo courtesy of Scott Tjabring/Action Track Photography)

Stock Car Results
1. 26 Brian Irvine
2. 8R Sean Johnson
3. 99D Damon Murty
4. 15 Norman Chesmore
5. 01U Chris Ullrich
6. 7H Phil Holtz
7. 78 Jeff Anderson
8. 27J Jason Cook
9. 89B Dave Stricker
10. 56T Justin Temeyer
11. 3 Jarod Weepie
12. 21 Shane Manson
13. 57 John Heinz
14. 17 Kenneth Hanson
15. 199 Justin Jacobsen
16. 35 Donavon Smith
17. 19J Jay Schmidt
18. 22K Kevin Rose
19. 50F Kyle Frederick
20. 30C Abe Huls
21. 40R Perry Misner
22. 09M Brett Mather
23. 66 Jeff Joldersma
24. 5B Stefan Sybesma

A total of 83 cars signed in on the night - 48 Late Models and 35 Stock Cars... By virtue of third place finishes in all series races thus far, Damon Murty moved into the lead of the Stock Car standings, just two points ahead of Irvine... Three of the top four finishers in the Stock Car feature - Irvine, Johnson and Chsmore - are regular competitors at Indee. While he doesn't run there weekly, Murty has appeared for a number of weekly shows over the years.

The large crowd on-hand not only got to see some great wheel-to-wheel racing throughout the night, but the show was completed at 9:55.

Kevin Trittien of Tapfan's Tours was also in the house tonight so be sure to check out his blog at http://www.positivelyracing.com/.

Up next for me is Lee County Speedway in Donnellson tomorrow night for the final night of the Stock Car Series. Also running will be night number for of the 10-race JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour. See you there!