There are some all-time statistics included, dating back to 1967. While the track was believed to have opened in 1965, my records date back to the beginning of the 1967 season. All of the “all-time” statistics here include races from only the five divisions that currently compete today. 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.
As always, special thanks to track photographer Scott Tjabring of Action Track Photography for allowing me to use his photos. Check out his excellent work at www.actiontrackphotos.com
Car Count
Division - Average - High - Low
Late Model – 21.8 - 29 - 18
Modified – 25.3 - 29 - 20
Stock Car – 15.5 - 18 - 13
SportMod – 19.5 - 24 - 14
Hobby Stock – 21.3 - 23 - 19
TOTAL – 103.5 - 111 - 97
Points
* 162 drivers have earned points so far this season.
* 55 different hometowns are represented on the points sheet.
* Points leaders account for five of the 30 total feature wins through six weeks. Jerry Luloff (Modifieds), Ray Lundry (SportMods) and Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stocks) lead the standings in their respective divisions, but have yet to record a feature win in 2011.
CONSISTENCY THE KEY - IMCA Modified driver Jerry Luloff sits atop the division's standings despite no victories through six weeks of the 2011 season. Although he'd rather pick up a win or two along the way, Luloff is one of four Modified champions in track history to win a title without a win (2006).
IN THE HUNT
* 29 drivers have remained in the top-10 in the points following all six weeks of the season. Those drivers include:
Late Model (5): Darren Ackerman, Tyler Bruening, Dirk Hamilton, Jon Passick, Travis Smock;
Modified (6): Mike Burbridge, Troy Cordes, Patrick Flannagan, Adam Johnson, Jerry Luloff, Tony Olson;
Stock Car (6): Norman Chesmore, Austin Evens, Tim Helle, Sean Johnson, Dave Stricker, Jarod Weepie;
SportMod (6): Jim Buhlman, Tyler Droste, Danny Dvorak, Lucas Lundry, Ray Lundry, Josh Sherbon;
Hobby Stock (6): August Bach, Vince Buchholz, Nathan Christie, Russell Damme Jr., Chris Wiltse, Steve Wiltse.
TOP DOG - Dave Stricker has been on top of the IMCA Stock Car standings for five consecutive weeks. That's the longest stretch for any current points leader at the speedway.
Feature Winners
* There have been 20 different feature winners in 30 feature events this season.
* There have been four different winners the last four weeks in both the SportMod and Hobby Stock divisions.Making history…
Late Model: With his win on June 25, Tyler Bruening guaranteed that there will be at least one three-time winner in the Late Models this season. Only four times in the last 45 years has there not been at least one Late Model driver with three feature wins (1975, 1989, 2008 and 2010). Bruening is looking to become the first Late Model driver since Curt Martin in 2004 to earn three consecutive trips to Late Model victory lane. On June 25, he became the 21st Late Model driver since 1967 to earn back-to-back wins. The record of three straight Late Model wins at Independence is shared by four drivers – Ed Sanger, Gary Crawford, Curt Martin and Rick Wendling.
A SHOT AT HISTORY - IMCA Late Model driver Tyler Bruening is looking to become only the fifth driver in 45 years to string together three consecutive feature wins in the division.
Modified: On June 18, Vern Jackson became only the seventh Modified driver in track history to win three consecutive features. He joined Darin Duffy (three 3-race win streaks), Jack Mitchell (2), Troy Cordes (1), Greg Kastli (1), Mark Noble (1) and Duane Van Deest (1) as the only drivers on that list. By virtue of his third win of the season, Jackson guaranteed that there will be at least one three-time Modified winner this season. In the 29 years the Modifieds have competed at Independence, all but three times has there been at least one three-time winner. The only years there wasn’t at least one three-timer included 1993, 1994 and 2008. With his victory on June 25, Darin Duffy’s feature wins in the Modifieds now span just over 18 years. His first win came on June 5, 1993, meaning his first win to his most recent win spans 6,594 days. He is 14 days shy of tying Timm Jensen for the all-time mark at Independence for “win span” in the Mods.
OLD MAN ON THE BLOCK - Darin Duffy has the second longest span between his first and most recent wins in the IMCA Modified division. At 18 years and 20 days between those wins, he is 14 days shy of Timm Jensen on the all-time list for the division. A win on July 9 will tie him with Jensen and any win after that date will give him the outright lead in that caregory.
Stock Car: With his June 18 feature win, Sean Johnson became the first three-time winner in the Stock Car division this season. Every year since the Stock Cars joined the weekly program at Independence (1993), there has been at least one three-time winner. Johnson became the 13th Stock Car driver to earn back-to-back wins in the division by virtue of his victories on June 11 and June 18. The others include Dan Trimble (14 streaks of at least two consecutive wins), Brian Irvine (7), Larry Portis (4), Justin Temeyer (3), Lon Gadow (2), Chris Wessner (2), Tom Schmitt (2), Jarod Weepie (1), Norman Chesmore (1), Darrin Treptow (1), Damon Murty (1), Brad Holtkamp (1).
SportMod: Josh Sherbon is the only SportMod driver to earn at least one feature win in every season the division has competed at Independence (since 2008). Lucas Lundry is the only other driver in the division to record at least one win in three straight seasons (2009-current). Tyler Droste is currently the only driver in the division with multiple wins this season. In its brief history, the SportMods have never had fewer than two multi-race winners at Independence.
Hobby Stock: On June 18, Justin Lichty earned the Hobby Stock win, bringing his current streak to five straight seasons with at least one feature win. That mark ties Chris Luloff as the second longest such streak for the Hobby Stocks in track history. Only Patrick Stansbery (1998-2003) won a feature in each of six consecutive seasons. Quinton Miller, who has four straight seasons with at least one win, will match Lichty and Luloff if he can make it to the winner’s circle in 2011.
DRIVE FOR FIVE - Justin Lichty earned the seventh IMCA Hobby Stock win of his career at Independence on June 18, giving him at least one win in each of the last five seasons. His first win at Independence came exactly 50 weekly race nights ago. He sits 12th on the all-time list at Independence.
Top-10s
* 111 drivers have earned at least one top-10 finish this season.
* 10 drivers have earned top-10 finishes in all six features:
Late Model (2): Darren Ackerman, Tyler Bruening;
Modified (1): Jerry Luloff;
Stock Car (3): Norman Chesmore, Dave Stricker, Jarod Weepie;
SportMod (3): Danny Dvorak, Lucas Lundry, Ray Lundry;
Hobby Stock (1): Vince Buchholz.
COUNT TO TEN - Darren Ackerman has opened the 2011 season with six straight top-10 finishes in the IMCA Late Model division. Dating back to the start of the 2009 season, Ackerman has earned 28 top-10s in 34 nights of racing.
Top-5s
* 67 drivers have earned at least one top-5 finish this season.
* No drivers have earned top-5 finishes in all features this season. The drivers with the most top-5 feature finishes in each division are as follows:
Late Model: Darren Ackerman, Tyler Bruening, Jon Passick (4 each);
Modified: Mike Burbridge, Vern Jackson (4 each);
Stock Car: Dave Stricker, Jarod Weepie (5 each);
SportMod: Jim Buhlman, Danny Dvorak, Ray Lundry, Josh Sherbon (4 each);
Hobby Stock: August Bach, Vince Buchholz, Justin Lichty (4 each).
GOING STREAKING
The longest current top-5 streak in each division includes:
Late Model: Darren Ackerman (3 straight top-5s);
Modified: Vern Jackson (4);
Stock Car: Jarod Weepie (3);
SportMod: Jim Buhlman (4);
Hobby Stock: Jim Ball, Justin Lichty, Chris Luloff (2 each).
GIMME FIVE - IMCA SportMod driver Jim Buhlman has earned four consecutive top-5 finishes, the longest such streak in the division this season.
Top-3s
* 49 drivers have earned at least one top-3 finish this season.
* While nobody has finished in the top three every week, exactly one driver in each of the five divisions has earned four top-3 finishes this season. They include Tyler Bruening (Late Models), Vern Jackson (Modifieds); Dave Stricker (Stock Cars), Ray Lundry (SportMods) and August Bach (Hobby Stocks).
THREE'S NO CROWD - Ray Lundry has recorded four top-3 finishes this season, including back-to-back third place finishes to close out the month of June. His consistency has propelled him to the top of the IMCA SportMod points at Independence for the first time in his career.
Feature Lap Leaders
* 46 drivers have led at least one lap of feature competition.
* Division lap leaders include:
Late Model (10 total different lap leaders): Tyler Bruening (45 laps led); Luke Merfeld and Rob Toland (25 each); Dain Sires (14); Darren Ackerman (13);
Modified (10): Vern Jackson (40 laps led), Leon Wilson (16), Mike Burbridge (12), Tony Snyder (10), Jerry King (9);
Stock Car (8): Sean Johnson (54 laps led), Dave Stricker (26), Thomas Thompson (6), Mike Padden (3), Justin Temeyer (2);
SportMod (9): Tyler Droste (23 laps led), Danny Dvorak (18), Lucas Lundry (13), Josh Sherbon (12), Jim Aschenbrenner (9);
Hobby Stock (9): Jamie Whitaker (17 laps led); Justin Stander (16); Rod Grother (15); Scott Pippert (14); Chris Luloff and August Bach (8 each).
LEADER OF THE PACK - IMCA Stock Car driver Sean Johnson has led 54 laps of feature competition this season, the most of any driver at the speedway. Included in his time out front are three feature wins, all of which he led from green to checkers.
Heat Races
* There have been 44 different winners in 80 heat races.
* Vern Jackson (Modifieds) leads all drivers with five heat wins through six weeks. Those five wins have come in the last five weeks.
* Four-time heat winners include Tyler Bruening (Late Models), Justin Lichty (Hobby Stocks) and Jamie Whitaker (Hobby Stocks)
* Three-time heat winners include Bryan Klein (Late Models), Mike Burbridge (Modifieds); Johnathan Thimmesch (Modifieds), Norman Chesmore (Stock Cars), Sean Johnson (Stock Cars) and Lucas Lundry (SportMods).
* Only four drivers have finished in the top three of all six of their heats this season. They include Late Model drivers Tyler Bruening and Jon Passick, and Hobby Stock drivers August Bach and Jamie Whitaker.
FEELING THE HEAT - Vern Jackson has been dominating in IMCA Modified qualifiers this season. He has won five straight heat races entering July
Efficiency Stats
* A total of 115 races have been run this season.
* A total of 1,216 laps have been completed.
* A total of 142 caution flags have been thrown.
* Of the 42 races this season, 78 have been caution-free.
* 101 of the 142 cautions have occurred during features.
* The Hobby Stock division (20 cautions in 23 total events) has had the best caution per race ratio by averaging .87 cautions for every race.
* The Hobby Stock division (20 cautions in 227 total laps) has had the best caution per race lap ratio by averaging 11.35 laps of green flag racing between caution flags.
* There has been a total of only one caution flag in 17 heat races for the Hobby Stocks this season.
* The Late Model division leads the way by averaging 9.83 completed laps of feature racing before the first yellow flag. The last two Late Model features have been caution-free. Overall, the last 56 laps of Late Model feature racing have been completed without a single caution.
BEST OF CLASS - The IMCA Hobby Stocks may be considered an entry-level division, but they have put on the cleanest and most competitive shows week in and week out in 2011. The caution flag gets a breather when the Hobby Stocks go green as they have been slowed only 20 times all season. Of the 23 total Hobby Stock races this season, 16 have gone caution-free.
Since the year 1967...
* 650 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 6.8 events.
* 420 Modified feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 78 different winners. On average, a new Modified winner visits victory lane every 5.4 events.
* 268 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 6.9 events.
* 43 SportMod feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 13 different winners. On average, a new SportMod winner visits victory lane every 3.3 events.
* 329 Hobby Stock feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 85 different winners. On average, a new Hobby Stock winner visits victory lane every 3.9 events.
* Overall, in the last 44-plus seasons, there have been 1,710 features completed in the five divisions that currently compete at the speedway.
Qualifying Streaks
* The longest currently active feature qualifying streaks for weekly competition in each division include:
Late Model: Darren Ackerman has qualified for 65 consecutive features. His last miss was June 3, 2006.
Modified: Jerry Luloff has qualified for 203 consecutive features. His last miss was July 5, 1997.
Stock Car: Jarod Weepie has qualified for 142 consecutive features. His last miss was June 9, 2001.
Hobby Stock: Russell Damme Jr. has qualified for 25 consecutive features. His last miss was July 25, 2009.
SportMod: Jim Buhlman has qualified for all 43 features dating back to the first one at the speedway on June 21, 2008.
Rainout Trends
* The month of June was successfully completed without a single rainout. It marked the 74th time in 45 seasons that a calendar month during a single season saw no rainouts. Although the month of June has gone without a single rainout 20 times in the last 45 years, 2011 was the first time since 2004 that June did not have at least one rained out program. The last time any month went without a single rainout was August of 2010.
THE FORECAST
* There are five dates scheduled for weekly racing in the month of July this season (2, 9, 16, 23, 30). Of those, the only date to see a rainout in weekly racing history at Independence was July 9, 1988. All other 24 combined shows scheduled for those dates were successfully completed. The last time the month of July did not have a single rainout was 2008. The last time a July with five Saturdays didn’t have a rainout was 2006.
* Since 1967, there have been 20 months with five Saturdays that were completed without a single rainout at Independence. The most recent was August 2009.
* Since 1967, there have been 171 rainouts in 803 total weekly races scheduled. The month of July has had the best race-to-rainout ratio as only 26 events have been rained out of the 195 scheduled. That means 86.7% of all weekly shows scheduled for the month of July have been successfully completed.
* When breaking down the season into halves where May and June comprise the first half of the season (not including any April dates) and July and August comprise the second half, historically, there are nearly half as many rainouts during the second half of the season than there are in the first half. Entering 2011, there were 102 rainouts (now at 104 – remember, don’t count this April’s rainout for this) during the first half of the season and only 55 rainouts during the months of July and August.
Stuff Nobody Should Know…
* All six Late Model feature winners have come from different starting positions (1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10). Coincidentally, Luke Merfeld’s feature win from the pole position on June 11 is the only pole-sitter to finish the night in victory lane. In the first six weeks of each of the previous six seasons, there were 17 feature winners who started on the pole.
* The starting spot to produce the largest number of feature winners is outside row four. That position has produced six winners overall this season. The inside fifth row starting spot has produced five feature winners.
* The starting spots in the first five rows to produce the fewest number of feature winners include the pole position and inside row three (one winner each).
* No feature winners have come from the front row in the Modified, Stock Car and SportMod divisions. Only three front row starters have won this season, twice in Late Models and once in Hobby Stocks.
* Danny Dvorak and Lucas Lundry (SportMods) have finished in the top 10 all six nights, however neither has finished in the same position twice. Dvorak’s finishes, in order so far this season, are 5, 3, 1, 10, 4, 7. Lundry has had finishes of 2, 9, 3, 8, 1, 6. Likewise, in the Modifieds, Jerry Luloff has had six non-duplicated top-10 finishes of 7, 6, 9, 2, 5, 3. In the Late Models? Darren Ackerman has had six top-10 finishes of 4, 9, 1, 2, 6, 5. It may sound insignificant (and I’m sure it is), but it’s very uncommon, especially for four different drivers to have done it through six weeks of the same season.
* Aside from the four three-time feature winners this season (Tyler Bruening, Vern Jackson, Sean Johnson and Tyler Droste), only two other drivers have finished in the same top-10 finishing position on three separate occasions. Ray Lundry (SportMods) has had three third place finishes and Tony Schimmels (Stock Cars) has had three fifth place finishes. No Hobby Stock driver has finished in the same top-10 finishing position more than twice.
* Jamie Whitaker (Hobby Stocks) has the dubious distinction of leading the most feature laps through six weeks without a feature win. He has led 17 laps over the course of two separate features.
* Two drivers share the “honor” of leading the fewest laps this season, but still earning a win. Justin Temeyer (Stock Cars) has led a total of two laps this season - the final two laps of his feature win on June 4. Justin Lichty (Hobby Stocks) led only the final lap during his feature win on June 18, however he also led the very first lap of the opening night Hobby Stock feature on May 7.
WHEN IT COUNTS - Justin Temeyer has led only two laps of IMCA Stock Car action this year, but he did it when it mattered most. He led the final two laps on June 4 to make the trip to victory lane.
* Vern Jackson (Modifieds) has led at least one lap in each of the last five Modified features. In fact, he has led a minimum of four laps in each of those events. He seems to be most dominant in the middle of feature racing as he has led laps 9-12 in four of the last five weeks this season.
* Sean Johnson (Stock Cars) led all 15 laps in each of the three features he has won. He has held the lead in four of the six features so far this season, 54 of the 94 total Stock Car feature laps. While Johnson has led 45 laps during features he has won, the winners of the other three features in the division (Justin Temeyer and Dave Stricker) led for a combined 15 laps during their victory runs.
* On June 25, Jim Ball (#7B) became the first Hobby Stock driver with a letter in his car number to lead a lap of feature action. In the other divisions’ 24 combined features, a lettered number has led in 16 events.
* No driver has held the points lead following every week of the season. This will guarantee that, for the fifth consecutive year, there will be no wire-to-wire track champion. The last to do it? Brian Kunkle in the B Mod division in the 14-week 2006 season.
* Since the 1989 season, 87 track champions have been crowned among the five divisions that currently compete at Independence. Of those track champions, 49 were leading the points in their respective division at the end of June. The breakdown is as follows:
Late Model: 15 of 22 Late Model track champions held the points lead at the end of June, including Curt Martin (1991, 1999, 2006), Greg Hunter (1992), Gary Crawford (1993), Greg Kastli (1994, 2002, 2003), Rick Wendling (1995, 1996), Darren Ackerman (2004, 2007, 2009), Dale Hackwell Jr. (2008) and Tyler Bruening (2010).
Modified: 11 of 22 Modified track champions held the points lead at the end of June, including Tom Bartholomew (1990, 1992), Owen Grube (1993), Scott Hogan (1997, 2003), Jerry Luloff (1999, 2000, 2001), Troy Cordes (2002, 2010) and Darin Duffy (2009).
Stock Car: 10 of 18 Stock Car track champions held the points lead at the end of June, including Dan Trimble (1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004), Larry Portis (1995), Jarod Weepie (2005, 2007).
Hobby Stock: 12 of 22 Hobby Stock track champions held the points lead at the end of June, including Steve Holthaus (1989), Lon Gadow (1990), Forrest Frost (1992), Chris Wessner (1995), Doug Otto (1999), Jeff Roete (2000), Scooter Dulin (2001), Patrick Stansbery (2002, 2005), Brian Irvine (2004), Josh Irvine (2007) and Chris Luloff (2008).
SportMod: Austin Kaplan in 2010 is the only SportMod track champion to lead the points at the end of June the season he won a title. No SportMod driver has led the points at the end of every month during a championship season.
That will take care of this month. Check back at the end of July for the third Blitz of the summer! Thanks for reading!
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