Adam and Sean Johnson entered season championship night at Independence Motor Speedway in similar fashion - each holding three point leads in their respective divisions. They finished the night, and the season, the same way as the brothers from Independence made track history by becoming the first immediate family members to earn track titles in the same season.
Sean Johnson was simply dominant throughout the season in the IMCA Stock Car division. Entering championship night, his eight feature wins led all drivers at the speedway. He ended the night with his ninth win of the year as he earned the first track championship of his career.
At the start of the 15-lapper, Sean set the pace from his pole position start while Jarod Weepie gave chase. Needing only a top four finish to guarantee the track title, Johnson left no doubt as he led the event in its entirety to score the win.
Jarod Weepie, who entered the night second in points, battled Dave Stricker for second throughout much of the event. Weepie won that fight by crossing the line in second. Stricker, Roger Ciesielski and Norman Chesmore completed the top five.
It was Johnson's 17th career Stock Car win at the speedway, which moved him into sole possession of fifth place on the all-time list. He now sits just one win behind both Justin Temeyer and Weepie, who are tied for third. Johnson's win on championship night was his fifth straight in the division. The last time (and only time) a driver won that many in a row to finish a season in the division was when Larry Portis drove to six straight wins to close out the 1995 season.
For those wondering, the longest winning streak to span multiple seasons in the Stock Car division is seven straight wins. Portis did it by winning the opening night feature in 1997 to extend his streak from 1996. Dan Ttimble also won seven straight when he closed out the 1999 season with three straight wins before opening 2000 with four wins in a row.
Another category Johnson led this season was in total feature laps led. While I normally save this info for the monthly Stats Blitz, I think Sean is probably curious how he compared this season to the rest of the competition. With his 15 laps led on Saturday, Johnson reach 131 total feature laps led for the season. Not only did that lead all drivers at the speedway this season, nobody else was even close. In fact, three drivers from three other divisions tied for the second number of laps led. That number? 50. Luke Merfeld (Late Models), Vern Jackson (Modifieds) and Tyler Droste (SportMods) tied at that mark. The driver who led the second most Stock Car feature laps behind Johnson? Dave Stricker with 26.
Weepie, who was arguably the most consistent driver at the speedway this season, came up just four points shy in the final standings. He was the only driver at the speedway to record top-10 finishes in all 14 features this season.
Adam Johnson looked to match hs brother's efforts in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. From his pole position start, Adam took command at the drop of the green while Troy Cordes slipped past front row starter Jerry Luloff for second. Johnson paced the field and extended his advantage while his pursuers battled and Darin Duffy cahrged through the pack from a fourth row start.
Johnson entered lapped traffic just prior to the first caution at the midway point as Duffy closed in on Cordes and Luloff. When racing resumed, Duffy worked the top groove to battle for second while Johnson again took charge. Luloff and Duffy both slipped past Cordes for second and third before one final pair of stoppages on lap 12.
On the final restart, Duffy worked past Luloff with just five laps to go. He tried both high and low to make his way around Johnson, however Johnson had the field covered as he drove to the win. Duffy, Luloff, Cordes and Vern Jackson completed the top five.
It was Johnson's fourth win of the season and the eighth of his career in the Modifieds at Independence. The victory moved him into a tie for 11th on the division's all-time wins list at the speedway. He shares that spot with Greg Kastli, Joey Schaefer and Kevin Pittman.
Johnson closed the season with three wins in the last five weeks. He also had seven straight top-10 finishes to finish the season, the longest such streak in the division.
By virtue of his win on Saturday, Johnson joined Jackson as four-time winners in the division this season. Multiple drivers with at least four wins in the same season is a rarity in the Modifieds as it has now happened only five times in the 29-year history of the division at the speedway. Previous years and drivers to accomplish that feat were Tom Bartholomew (4 wins) and Ron Barker (4) in 1989, Vern Jackson (4) and Keith Pittman (4) in 1997, Darin Duffy (5) and Tim McBride (4) in 1998, and Darin Duffy (4) and Troy Cordes (4) in 2000.
Additional records were matched or set in other championship features, as well. Vince Buchholz became only the third driver in 23 years to earn his second track championship in the IMCA Hobby Stocks and Tyler Droste became the fourth different IMCA SportMod track champion in as many years. Doing so, Droste may very well have become the youngest track champion in track history. Jon Passick also earned title honors as he won his first career championship in the IMCA Late Models.
In the 15-lap Hobby Stock feature, Rod Grother worked past pole-sitter Buchholz for the early lead from his second row starting spot. Grother paced the field for a pair of laps until Buchholz inched ahead just prior to a lap three caution.
On the restart, Buchholz held the point and survived another mid-race caution to take track title honors with his first win of the season. Grother ran second ahead of a hard-charging Quinton Miller, who started in the sixth row. Chris Wiltse edged his father, Steve Wiltse, at the line for fourth.
Buchholz, the 2003 Hobby Stock titlist, joined Patrick Stansbery (2002, 2005) and Josh Irvine (2007, 2009) as the only Hobby Stock drivers in track history with multiple titles. The win on championship night gave Buchholz 11 in the division at Independence. That moved him into a tie with Stansbery for fifth on the all-time list. Buchholz closed the season with four straight top-five finishes, the longest such streak in the division.
Buchholz also extended another record he already held in the division entering the night. Following his win, 6,664 days now span his first and most recent wins in the division. That 18 year, two month and 29 day span is more than double of any other Hobby Stock driver. Second on that list? Chris Luloff, whose first and most recent Hobby Stock wins span seven years, one month and 25 days.
Droste made his first-ever championship run an entertaining one in the SportMod division. The 15-year old driver took the challenge and started at the tail of his feature, in attempt to double his money with a feature win. Although he was given an extra five laps to take the challenge, he didn't even need the 15 laps normally allotted for the SportMods as he scored the come-from-behind win and earned the track title in the process.
Danny Dvorak, the division's first-ever track title winner in 2008, inherited the pole when Droste elected to start at the rear. Dvorak held the point throughout a trio of cautions over the first three laps. Matt McCahen and Jim Buhlman pursued the leader while Droste made his way through the field when racing resumed.
Droste worked his way back into the runner-up spot just shy of the midway point, then set his sights on Dvorak. He worked the low side of Dvorak's #3R and made his bid for the lead just after the completion of the 13th lap. Droste then survived a pair of late cautions to score the victory and track championship.
It was the seventh win for Droste this season, which eclipsed the mark of six SportMod wins in a season at the speedway. That record was set by Josh Sherbon last season. The victory was the eighth of Droste's career, dating back to season championship night last season when he earned his first win at Independence. He finished the season third on the division's all-time wins list behind Sherbon (12 wins) and Dvorak (9).
Droste finished the season with nine straight top-4 finishes, the longest top-4 streak at the speedway all season. Five of those finishes were feature wins.
Passick completed the list of first time track titlists as he earned top honors in the IMCA Late Model division. Darren Ackerman held the early in that 30-lapper, which was lengthened by five laps when Tyler Bruening and Greg Kastli took the challenge and started at the tail.
From his outside front row start, Ackerman shot into the lead at the drop of the green before Passick made his way to the front by lap two. A pair of cautions slowed the early going, however Passick maintained the lead throughout the yellows.
Passick extended his advantage while Travis Smock and Dale Hackwell Jr. battled for second. Dean Wagner and Curt Martin, who each started in the middle of the pack, made strong runs through the field and into the top five.
As Passick approached lapped traffic at the midway point, Smock and Hackwell started to close the gap. A scary moment for Passick came when the leader ventured upon the lapped car of Scott Welsh. Welsh spun in the middle of the straightaway as Passick was exiting turn four. He narrowly missed contact with the backmarker while Hackwell took advantage of the scattering cars to pass Smock for second.
Passick welcomed clear track in front of him when the caution flag reappeared with 10 laps to go. He maintained the point while Martin and Wagner challenged Hackwell for second after Smock faded to fifth. Martin worked past Hackwell, but was unable to chase down Passick, allowing Passick to drive to the win and track title. Hackwell fought off challenges from Wagner to take third. Bruening came home fifth.
It was the second career win for Passick, his first coming just seven weeks ago, and his first track title. Passick became the fourth conseuctive different Late Model track champion at the speedway, the longest stretch of different winners in 10 years. The last time the Late Models saw four straight different titlists was during a span from 1998-2001 when Kevin Pittman, Curt Martin, Darin Burco and Greg Kastli won championships.
Passick finished the season with four straight top-5 finishes, the longest such streak in the division. He was also the only Late Model driver to record 13 top-10 finishes in 14 nights of racing this season.
Another record was matched last night, although I mentioned at the track that it was a first-time occurrence this season. (Yes, Mike Neilly, I do make my share of mistakes!) I stated last night that it was the first time in track history that all feature winners on championship night earned track championships. Since the track went to a minimum of four weekly divisions in the 1980s, one other time have all season championship winners earned track titles the same season. Last night was the second time in track history that was accomplished, the first time coming in 1995. Drivers who won championship features and track titles that season included Rick Wendling (IMCA Late Models), Steve Droste (IMCA Modifieds), Larry Portis (IMCA Stock Cars), Chris Wessner (Hobby Stocks) and Vern Jackson (Pro Stocks).
A number of other statistical oddities stand out this season, as well. In the Late Models, there were 10 different feature winners over the course of the 14-week season. That ties for the third most in the last 45 years and the most since 1975 when there were 12 winners. There were 11 different winners in 1970. Having 10 different winners in the Late Model division appears to be the norm. This season was the 10th time since 1976 that there were exactly 10 different winners in the division. This season was also the third time in the last five years there were exactly 10 different winners. That theme doesn't stop at the Late Models...
The Modifieds offered similar numbers as, for the fifth time in the last seven years, there were exactly seven different feature winners in the division. Nine times in 29 years have exactly seven different drivers won Modified features.
Despite Sean Johnson's dominance, there were five different feature winners in the Stock Cars. Again, five winners is the norm in that division, as well, as the division has produced exactly five different winners six times in the division's 19 year history at the speedway. There have been exactly five different Stock Car winners in three of the last four seasons.
In the short four-year history of the SportMod division at the speedway, the number of feature winners per year has ranged from five to seven. This season, and for the second time in track history, there were six different winners. It is the second straight year that exactly six different drivers won SportMod features.
For the second straight year and the fourth year overall, the Hobby Stock division produced nine different feature winners. Chris Luloff kept a strak alive in that division this season. Every year since the division started competing at Independence (1989), at least one driver every season has won a minimum of three features. Including 2011, Luloff alone now has four seasons in a Hobby Stock with three-plus wins, the most of any driver in the division's history.
Special thank you to Cam and Jodi Granger of CJ Promotions and the Buchanan County Fair Board for another great year of racing at the speedway. While the racing is done, there are still a bunch of numbers to be crunched. I'll have the final Stats Blitz of the season posted sometime this week. I'm hoping for tomorrow night, but this one will be a doozy so it may be later in the week. I'm heading back to Benton County Speedway in Vinton tonight and then bowling league Tuesday (yes, I joined a bowling league for the first time in nearly 15 years), so the Blitz will be posted either early or late this week.
At the end of the week, I plan to head to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the annual two-day Pepsi USA Late Model Nationals, the next event on the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models schedule. Then, next Sunday, I'll be at Cresco Speedway for the Corn Belt Clash Late Model Series before heading to Boone Speedway to help call the action all week at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals. That will be nine straight days of racing so, yeah, I guess I better get my tail started on that Stats Blitz! Hope to see everyone at Vinton tonight!
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