IMCA Modified driver Shawn Fisher got a late start on 2010 as his first apperance of the season didn't come until early July. In a thrilling nightcap, Fisher made it known he was back Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. Fisher, who chased leader Patrick Flannagan throughout much of the 20-lap feature, edged Flannagan and hard-charging Joe Docekal by a nose in a three-wide battle at the line to score his first win of the year.
The 16-car event started out in scary fashion as Jerry Luloff barrel-rolled his car entering turn three on the first lap. Luloff, who was in a three-wide battle with Scott Hogan and Docekal, wheel-hopped Hogan's #33D, which sent him airborn and sideways as the trio entered the third turn. When it landed, Luloff's #18 dug in to the track and violently rolled before coming to a rest on its wheels. While many may exaggerate how many times a car goes over in these situations, Luloff rolled, and I'm talking complete rolls, a minimum of four times before finally resting in the middle of the turns. Although his car suffered heavy damage, he was able to walk away from the incident.
When racing resumed, Flannagan worked the low side of the lightning-fast 1/4-mile oval from his second row starting spot. He ducked beneath pole-sitter Johnathan Thimmesch to inch ahead at the line to lead lap one. Flannagan continued to show the way as Fisher passed Thimmesch for second just prior to the race's second and final stoppage one lap later.
On the restart, Flannagan held the point as Fisher tried both high and low to make his way around the leader. As those two started distancing themselves from the pack, Docekal was working his way through traffic from a seventh row starting spot. As Fisher pulled alongside Flannagan to challenge for the lead at the midway point, Docekal worked beneath Johnathan Thimmesch to position himself in the top five.
Flannagan held onto the lead as Fisher settled in behind him once more while Docekal worked into the top four just two laps later. Over half of a straightaway behind the battling leaders when he slipped beneath Tony Olson for third with just three laps to go, Docekal quickly ran down the top two.
With Fisher working up high and Flannagan down low, Docekal pulled onto their rear bumpers with a single lap remaining. Fisher took a slight edge over Flannagan into turn three of the final lap as Docekal powered beneath both of them. The leaders exited turn four in three-wide formation with Fisher taking the checkers first by half of a car-length. Flannagan held on by a nose for second.
IMCA Modified
1. 25 Shawn Fisher
2. F7 Patrick Flannagan
3. 12D Joe Docekal
4. T23 Tony Olson
5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch
6. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
7. 41P Keith Pittman
8. 27M Mark Schulte
9. 17 Brian Krall
10. 5 Jerry Dedrick
A first-time winner graced victory lane in the IMCA Stock Cars as Brett Mather scored his first career win in the division. Driving to the win from his outside front row starting spot, however, was anything but easy for the veteran driver.
Mather took command at the drop of the green flag while Curtis Roster gave chase. Damon Murty, who started in the fifth row, made quick work of the field, blowing past them on the low side before settling into third only two laps into the event.
Mather extended his lead to half of a straightaway before Murty snuck past Roster six laps into the 15-lap event. Murty attempted to run down the leader and received some help when the caution flag waved on lap 11. On the restart, however, Mather ran the low line to perfection and denied Murty's challenges. One final caution waved on lap 13 to set up a two-lap dash to the checkers.
On the restart, Mather gave Murty just enough room to sneak beneath him. Mather held on to the point as Murty lost his line on the white flag lap, allowing Phil Holtz and Justin Temeyer to pass. Mather led the field off turn four to drive to his first win ahead of Holtz and Temeyer. Paul Shepherd worked the outside line to nip Murty at the line for fourth.
IMCA Stock Car
1. 09M Brett Mather
2. 7H Phil Holtz
3. 56T Justin Temeyer
4. 31S Paul Shepherd
5. 99D Damon Murty
6. 8 Curtis Roster
7. 9E Austin Evens
8. 15 Norman Chesmore
9. 22K Kevin Rose
10. G1 Mike Padden
In the IMCA Hobby Stock division, Doug Laughridge assumed command at the drop of the green in that 15-lap feature. He worked the high side and paced the field for three laps before Josh Burrell made his way to the front on lap four. Just prior to a lap five caution, August Bach slide beneath both drivers to assume command.
Running the high side, Bach continued to lead the pack while points leader Scott Pippert was making some noise in a brand new race car. Pippert, who started in row five, worked into the top four prior to the lap five caution, then made his way into a challenge for the lead a couple of laps later. Pippert swept beneath Bach just past the midway point to drive to the victory. Brad Forbes made a late push to come home second ahead of Matt Brown. Vince Buchholz, who started last in the 19-car field, raced to a fourth place finish.
IMCA Hobby Stock
1. 47 Scott Pippert
2. 09 Brad Forbes
3. 78 Matt Brown
4. 55 Vince Buchholz
5. 17K Kyle Parizek
6. 19X August Bach
7. 12J Jeremy Floyd
8. 11 Al Sweerin
9. 4JR Russel Damme Jr.
10. 77 Rod Grother
Brett Vanous held the early lead in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. He extended his advantage while Gary Peiffer was making his way through the field after starting in the fifth row. Peiffer worked into second a handful of laps into the event, just prior to a lap six caution.
Two laps after racing resumed, Peiffer worked beneath Vanous to steal the lead as the points leader cruised to victory lane. Nathan Chandler, who suffered mechanical problems in his heat and borrowed the car of Brad Chandler for the feature to remain in the points chase, finished second after starting last in the 17-car field.
IMCA Sport Compact
1. 36DD Gary Peiffer
2. 22 Nathan Chandler
3. 35 Brett Vanous
4. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.
5. 2P Cale Peterson
6. 52 Jamie Witham
7. 45 Justin Wacha
8. 33H Duane Herb
9. 07 Joe Goodenbauer
10. 16 Todd Ness
The IMCA SportMod feature provided some of the best action of the evening, despite the fact that it timed out after 12 of 15 laps. While all of the divisions offered consistent two, three and even four-wide racing throughout the night, the SportMods offered (albeit briefly) five, yes, FIVE-wide action at one point in that event.
Kyle Olson held the lead at the drop of the green and survived a trio of restarts before two laps were in the books. On the second restart, a number of cars were bunched together in turn four and, for a moment, went five-wide exiting the corner. Yeah, you can just imagine how all that turned out.
Following another stoppage (a short time later), Olson led the field to green once more. Kurt Hogan settled into the second spot until contact from his competitors while racing three-wide forced him into a spin and an early exit.
Following that caution, Olson continued to pace the field as Drew Fish made his way into a challenge for the lead after starting in the fifth row. Fish worked past Olson on lap six as Austin Kaplan entered the mix out front, following Fish to the front. Danny Dvorak made it a three-car battle as he worked the low side of Kaplan.
Running the high side, Kaplan pulled even with Fish before the yellow flag waved once more on lap eight. Fish, who held the lead by a nose before the yellow flag waved, restarted out front. He continued to work low as Kaplan went back to the top side. Although Kaplan applied persistent pressure throughout the remainder of the event, his efforts were cut short when the race timed out during a lap 12 caution, leaving Fish in victory lane. Kaplan ran second ahead of Olson, who made his way back by Dvorak to take third.
IMCA SportMod
1. 3D Drew Fish
2. 1 Austin Kaplan
3. K3 Kyle Olson
4. 3R Danny Dvorak
5. 00 Jim Buhlman
6. 18J Jake Strayer
7. 95 Mike McDonald
8. 3B Brian Anderson
9. 08 Bryan Rodman
10. 18S Doug Smith
It was a wildly entertaining night in Vinton on a track that was so smooth and fast, it may have actually been too fast at times. Thanks to Mick and crew for another great night of racing on the 1/4-mile. And, Mick, I hope this midnight blog works out better for you than the 5 a.m. blog from Independence. The hours I keep may be late at times, but your days start way too early for me! Weekly racing continues in Vinton next Sunday night before taking a week off during the IMCA Super Nationals. Season championships in Vinton are scheduled for the Sunday following Super Nationals on September 19.
Unless I get the urge to travel to Marshalltown Speedway on Tuesday for the USMTS event, my next race will be Thursday at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison. USMTS action will be on the schedule in Allison that night for the track's season finale.
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