There are some all-time statistics included at the end, dating back to 1967. While the track opened in 1965, my records date back to the beginning of the 1967 season. All of the “all-time” statistics include races from only the five divisions that currently compete today. For those wondering, Modifieds started competing in 1983, Hobby Stocks in 1989, Stock Cars in 1993 and SportMods in 2008. The information included for the Late Models dates back to 1967.
Four of the five Saturday programs scheduled for July were run to completion. The July 24 program was rained out after 14 inches of rain fell in a 36 hour span in the Independence area. It was the first time in track history that weekly racing scheduled for July 24 was rained out. It was only the second July rainout in weekly racing in the last 30 events scheduled for July at the track. That dates back over six years. The only other cancellation during that span came on July 4, 2009. In fact, it was only the 26th rain out of a weekly points race for the month of July in 195 attempts at Independence since 1967. Despite the July 24 rainout, July still has the greatest success rate as 86.7% of July shows have been successful. The month of July accounts for only 15.5% of all rainouts at Independence in 44 seasons, the lowest percentage of any calendar month.
Here are the numbers from 2010, through July 31.
Car Count
Division - Average - High - Low
Late Model - 22.2 - 27 - 17
Modified – 26.8 - 34 - 19
Stock Car – 17.6 - 27 - 14
SportMod – 32.0 - 42 - 24
Hobby Stock – 23.6 - 27 - 21
TOTAL – 122.2 - 152 - 105
Points
* 216 drivers have earned points so far this season.
* Among those 216 drivers, 87 different hometowns are represented.
* Only three of five points leaders have won features: Tyler Bruening (Late Model), Austin Kaplan (SportMod) and Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stock). Points leaders without victories include Troy Cordes (Modified) and Jarod Weepie (Stock Car).
* No driver has held the points lead all 10 weeks. Cordes has been atop the standings for the last nine weeks, Bruening for the last eight weeks and Kaplan for the last four weeks. Weepie and Buchholz have led their divisions for each of the last two weeks.
In search of his fourth IMCA Stock Car track championship in the last six seasons, Jarod Weepie (3) moved into the points lead of the division two weeks ago. Only four nights remain in the 2010 season.
Vince Buchholz (55) took the outright points lead in the IMCA Hobby Stock division for the first time in 2010 following the July 31 program. The 2003 Hobby Stock champion is in search of his second division title at Independence.
IN THE HUNT
* 15 drivers have remained in the top-10 in the points every week this season. Those drivers include:
Late Model (3): Tyler Bruening, Greg Kastli, Curt Martin;
Modified (3): Troy Cordes, Darin Duffy, Jerry Luloff;
Stock Car (4): Norman Chesmore, Sean Johnson, Dan Trimble, Jarod Weepie;
SportMod (2): Danny Dvorak, Joel Rust;
Hobby Stock (3): August Bach, Vince Buchholz, Justin Lichty.
Feature Winners
* There have been 33 different feature winners in 50 feature events this season.
* In July alone, there were 18 different winners in 20 events. Only Vern Jackson (Modified) and Josh Sherbon (SportMods) won multiple features during the month.
* Drivers with multiple feature wins include: Josh Sherbon (SportMod, 4 wins), Austin Kaplan (SportMod, 3), Brian Irvine (Stock Car, 3), Jeff Aikey (Late Model, 2), Justin O'Brien (Modified, 2), Max Corporon (Modified, 2), Vern Jackson (Modified, 2), Sean Johnson (Stock Car, 2), Dave Stricker (Stock Car, 2), Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stock, 2), Jamie Whitaker (Hobby Stock, 2), Justin Lichty (Hobby Stock, 2).
IMCA SportMod driver Josh Sherbon (75) scored his track-leading fourth win of the season on July 31. The victory also moved him to the top of the all-time wins list in the division at Independence.
History in the making?
There have been nine different Late Model winners through 10 weeks of the 2010 season. The greatest number of different Late Model winners in a season at Independence was 12 during the 16-week 1975 season. One time were there 11 winners (1970) and eight times have there been 10 winners (1976, 1977, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1999 and 2007). Jeff Aikey is currently the only driver to possess more than one Late Model win. Only twice in track history has a season ended with just one Late Model driver earning multiple wins - 1977 (Gary Crawford) and 1993 (Gary Crawford).
Dating back to May 29, there have been seven consecutive different Late Model winners. The record for most consecutive different winners in the division is nine, that coming in 1975.
Joel Brasch became the seventh straight different IMCA Late Model winner when he scored his first career victory on July 31. All-time he became the 96th different Late Model winner at the track.
Top-10s
* 142 drivers have earned at least one top-10 finish this season.
* Troy Cordes (Modified) is the only driver to earn top-10 finishes in all 10 features this season. Aside from Cordes, Austin Kaplan (SportMod) has the longest active top-10 streak. He has earned nine straight top-10s. Jarod Weepie (Stock Car) has earned eight straight top-10s and Curt Martin (Late Model) and Jerry Luloff (Modified) have earned seven straight top-10s.
* Drivers who have earned nine top-10s through 10 weeks include: Tyler Bruening (Late Model); Jerry Luloff (Modified); Jarod Weepie, Dan Trimble, Norman Chesmore (Stock Car) and Austin Kaplan (SportMod). Vince Buchholz and Rod Grother lead the Hobby Stock division with eight top-10s apiece.
Austin Kaplan's nine straight top-10 finishes have put him on top of the IMCA SportMod standings. Kaplan is seeking his first career track championship on Independence soil.
Top-5s
* 94 drivers have earned at least one top-5 finish this season.
* Tyler Bruening (Late Model) and Jarod Weepie (Stock Car) lead all drivers with eight top-5 finishes through 10 weeks. Troy Cordes (Modified), Austin Kaplan (SportMod) and Rod Grother (Hobby Stock) have seven top-10s apiece.
Top-3s
* 71 drivers have earned at least one top-3 finish this season.
* Tyler Bruening (Late Model), Jarod Weepie (Stock Car), Austin Kaplan (SportMod) and Josh Sherbon (SportMod) lead all drivers with six top-3 feature finishes through 10 weeks. Darin Duffy (Modified), Sean Johnson (Stock Car), Brian Irvine (Stock Car), Dave Stricker (Stock Car) and Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stock) have five top-3s apiece.
Seeking his first career track championship, IMCA Late Model driver Tyler Bruening has built a 16-point lead in the division with eight top-5 finishes this year, six of which have been top-3s, including one win.
Feature Lap Leaders
* 66 drivers have led at least one lap of feature competition.
* Division lap leaders include:
Late Model (15 total different lap leaders): Jeff Aikey (39 laps led), Jason Rauen (35), Joel Brasch (27), Rick Wendling (26), Dale Hackwell Jr. (25), Rick Dralle (25);
Modified (14): Vern Jackson (37 laps led), Justin O’Brien (31), Joe Docekal (23), Darin Duffy (22), Richie Gustin (19), Adam Johnson (17);
Stock Car (10): Dave Stricker (59 laps led), Brian Irvine (32), Phil Holtz (21), Justin Temeyer (20), Dan Trimble (19), Tim Helle (18);
SportMod (12): Austin Kaplan and Josh Sherbon (each led 25 laps); Austin Lucas (18); Ray Lundry (15), Lucas Lundry (10), Matt McCahen (9);
Hobby Stock (15): Chris Wiltse (26 laps led), Jim Ball (24), Justin Lichty (22), Max Leonard (15), Josh Irvine (14), Quinton Miller (12).
Heat Races
* There have been 83 different heat race winners in 157 heat races.
* 40 drivers have won multiple heat races this season.
* Greg Kastli (Late Model) leads all drivers with seven heat race wins through 10 weeks. Josh Sherbon (SportMod) has won six heat races, while Dave Stricker (Stock Cars) and Jim Ball (Hobby Stock) have five heat wins apiece.
Greg Kastli has driven to seven IMCA Late Model heat wins in 10 weeks, including a six-race winning streak earlier this season. Kastli also picked up a feature win on July 10.
Efficiency Stats
* A total of 223 races have been run this season.
* A total of 2,268 laps have been completed.
* A total of 228 caution flags have been thrown.
* The Hobby Stock division (34 cautions in 42 total events) has had the best caution per race ratio by averaging .81 cautions for every race.
* The Late Models (25 cautions in 294 total laps) have had the best race lap per caution ratio by averaging 14.12 laps of competition completed between caution flags.
* The SportMods are the worst in both categories. They have had 70 caution flags through 58 total events for an average of 1.21 caution flags every race. They have completed 506 green flag laps, leaving them with 7.23 laps of competition completed between caution flags.
Since the year 1967...
* 640 Late Model feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 96 different winners. On average, a new Late Model winner visits victory lane every 6.7 events.
* 410 Modified feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 77 different winners. On average, a new Modified winner visits victory lane every 5.3 events.
* 258 Stock Car feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 39 different winners. On average, a new Stock Car winner visits victory lane every 6.6 events.
* 33 SportMod feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 12 different winners. On average, a new SportMod winner visits victory lane every 2.8 events.
* 319 Hobby Stock feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 83 different winners. On average, a new Hobby Stock winner visits victory lane every 3.8 events.
* Overall, in the last 43-plus seasons, there have been 1,660 features completed in the five divisions that currently compete at the speedway.
Qualifying Streaks
Of the 410 Modified features in Independence history, Vern Jackson has been in victory lane following 34 of them. He and Darin Duffy are tied atop the all-time wins list for the division at the speedway.
* The longest currently active feature qualifying streaks for weekly competition in each division include:
Late Model: Darren Ackerman has qualified for 55 consecutive features. His last miss was June 3, 2006.
Modified: Jerry Luloff has qualified for 193 consecutive features. His last miss was July 5, 1997.
Stock Car: Jarod Weepie has qualified for 132 consecutive features. His last miss was June 9, 2001.
Hobby Stock: Justin Lichty has qualified for 26 consecutive features. His last miss was August 16, 2008.
SportMod: Kaleb Bentley and Jim Buhlman have qualified for all 33 features dating back to the first one at the speedway on June 21, 2008.
* All 10 Hobby Stock feature winners have come from different starting positions (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12)
* Through 10 weeks, Norman Chesmore has finished fourth in the Stock Car feature five times.
* With his win on July 31, Dan Trimble has won features in the Stock Car division over the span of 5,915 days. His first win came on May 21, 1994, meaning 16 years, two months and 10 days span his first and most recent win.
Dan Trimble earned his 67th career IMCA Stock Car win at Independence on July 31. The all-time leader in the division at the speedway, Trimble has earned at least one victory in each of the 16 years he has competed in the division.
* While no driver has placed in the top three of all 10 of his heat races this season, two SportMod drivers have nine top-3 finishes through their qualifiers - Joel Rust and Josh Sherbon. Gresg Kastli (Late Models); Darin Duffy and Troy Cordes (Modifieds); Dave Stricker, Dan Trimble and Sean Johnson (Stock Cars); and Danny Dvorak and Austin Kaplan (SportMod) have earned eight top-3s in heat races. No Hobby Stock driver has more than seven top-3 heat finishes.
* Prior to his absence on July 31, Greg Kastli won six consecutive Late Model heat races.
* Of the 50 features run so far this season, 27 winners started on the inside and 23 on the outside.
* 89 different drivers have cracked the top-10 in his or her division’s points for at least one week this season.
* 21 different drivers have held or shared their division's points lead at some point this season, including four different Late Models, two Modifieds, four Stock Cars, five SportMods and six Hobby Stocks.
* Races are scheduled for the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th of August this season. In track history, races have been scheduled for each of those dates a total of six times. All together, races on those dates have only been rained out three times in 24 total events, once each on the 7th, 14th and 28th. Yes, that means August 21 has never rained out at Independence.
That's it for this month, check back after August for the all-inclusive season-ending Blitz!
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