Fauser earns first win at Independence Motor Speedway

A new face graced victory lane at Independence Motor Speedway on Saturday night as Kirk Fauser earned his first career win at the speedway. Fauser became the 40th different driver to make his way to the winner's circle in the 19th season of the Stock Car division at Independence.

Following a caution after the completion of the first lap of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car main event, Fauser, who was running fourth at the time, motored past Paul Fauser, Tim Helle and Austin Evens to take the lead on lap two. Pursued by Roger Ciesielski, Fauser maintained a couple car-length advantage while Tom Schmitt worked the low side of Ciesielski for second.

While Ciesielski successfully held Schmitt at bay, Fauser was able to hold onto his advantage out front. He led the remainder of the event to earn the milestone win. Ciesielski ran second at the line ahead of Jarod Weepie, Sean Johnson and Phil Holtz. Questionable driving both during and following the event resulted in the disqualifications of Schmitt and points leader Dave Stricker. Relegated to a finish toward the back, Stricker lost the points lead to Weepie.

FAST FAUSER - Kirk Fauser earned his first-ever win on the Independence oval as he topped the field in the IMCA Stock Car division. (all photos courtesy of Scott Tjabring / Action Track Photography)

Chris Wiltse took advantage of a late caution to take his second win of the season in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Jeremy Floyd held the point for the first two circuits before Jamie Whitaker slipped beneath him to snag the lead on lap three.

While Whitaker led, Wiltse was running the low groove into contention after starting in row four. He entered the top four just prior to a lap five caution. As Wiltse made his march to the front, Justin Lichty was running the high groove from a fifth row start, settling into fifth.

Just two laps after the restart, Wiltse worked into second, then Lichty followed him into third just prior to the race's second stoppage on lap 10. Following that restart, Whitaker again took charge while Wiltse and Lichty battled behind him. When it appeared that Whitaker was headed for his second straight Independence Day weekend victory at the speedway, the caution flag waved one final time with just two laps to go.

On the final restart, Wiltse shot to the inside of Whitaker and inched ahead as the leaders entered turn one. He pulled away from the field to take the exciting win. Whitaker held off Lichty for second and points leader Vince Buchholz finished fourth ahead of Rod Grother. The third win of his career, Wiltse moved into a tie for 34th on the all-time list at the speedway.

LATE MOVER - Chris Wiltse (96) works the low groove past Jamie Whitaker (25) to drive to victory in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature.

Tyler Droste earned a track-leading fourth win of the season in exciting fashion in the IMCA SportMod 15-lapper. Pole-sitter Kim Siems took the lead at the drop of the green until the race was slowed for caution following lap one. By that time, fourth row starter Danny Dvorak made quick work of the field and found himself in fourth place for the ensuing restart.

When racing resumed, Dvorak sped past Matt McCahen and Droste to settle into second on lap two. He chased Siems until he was able to make his bid for the lead on the low side following a lap six caution. Dvorak then held the point until he exited turn four on the final lap. He spun in the low side of the corner, which allowed Droste to sneak by for the win. Siems ran second ahead of Jim Buhlman, points leader Ray Lundry and Josh Sherbon. The fifth win of his career, Droste now sits tied for third on the all-time list with Austin Kaplan.

UNEXPECTED DESTINATION - Tyler Droste was expecting a second place run as the laps disappeared in the IMCA SportMod feature. A late spin by the leader, however, changed those fortunes as Droste drove to his fourth win of the season.

Justin O'Brien led all 20 laps of the IMCA Modified feature to score his first win of the season. From his second row start, O'Brien rocketed beneath front row starters Jeff Kriz and Jeff Streeter and quickly pulled away from the field. He encountered lapped traffic just prior to the midway point of the race as the only caution of the event waved on lap nine.

By that time, Darin Duffy, who started outside of the fifth row, was running the high side of the speedway into contention. He restarted in fourth and made his way into the runner-up position on lap 13. Although he was able to cut into O'Brien's sizable lead, O'Brien held on to score the wire-to-wire win. King, Ronn Lauritzen and points leader Jerry Luloff completed the top five. The fourth win of his career at Independence, O'Brien moved into a tie for 31st on the all-time list.

JUST WIN JUSTIN - Justin O'Brien led all 20 laps of the IMCA Modified feature to score his first win of 2011.

The IMCA Late Model division continues to impress as that division's 25-lap feature ran caution-free for the third consecutive week. Inside second row starter Luke Merfeld made his way past Joel Brasch and Drew Johnson to take over the top spot on lap one. He quickly distanced himself from the field while Travis Smock gave chase.

Merfeld encountered lapped traffic at the 11-lap mark, allowing Smock to close the gap. Smock momentarily pulled to within a car-length of the leader, however Merfeld was smooth through the backmarkers and escaped with the win, his second of the season. Smock ran second ahead of Brasch, Greg Kastli and Curt Martin.

WIRE-TO-WIRE WINNER - Luke Merfeld led the IMCA Late Model feature from green to checkers to take his second win of the season in the caution-free event.

Mark Woodley of KWWL in Waterloo was also on-hand for tonight's program. The TV station plans to profile the city of Independence as part of its Iowa Proud series. Mark was all over the fairgrounds tonight and shot a lot of footage and conducted interviews with Late Model driver Drew Johnson and SportMod driver Tyler Droste. You can check out the story on the speedway when it airs next Sunday, July 10.

That's all for tonight. I'm headed back to Benton County Speedway in Vinton tomorrow, followed up by a trip to Burlington on Monday for the UMP Summernationals stop at 34 Raceway. I hope to see you there!