On a night when a season-high 111 race teams entered the pit gates, five drivers earned their first wins of the season at Independence Motor Speedway. It was Pink Night at the speedway as area Relay for Life respresentatives were on-hand to promote cancer awareness. Along with a walk-through in the pits, a handful of drivers took part in a helmet drive through the grandstands during intermission to help raise $1,127 for the fight against cancer.
In the IMCA Late Model division, a trio of cautions slowed the event before the first lap could be scored in the 25-lap event. Following those early stoppages, the field ran green to checkers as Darren Ackerman came away with his first win of the season.
Bryan Klein held the early advantage until outside front row starter Dean Wagner worked beneath him to take control on the second lap. Wagner slowly pulled away from the field while second row starting Ackerman battled Klein for the runner-up spot.
Ackerman worked past Klein on just the second lap then quickly reeled in Wagner, who built a half-straightaway lead. Ackerman tried numerous times to stick his nose beneath Wagner's #60 and was able to take advantage when Wagner slid a little high in turn four as the race reached its midway point.
Sweeping beneath the leader, Ackerman quickly moved away from the pack. He dodged lapped cars over the final half of the event to score the victory. Wagner held on for second ahead of points leader Tyler Bruening. Curt Martin and Travis Smock engaged in a good battle for fourth with Martin winning out at the line. For Ackerman, it was his 16th career win in weekly Late Model racing at Independence. Entering the night he was tied with Denny Osborn on the all-time list, but ended the night all alone in 10th in that category.
Tim Helle and Mike Padden each enjoyed time at the front in the early stages of the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Points leader Dave Stricker, who started in the fifth row, rocketed beneath the leaders and assumed command just prior to the race's first caution on lap four.
While Stricker led, Norman Chesmore pulled onto his rear bumper when racing resumed as those two battled for the top spot. Meanwhile, Justin Temeyer was making his way through traffic from a fourth row start and settled into third just before the race's only other caution on lap eight.
When racing resumed one last time, the top three broke away from the pack with all three leaders working the low groove of the speedway. Temeyer squeeked beneath Chesmore on the 12th circuit, then ran down Stricker, making his bid for the lead as the white flag waved. Temeyer went on to record the win ahead of Stricker and Chesmore. Phil Holtz and Tony Schimmels completed the top five. For Temeyer, it was the 18th Stock Car win of his career in weekly action at Independence, moving him into a tie with Weepie for third on the all-time list.
Pole-sitter Justin Stander shot into the early lead in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. He led throughout a pair of early cautions while Jamie Whitaker, Rod Grother and Chris Wiltse battled for second. Wiltse, the only driver among the leaders to try to top side, swept past both Whitaker and Grother to steal second a handful of laps into the event.
Following the final caution on lap nine, Wiltse changed his line and powered beneath Stander with five laps to go to score the victory. Vince Buchholz drove from a sixth row start to come home second ahead of fellow sixth row starter and points leader August Bach. Justin Lichty motored from a fifth row start to come home fourth ahead of Stander. It was Wiltse's second career win at Independence, however it was also his second feature win in the last week as he scored a Memorial Day win at I-35 Speedway in Mason City earlier in the week.
Vern Jackson made his way around front row starter Johnathan Thimmesch on the second lap to assume command in the IMCA Modified feature. Jackson then drove away from the pack to take the win in a caution-filled feature that eventually timed out after 12 laps. Chris Snyder finished second ahead of a hard-charging Tony Olson, who started inside the eighth row. Kellen Chadwick, making his first-ever appearance at Independence, came home fourth ahead of Thimmesch. The win was the 36th of Jackson's career at Independence, moving him into a first place tie with Darin Duffy on the all-time list. Jerry Luloff, who finished ninth, qualified for his 200th consecutive Modified feature at Independence, dating back to July of 1997.
Confusion momentarily reigned in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature. Outside front row starter Kip Siems led the 15-lapper in its entirety to cross the finish line first before the confusion began. Siems, who normally drives the S16 SportMod, wheeled the K16 on this night, however he failed to mention the driver change when signing in at the pit gate.
Kim Siems, who normally drives the K16, has a much lower point average than Kip Siems so when lineups were made for the SportMods, the point average for the K16 was used since the scorers were not informed of the driver change. As a result, the K16, believed to be Kim Siems when lineups were made, was placed in the second row of his heat. Had Kip Siems signed in under his own name, his starting spot would have been toward the back of the pack since he has the fourth best average points in the division.
After the K16 qualified for the feature, it was lined up outside of the front row since the K16 had the second lowest point average of all qualified cars. Had Kip Siems signed in under his own name and the exact same 12 cars qualified for the feature, he would have started outside of the fourth row. As a result, he was disqualified for failing to properly sign in. Danny Dvorak, who crossed the line in second in the feature, was awarded the victory. Jim Buhlman, Lucas Lundry, Josh Sherbon and Curt Hilmer completed the top five.
The win was the eighth of Dvorak's career at Independence, second only to Sherbon's 10. By virtue of his victory, Dvorak took over the points lead in the division by five markers ahead of a trio of drivers, including Tyler Droste, Lucas Lundry and Ray Lundry.
Since grandstand announcer Mike Neilly wasn't in attendance last night, I pulled double duty and walked back and forth between the grandstands and infield tower. I hadn't watched any racing from the grandstand side since the new grandstands were installed a couple years ago. The view from the top of the stands is spectacular and is as good of a view as you'll find at any facility. While on that side, I spoke to quite a few folks on the mic, including Late Model driver Greg Hunter. Hunter, who "retired" a few seasons back, has been hoping to get back behind the wheel in recent years and assured us he will be back in the next few weeks.
Up next is my fifth straight race day as I return home to Vinton tonight for more weekly racing at Benton County Speedway. After four straight days of announcing, it will be nice to rest my voice, but you can be assured I'll have pen and paper in-hand to provide a full report of tonight's action right here at Positively Racing. See you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment