The calendar offered some eerie coincidences for a pair of drivers Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway. For one, a trip to the winner's circle matched an all-time record at the speedway while another driver's victory came six years to the date of his first win.
In the IMCA Late Model division, Greg Kastli drove to his 41st career win in weekly racing at Independence - 32 years, one month and 14 days after his first win in the division on June 30, 1979. That span of 11,732 days exactly matches the span between the first and final feature wins for Red Dralle at the speedway. The span is the longest between first and last (most recent?) wins of all drivers in Independence track history.
At the start of the 25-lap feature, first-year Late Model driver and pole-sitter Russell Hesse shot into the lead. He quickly pulled away from the field, leaving Tysus Pattee, Curt Martin and Joel Brasch to battle for second. Kastli, meanwhile, was racing through traffic from a fifth row start and into the top three after just three laps.
Running the low groove, Kastli swept past Pattee for second at the five lap mark, then worked to run down the leader. Kastli reeled in Hesse and was making his move for the lead when the race's first caution waved on lap 10.
On the restart, Kastli made his way around Hesse to take command before the caution flag waved a final time on the following lap when Hesse spun in turn four. Kastli then pulled away from Jon Passick to score the milestone win. Passick ran second ahead of Curt Martin, Jeff Aikey and Darren Ackerman.
Passick took over the points lead since points leader Tyler Bruening was absent from the night's program. Bruening was serving as best man in a college friend's wedding in Wisconsin and was probably one of few who was hoping for a rain out on Saturday. Your friends need to schedule their social events a little better, Tyler!
Sean Johnson also had Father Time on his side Saturday night. The IMCA Stock Car driver earned his seventh feature win of the season and the 15th of his career at Independence on the six-year anniversary of his first win at the speedway.
Front row starter Tim Helle took the early lead in the 15-lapper. Helle paced the field by a few car-lengths while Norman Chesmore, Jason Niedert, John Emerson, Austin Evens, Kirk Fauser and Johnson battled three-wide, two rows deep behind him. The caution flag slowed the action when Evens spun in turn four on the fourth lap.
On the restart, Helle continued to show the way as Johnson drove the low line to the front in his #8R. Johnson swept beneath his competitors and into the top three by lap eight, then rocketed past Helle and Chesmore to snare the lead as the front-runners exited lap four on the following lap.
Johnson pulled away to lead the remainder of the event to score the victory ahead of Helle, Chesmore, points leader Jarod Weepie and Fauser. His track-leading seventh win of the season and the 15th of his career at Independence, Johnson moved into a tie for sixth on the all-time list with Tom Schmitt. He now sits a single win behind Larry Portis for fifth in that category.
Just two weeks ago, Johnson and his brother Adam shared the spotlight when both drivers won features in their respectrive divisions. They repeated that feat Saturday as Adam Johnson took top honors in the 20-lap IMCA Modified main event.
Outside front row starter Keith Pittman took the early lead and paced the field through two early cautions. On a lap four restart, Troy Cordes, who started inside of row five, made his way around Pittman to assume the lead. Cordes led while Johnson, who started in the seventh row, was making his way through traffic. By the time the final caution waved on lap eight, Johnson was sitting in third place.
Running the low groove when racing resumed, Johnson stayed close to Cordes, then took advantage when Cordes pushed in turn four on the ninth lap. Johnson took command at that point and led the remainder of the event to score the victory, his third of the season. Cordes crossed the line in second ahead of Darin Duffy, who started in the sixth row. Shawn Ryan and Ronn Lauritzen completed the top five.
Johnson's win marked the first time this season that a driver won a feature after failing to qualify for the point invert in his heat. The seventh Modified win of his career at Independence, Johnson is now tied for 14th on the all-time wins list with Deon Turner, Ed Thomas, John Light, Mark Noble, Max Corporon, Mike Sampson, Ron Barker and Tim McBride.
A pair of drivers led wire-to-wire in their respective divisions to earn feature victories. In the IMCA SportMod division, Jim Aschenbrenner took command at the drop of the green from his pole position starting spot. Aschenbrenner fought off the challenges of Jim Buhlman and then Tyler Droste to earn his first-ever SportMod win.
Droste made a late charge through traffic from his fifth row start to battle for the lead following a lap 12 caution in the 15-lapper. Droste's bid came up a bumper short at the line as the points leader settled for second. Buhlman, Matt McCahen and Brennen Chipp rounded out the top five. Aschenbrenner became the 14th different SportMod winner in the division's four year history at the track.
Chris Luloff soared to his second straight win in the IMCA Hobby Stock division and third victory in the last five weeks. From his outside second row start, Luloff took charge by the completion of the first lap, then drove away from the field to score the convincing win. Steve Wiltse edged out Chris Wiltse by half of a car-length for second. Points leader Vince Buchholz and Justin Wacha completed the top five.
Only two weeks of racing remain on the calendar for Independence and three divisions have extremely close points battles. The leading contenders in the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks are separated by single digits atop the standings, so the final two weeks of racing should provide more than its share of excitement.
Up next for me is a return trip to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for another Sunday of action on the quarter-mile. Hope to see you there!
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