On a night when rain forced the cancellation of a number of racing programs in eastern Iowa, only a few pesky showers and occasional sprinkles fell at Independence Motor Speedway. This allowed for a stellar field of Late Models to converge on the 3/8-mile oval in preparation for the Deery Brothers Summer Series Red Dralle Memorial this Wednesday. Including seven new entries on Saturday, an outstanding field of 29 Late Models were on-hand to compete.
After the field was pared down to 24 for the feature, outside front row starter and division rookie Dain Sires took command at the drop of the green for the 25-lapper. Sires set a torrid pace as he put a few car-lengths on second-running Jon Passick. Passick, who started in the fourth row, made his way into second after just one lap and attempted to reel in the leader.
As Passick pursued Sires, Tyler Bruening was making his way through traffic from a fifth row start. Running the low groove, Bruening powered into third after three laps and started to chase down Bruening. That pair battled for the runner-up spot as, together, they closed in on Sires. Bruening made his way beneath Passick for second on the 11th circuit, then slipped beneath Sires for the lead four laps later.
While Bruening made his way to the front, Ray Guss Jr. was making noise of his own as he raced through the field from his sixth row starting spot. He made his way past Dale Hackwell Jr. at the same time Bruening took the lead, then worked into a battle with Passick for third. While Bruening was trying to run away in lapped traffic with a handful of laps to go, Guss battled Passick and Sires for position.
Guss made his way past Sires for third as Bruening navigated through the backmarkers with six laps to go, then made his bid for second with only two laps remaining. Bruening's advantage, however, was too much to overcome as he drove to the win, his second straight and third of the season. Guss ran second ahead of Passick, Sires and Darren Ackerman in a feature that saw no cautions for the second straight week, taking just over seven minutes to complete. It was Bruening's 10th career win at Independence.
Vern Jackson was looking to become the first IMCA Modified driver at Independence in 27 years to win four consecutive features. Midway through the 20-lapper it appeared that victory for him was all but a certainty.
After a number of cautions prior to the completion of the first lap, Jackson, who started inside of row six, quickly made a charge to the front. He settled into third after only three laps, then made his way around Mike Burbridge for second just prior to a lap seven caution.
Jerry King, who held the lead throughout those first seven laps, took charge when racing resumed. Jackson took just two laps to make his way to the front and quickly pulled away from the field. As Jackson led, Darin Duffy was running the high groove and into contention. He worked into second on the 12th lap, then quickly went to work on chasing down the leader.
With just six laps to go, Duffy swept to the outside of Jackson to take command. He then pulled away from the field to score the win by nearly a staightaway advantage. Jackson ran second ahead of points leader Jerry Luloff, King and Burbridge. It was Duffy's first win of the season, but the 37th of his career at Independence in the Modifieds. He is now back to within a single win of Jackson atop the all-time list.
Just a week after winning the IMCA Hobby Stock feature in a three-wide photo finish at the line, Justin Lichty came up just short of his second consecutive thrilling win at the speedway. Jim Ball set the early pace as he worked the high side into the lead on the first lap after starting in the second row. Ball held the point while Jamie Whitaker worked through the field from the fourth row. He challenged Ball for the lead following a lap three caution, then took over the top spot three laps later.
Meanwhile, August Bach was charging on the low side of the speedway and into the top three just prior to the midway point of the 15-lapper. Bach snuck past Lichty on lap eight, then worked his way below Whitaker for the lead on lap 12. A short time later, Whitaker spun to the low side of turns three and four to bring out the final caution.
On the restart, Lichty remained glued to Bach's rear bumper as that pair ran nose-to-tail and side-by-side over the final three laps. Lichty motored to the outside of the leader exiting turn four on the final lap, but Bach proved to be too strong down low as he held on to win by mere inches. Chris Luloff, Steve Wiltse and Ball completed the top five.
Tyler Droste took the lead from Matt McCahen on the third lap of the 15-lap IMCA SportMod main event. Droste held the top spot while Josh Sherbon made his way into contention during a pair of mid-race cautions. Sherbon, running third following a lap seven caution, swept around Ray Lundry and Droste to take charge just one lap later.
After a final caution slowed the event on lap 11, Droste worked the low groove to stay close to Sherbon when racing resumed. On the final lap, Droste powered to the low side of Sherbon in turn three and slid in front of the leader as they exited turn four. Droste shut the door to drive to his third win of the season and fourth of his career. Sherbon, Lundry, Jim Buhlman and Rod McDonald rounded out the top five.
Sean Johnson took the lead on the third lap of the IMCA Stock Car feature as points leaer Dave Stricker was making noise from a mid-pack start. Stricker made his way into second on the sixth lap of the 15-lapper, then pressured Johnson for the lead. After contact between the two on lap 12, Stricker found himself out front with Johnson slowing to a crawl and headed toward the pits. Stricker went on to extend his points lead by winning his second feature of the year. Norman Chesmore, Jarod Weepie, Justin Temeyer and Tony Schimmels completed the top five. Johnson, who made quick repairs to his machine, rejoined the field following a late restart to salvage an eighth place finish.
Despite the gloomy morning and afternoon, it turned out to be a beautiful night at the speedway and those in attendance were provided their money's worth. Aside from newcomer Guss, Late Model drivers Nate Bueseling, Stephan Kammerer, Luke Goedert, Luke Pestka and Justin Kay also made their first appearances of the season. Iowa City's Todd Davis also made his first visit of the year, wheeling Rick Dralle's backup machine. In the Stock Cars, Perry Misner made the long haul from Garden City, Kansas, to compete as he plans to run this week's three-day Great American Stock Car Series that concludes at Independence during this Wednesday's Deery Brothers Summer Series event.
With the Deery Series coming to town on Wednesday, Saturday night was a great primer for the 84-lap Red Dralle Memorial Late Model headliner. Prior to that, however, I'm heading back to Benton County Speedway in Vinton tonight. Track announcer Bucky Doren is enjoying some family time this weekend and he asked me to fill in for him. I'm looking forward to calling the races at my hometown track. Hope to see you there!
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