Brasch blasts to first Late Model win at Independence

Although it was only the first IMCA Late Model win of his career, Joel Brasch looked as though he was out for a Sunday drive as he scored the impressive milestone win at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Brasch pulled into the lead at the drop of the green of the 25-lapper as Rick Dralle settled into the second spot. Brasch stretched his lead to over a straightaway margin by the time the yellow flag waved on lap 10.

When racing resumed, Brasch picked up where he left off and extended his advantage to nearly half of a track by the time he encountered backmarkers with only a couple of laps to go. Brasch sailed to the victory ahead of Dralle. Dale Hackwell Jr. made his way past Terry Neal on the final lap to take third. Neal, who was challenging Dralle for second late in the event, had trouble navigating turns one and two on the final lap to slip back to fourth. Dirk Hamilton came home fifth.

Joel Brasch earned his first-ever IMCA Late Model win in convincing fashion. (all photos courtesy of Scott Tjabring/ Action Track Photography/ http://www.actiontrackphotos.com/)

Vern Jackson also scored a milestone win in the IMCA Modified division. Collecting his 34th career win in the division at Independence placed him in a tie with Darin Duffy atop that category.

It was pole-sitter Jeff Kriz assuming the early command while Jackson started making his way through traffic from a fourth row start. Jackson settled into the second spot by the time the second of two early caution periods occurred on lap four.

On the restart, Jackson dialed in on the rear bumper of the leader and made his way into the top spot just two laps later. As Jackson led, Justin O'Brien, one of the cars Jackson passed on his way to the front, motored into second on lap seven. He kept Jackson within his sights as Troy Cordes and Mark Schulte also maneuvered through traffic and into the top five from mid-pack starts.

A final caution on lap 16 slowed the field for one final restart. When the green flag waved one last time, Jackson held on for the win, his second of the season, ahead of O'Brien. Mark Schulte drove the high side to a third place run and Jerry Luloff, who started 17th, passed Cordes at the line for fourth.

Vern Jackson scored his second IMCA Modified win of the season. The 34th victory of his career at Independence, he is now tied with Darin Duffy at the top of the all-time wins list for the Modifieds at Independence.

Although his most recent trip to the winner's circle had come on May 30 of last season, Dan Trimble continued to lead the way on the all-time list of IMCA Stock Car winners at the track - by a large margin. He added to that margin by scoring the 67th Stock Car win of his career in weekly points racing at the track.

Tim Helle took the early lead from his outside front row start as pole-sitter Kevin Rose slipped into second. Helle continued to lead while Rose bobbled, allowing a trio of cars to sneak past him. Dave Stricker inherited the runner-up spot as he worked on Helle, but it was Trimble who challenged Stricker with only a handful of laps remaining.

On lap nine, Trimble worked past Stricker and then, two laps later, piloted past Helle for the lead. He led the final five laps to score the win ahead of Helle and Stricker. Points leader Jarod Weepie ran fourth ahead of Rose.

Dan Trimble scored his first IMCA Stock Car win of the season and the 67th of his career at Independence to lead all drivers. Brian Irvine is second on that list with 31 trips to victory lane.

Josh Sherbon also made some noise on the career wins list in his division at the speedway, the IMCA SportMods. Entering the night, Sherbon was tied with Danny Dvorak for the most all-time wins in the division's short three-year history at the speedway. When the night ended, however, he held sole possession of that mark by scoring his fourth win of the season and eighth of his career.

Austin Lucas drove into the early lead of the 15-lapper from his second row start. Chris Luloff followed him to the front just prior to a caution for debris on the fourth lap. On the restart, Sherbon, who sat third, quickly made his way around Luloff and challenged the low side of Lucas while Austin Kaplan was working through traffic from a sixth row start.

The yellow flag waved once again on lap nine to set up an exciting finish. Kaplan, working the high side when racing resumed, rocketed into the lead as Sherbon swept beneath Lucas. Sherbon was able to power ahead of Kaplan on the low side before the race's final caution flew on lap 12.

When racing resumed, Sherbon proved the low line was too strong as he piloted his #75 to victory lane for the second straight week at Independence. He also scored the win one night earlier during his first-ever visit to Lee County Speedway in Donnellson. Kaplan ran second on this night ahead of Tyler Droste, who made a late pass on Lucas to come home third. Danny Dvorak rounded out the top five.

By virtue of his back-to-back wins at Indee, Sherbon became the first driver with multiple winning streaks in the division. He had a two-race win streak earlier this season, as well. Sherbon also tied Dvorak for the most SportMod wins in a single season at Independence with four. Dvorak earned four wins last year.

Josh Sherbon (75) works the low line past Austin Kaplan (1) on his way to the IMCA SportMod win. His second straight win and fourth of the season, the victory marked the eighth of his career at Independence.

Bruce Fraser looked like the man to beat at the start of the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock main event. From his outside front row start, Fraser motored to over half of a straightaway lead by the time the first caution waved on lap five.

Following another caution one lap later, Fraser appeared to be off the throttle when the green flag waved. This allowed a bevy of cars to sneak past, including Dave Wheeler and Justin Lichty. Wheeler led a pair of laps before Lichty was able to make his way past the leader on lap nine.

Lichty led the remainder of the event to score the victory ahead of a hard-charging Vince Buchholz who took over the points lead. Jamie Whitaker, Rod Grother and Wheeler completed the top five. His second win of the season, it marked the sixth career win for Lichty at Independence. The victory moved Lichty into a tie for 12th on the all-time wins list for the Hobby Stock division at Independence. He now has the fifth most IMCA-sanctioend wins in the division at the track.

Justin Lichty drove to the IMCA Hobby Stock winner's circle for the sixth time in his career.

It was a good, efficient night of racing as the final checkered flag waved at 8:56. This week was the first night of early start times. For the remainder of the season, gates will open at 3:30, with hot laps at 5:30 and racing to follow. Although it was a warm summer day, I think race fans were happy to be able to get on the road (or partake in more adult beverages of their choice) at such an early hour.

Tonight's program wrapped up all events for the month of July at Independence. Sometime Sunday or early in the week, I'll have new numbers and info in the latest Stats Blitz!