Monday, August 29, 2011

Burbridge, Murty, Parizek among winners at Benton County Speedway

Benton County Speedway closed out the month of August with great racing in all five divisions on one of the best racing surfaces of the year, which is saying a lot considering the Vinton 1/4-mile has been in tip-top shape all season. Eighty cars signed in to compete as the season enters its stretch run.

Mike Burbridge picked up his third win of the season in the IMCA Modified division. From his third row starting spot, Burbridge used the low groove to make his way into contention as he battled Tony Olson and Brandon Banks for the lead.

Olson held the early lead as he put his #T23 on the high side of the speedway while Banks ran the middle groove with Burbridge down low. Olson, Burbridge, Banks and Troy Cordes worked side-by-side, two rows deep during the early stages before Burbridge and Banks both pulled to the inside of Olson for the lead. The leaders ran three-wide down the back stretch before Burbridge took over on the third lap.

As Burbridge led, Banks settled into second while Joe Docekal and Scott Hogan worked through the field from fourth row starting spots. They made their way into the top four before Docekal's engine let go, forcing him to an early exit. Hogan pestered Banks for the runner-up spot while Burbridge pulled away for the win. Banks crossed the line second ahead of Hogan.

1. 11B Mike Burbridge
2. 22 Brandon Banks
3. 33D Scott Hogan
4. 10K Ronn Lauritzen
5. 71 Troy Cordes
6. F7 Patrick Flannagan
7. T23 Tony Olson
8. 32 Chris Snyder
9. 7 Todd Jensen
10. 17X Mike Krall
11. 5 Jerry Dedrick
12. 7T Tim McBride
13. 12D Joe Docekal
14. 17 Dawn Krall
15. 25 Shawn Fisher
16. 111 Buster Pate (DNS)

Damon Murty raced through the field from a fifth row starting spot to earn his fifth IMCA Stock Car win of the season. It was inside second row starter Andrew Burk who held the early advantage. Burk worked past Rick Kriegel and John Schaefer to secure the lead by the completion of the first lap.

Burk maintained the top spot while Murty was charging both high and low through the field. He reeled in Burk by lap five, then made his way around him one lap later to steal the lead. Murty survived a trio of cautions over the final half of the event to earn the win in the 15-lapper. John Emerson, who started in the sixth row, came home second ahead of points leader Scooter Dulin.

1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 287 John Emerson
3. 3T Scooter Dulin
4. 15 Norman Chesmore
5. 6X Bob Ahrendsen
6. G1 Mike Padden
7. 17R Rick Kriegel
8. 76 Mike Galli
9. 8 Curtis Roster
10. 10 John Schaefer
11. 37C Roger Ciesielski
12. 20B Andrew Burk
13. 7H Phil Holtz

Kyle Parizek scored his second IMCA Hobby Stock win of the season, his first since May 22. Parizek held off persistent challenges from Jacob Keiser to score the exciting win.

From his pole position start, Parizek took charge at the drop of the green and held the point running the low groove while Keiser worked the top side of the speedway. Matt Brown and points leader Scott Pippert pursued the leaders in double-wide formation.

Keiser proved to be too fast on the high side throughout much of the event until Parizek inched ahead with five laps remaining. He held off a late surge from Brown to score the victory. Pippert worked past Keiser with three laps to go to finish third. Parizek's victory brought an end to Pippert's five race winning streak, which dated back to July 24.

1. 17K Kyle Parizek
2. 78 Matt Brown
3. 47 Scott Pippert
4. 07 Jacob Keiser
5. 09 Brad Forbes
6. 2P Cale Petersen
7. 67 Justin Stander
8. 45 Justin Wacha
9. 55 Vince Buchholz
10. 19K Erick Knutsen
11. 77 Rod Grother
12. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.
13. 44J Gabe Phelps
14. 25 Doug Laughridge
15. 6JN Justin Ginther
16. 1 Scott Siems

Steve Miedke led the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature in its entirety, however Jacob McVay stood in the winner's circle for the first time this season after Miedke was disqualified during post-race inspection.

1. 8M Jacob McVay
2. 51 Bryce Bailey
3. 2ND Brad Chandler
4. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.
5. 1 Merv Chandler
6. 35 Brett Vanous
7. 22 Nathan Chandler
8. 36DD Gary Peiffer
9. 007 Adam Gates
10. 07X Tyler Whalen
11. 83 Travis Ross
12. 3S Craig Streeter
13. A1 Louis Trachta
14. 07 Joe Goodenbauer

Chaos ensued in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod main event. A number of cautions involving questionable driving at the front of the pack led to a number of lead changes well into the late stages of that feature. Bryan Rodman took the lead at the drop of the green from his pole position start. He showed the way while Jared Van Deest gave chase.

Danny Dvorak, who started in the sixth row, was making his way through the pack before being blindsided by Kyle Olson exiting turn four a couple of laps into the event. Although the contact slowed Dvorak's progress and affected a number of cars, everyone kept moving, with the exception of Olson who was pulled from the race for questionable driving. The race stayed green until the yellow flag waved for another incident on lap four.

On the restart, Dvorak continued his march to the front, settling into second just past the midway point. By that time, Rodman built half of a straightaway advantage. Dvorak reeled in the leader a couple laps later and made his bid for the lead as the flying green waved. Contact between the leaders, however, sent Dvorak to the infield with substantial damage and Rodman to the pits for questionable driving.

Curt Hilmer inherited the lead for the ensuing restart with Jared Van Deest and Kyle Brown behind him. When the green flag waved, Brown shot to the inside of Van Deest in turns one and two in a battle for second. The only problem with that, you ask? There was juuuuuust enough room to the inside of Van Deest's machine to spread out a crying towel a number of the SportMod drivers (and many fans in the stands) needed tonight. Needless to say, Brown wheel-hopped Van Deest, spinning both of them out, littering the corner with debris to bring out another caution.

With Van Deest in the pits after having suffered too much damage and Brown at the tail of the field due to his involvement in the incident, Ken Kositzky and Drew Fish restarted in second and third. Hilmer held on over the course of the final green-white-checkered finish (as much as I don't like NASCAR, their "mercy rule" of green-white-checker finishes would have worked well tonight) to take his second win of the season, both in the last three weeks.

1. 22H Curt Hilmer
2. K0 Ken Kositzky
3. 3D Drew Fish
4. J2 Dave Schulze
5. 14 Shane Ebaugh
6. 3B Brian Anderson
7. 21X Kyle Brown
8. 00 Jim Buhlman
9. 28P Rick Paulson
10. 21A Mark Angotti
11. 80 Jared Van Deest
12. 08 Bryan Rodman
13. 3R Danny Dvorak
14. 33 Ed O'Brien
15. 3 Dave McCalla
16. K3 Kyle Olson
17. 14E Al Sweerin
18. 23 Jeramia Boynton
19. B7 Blake Carson
20. 57R (no driver info)

Joining flagman John Huff in the flagstand the last couple weeks has offered me a different perspective from which to both view the races and listen to the fans in the stands. Tonight, plenty of entertainment was offered from both sides of the front stretch wall.

While writing tonight's blog, I've been trying to determine which side offered the more embarrassing form of entertainment - the applause one SportMod driver offered when a fellow competitor was knocked out of the event or the unnecessary grumblings from those in the grandstands.

Let's start with the driver side of things. Not only is it inappropriate to cheer when someone is knocked out of a race, it's unprofessional and embarrassing to crew, fans and sponsors when a driver makes a spectacle of himself by leading the parade as he, himself, is being towed from the infield following his own act of questionable driving.

As for the fans, there were many boos when the black flag came out tonight. Apparently, drivers and fans want fairness and consistency in calls unless, of course, it applies to "their" driver.

From where I was standing tonight, I honestly feel the right calls were made on the track, especially in the SportMod feature. The drivers that were penalized for the cautions were rightly scolded and sent to the corner. I will be the first to agree that not all "questionable" driving is equivalent to "intentional" driving, meaning some drivers may not mean to create contact or be the reason for a caution, however a call needs to be made if and when it happens.

While the contact in the first caution involving questionable driving appeared to be intentional from my vantage point, the contact in the second and third incidents didn't appear to be quite so blatant. Heck, it may even have been accidental or the case of a driver just racing for the lead. Either way, blame must be assessed by the track officials and in both cases, whether intentional or not, the driving was certainly questionable. As a result, whether everyone may or may not like it, the correct calls were made in both cases. I've always been a believer that if the caution flag waves, there must have been a reason. And, if there's a reason, a penalty must be assessed. It doesn't mean anyone "meant to," it just means that someone "did."

In the end, I feel sorry for Danny Dvorak tonight being the human pinball (I guess he found a place to spend that extra money he earned from the Cash Dash and Australian Pursuit on Saturday night), as much as I feel bad for Bryan Rodman, who was in search of his first win of the season. As for anyone who is upset at the calls that were made, let me grab that towel for you, I think it's sitting down in turns one and two...

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