Throughout the morning hours on Sunday, it appeared that diehard race fans in the Vinton area would be forced to make other plans for their extended holiday weekend. Substantial rainfall in the area led most to believe racing would not be an option for the evening unless it was on TV. After a long afternoon of TLC by the track crew at Benton County Speedway, however, the show went on as scheduled.
A great crowd turned out for the Sunday show with 87 race teams signed into the pit area. Of those, a trio of hometown drivers earned popular feature wins to make the weekend extra memorable.
The first area driver to bring the hometown crowd to its feet was IMCA Hobby Stock driver Doug Laughridge. After jumping out to the early lead, Laughridge held off challenges from a pair of veteran drivers to thrill the hometown fans.
At the start of the 15-lapper, Laughridge rocketed into the lead from his second row start. He quickly distanced himself from the field, putting half of a straightaway between himself and pole starter Gary Pfantz after just one lap. Laughridge inched ahead even farther while Pfantz was working to deny pressure from Rod Grother and Justin Stander. Laughridge's lead disappeared, however, when debris forced the first caution on lap six.
When racing resumed, Laughridge again pulled away while Nathan Ballard and points leader Scott Pippert made their way into the top five after starting alongside each other in the sixth row. The field was bunched again following two more stoppages on laps 10 and 11. By the time the final caution waved on the 11th circuit, Ballard used the low groove to shoot into second with Pippert close behind.
On the restart, Laughridge again held the point, but was heavily pressured by Ballard and Pippert. Despite efforts to work past the leader using both the high and low grooves, Laughridge brought the crowd to a thunderous roar when he crossed the line for his first career victory in the division. Pippert edged Ballard for the runner-up spot.
1. 25 Doug Laughridge
2. 47 Scott Pippert
3. 29 Nathan Ballard
4. 4X Gary Pfantz
5. 55 Vince Buchholz
6. 17K Kyle Parizek
7. 2P Cale Peterson
8. 67 Justin Stander
9. 6 Randy Vandevegte
10. 1S Greg Sweerin
Up next was the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature and Drew Fish kept the Vinton victory theme alive. After struggling through a tough first few weeks of the season, Fish took the win in the thrilling 15-lap event despite late pressure from another pair of local drivers.
Pole-sitter Brian Anderson held the top spot for the first four laps while Fish worked his way to the front from a third row start. Fish worked the low side of the lightning-fast 1/4-mile and into a challenge for the lead on lap five. He then held the point as Racer Hullin followed him to the front. As he was challenging Fish for the lead, Hullin's machine locked up in turn three, spinning and forcing the race's final caution on lap seven.
On the restart, Fish maintained the lead while Kurt Hogan and Danny Dvorak were battling for second right behind the leader. The leaders entered a three-car battle out front before Fish was able to gain a car-length or two advantage. Dvorak made a late push past Hogan for second, but came up short at the line as Fish drove to the win.
1. 3D Drew Fish
2. 3R Danny Dvorak
3. MR09 Kurt Hogan
4. 26J Joel Rust
5. K3 Kyle Olson
6. 00 Jim Buhlman
7. 3 Dave McCalla
8. 80 Jared Van Deest
9. 3B Brian Anderson
10. 96 Lucas Lundry
Vinton native Scooter Dulin took the lead just past the midway point of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature to become the third and final local winner on the night. Pole-sitter Andy Bryant held the early lead while Dulin battled with Norman Chesmore for second. Dulin worked the low side of Bryant on lap nine to make his bid for the lead with Chesmore following him to the front one lap later. Chesmore then went to work on the low side of Dulin, but could never make a charge as Dulin escaped with the exciting win in the caution-free event.
1. 3T Scooter Dulin
2. 15 Norman Chesmore
3. 77 Andy Bryant
4. 31S Paul Shepherd
5. 10 John Schaefer
6. 7H Phil Holtz
7. 6X Bob Ahrendsen
8. 8 Curtis Roster
9. 287 John Emerson
10. 76 Mike Galli
After a trio of cautions prior to the completion of the the first lap slowed the IMCA Sport Compact feature, outside second row starter Adam Gates jumped into the lead of that 12-lapper. Gates maintained a few car-lengths over the field as a quartet of drivers eventually made their way into second place at various points. None of those challengers were able to reel in the race leader, however, as Gates led the event in its entirety to score the win. Merv Chandler, who exited the race early with a flat tire, made a strong run back through the pack to finish second.
1. 007 Adam Gates
2. 1 Merv Chandler
3. 8M Jacob McVay
4. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.
5. 15 Ross Neal
6. 51 Bryce Bailey
7. 10N Gage Neal
8. A1 Louis Trachta
9. 2ND Brad Chandler
10. 8MM Kandi Floyd
Dustin Crear worked past pole-sitter Buck Swanson on the third lap to take the lead in the IMCA Modified feature. Crear paced the field while Troy Cordes and J.D. Auringer pursued after starting in the middle of the pack. Cordes was the first to challenge for the lead, but was still in second when Auringer worked the low side of the speedway to steal the position on lap eight.
Just prior to the race's only caution on lap 11, Auringer reeled in Crear and snuck below him to steal the lead. On the restart, Auringer was briefly challenged by Cordes, but pulled away to score the impressive win. Joe Docekal and Scott Hogan made strong runs through traffic to complete the top four.
1. 00 J.D. Auringer
2. 71 Troy Cordes
3. 12D Joe Docekal
4. 33D Scott Hogan
5. 32 Chris Snyder
6. 1J Jeff Streeter
7. 22 Brandon Banks
8. 25 Shawn Fisher
9. 2AC Dustin Crear
10. 5 Jerry Dedrick
Race Notes: Stock Car points leader Justin Temeyer finished last in the 11-car field after suffering engine problems a few laps into the feature. He entered the night with a 12-point cushion over Norman Chesmore and finished the night with only a three point lead... Stock Car driver Paul Shepherd was unable to make the starting call in his heat race, but made a nice run from a last place start to finish fourth in the feature... Sport Compact driver Brad Chandler crossed the line in second in that feature, however he was penalized for questionable driving in the waning laps of that event. Contact between he and Ross Neal sent Neal for a spin late in the event, leaving Chandler scored in last of all cars on the lead lap... SportMod driver Lucas Lundry made his first visit to Vinton this year and came away with a 10th place finish in the 24-car field... J.D. Auringer made a mid-afternoon decision to go to Vinton pay off. Auringer has been racing in Dubuque on Sundays, but the program there was rained out tonight... Modified driver Adam Birck made the long haul from Canton, Missouri. He was initially planning to race in the Quad Cities on Sunday, but "kept driving north" when the races there were rained out. Unfortunately for Birck, his drive home was likely much longer than expected after he suffered engine problems in the heat race and was unable to start the feature.
Great work tonight by track prep man Don Burkey and promoter Mick Trier for their hard work to make the races possible tonight. For those who may have stopped by the track in the middle of the afternoon, you could consider them miracle workers to even make the pit area accessible to race cars, let alone providing an outstanding racing surface for the night's events. A job well done, guys!
A busy week lies ahead as I start a mini CBC Tour in a few days. I'll be behind the microphone for a trio of Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series events in a three-day span later this week. On Wednesday, the tour invades Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, followed by a trip to Fayette County Speedway in West Union on Thursday. The three-day swing will end in Fountain City, Wisconsin, at Mississippi Thunder Speedway on Friday night before another night of weekly racing back in Independence on Saturday. I'll do what I can to provide updates between naps and fuel stops! Hopefully, Mother Nature is through with her fits so we can get a strong start on the busy June schedule!
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