Gustin, Murty, Dvorak among winners on opening night at Benton County Speedway

Benton County Speedway got the jump on this week's five-day Frostbuster marathon by opening the gates for the first time in 2012 on Sunday night. Although it was the first event of the season, the special was not IMCA-sanctioned and, therefore, not a track points event. The race program allowed drivers to shake down their cars, yet vie for purse money in the process.

A strong field of 19 Modifieds signed in for the draw/redraw show and it was Troy Cordes who drew the pole for the 20-lap main event. He, along with fellow front row starter Adam Johnson, held serve at the drop of the green while Joe Docekal and Mike Burbridge pursued. An early caution following lap one, which collected Ed Thomas, Scott Hogan, Tim McBride and Wayne Struchen, led to a quick restart.

When racing resumed, Cordes again took charge, pulling to half of a straightaway lead just shy of the midway point of the race. As Docekal challenged Johnson for second, Docekal suffered a flat tire, forcing him to the pits. Meanwhile, Richie Gustin, who started alongside Docekal in the fourth row, was working through traffic and settled into fourth at the time of Docekal's misfortune.

As the leaders were making their way through lapped traffic with five laps remaining, Burbridge, who was running third, spun out in turns one and two to bring out the next caution. Just prior to the stoppage, Mark Schulte snuck past Gustin and held the third spot for the ensuing restart. When racing resumed, Schulte struggled to navigate the low side of turns one and two and spun out to bring out the third and final caution.

On the final restart, Cordes continued to hold the point while Gustin challenged Johnson for second. Just after the completion of lap 16, Cordes slowed when the water temp sending unit worked itself out of the intake on his machine, forcing him to an early exit. Gustin quickly worked beneath Johnson in turns one and two to snag the lead. Gustin led the final three laps to drive to the season-opening win.

Johnson chased Gustin across the line in second ahead of Jerry King. Hogan raced his way through the pack following the lap one caution to come home fourth ahead of Burbridge, who made a strong run following his lap 15 caution.

Gustin, Schulte and Johnson were heat winners.

MODIFIEDS
1. 19G Richie Gustin
2. 24R Adam Johnson
3. 70 Jerry King
4. 33D Scott Hogan
5. 11B Mike Burbridge
6. 1J Jeff Streeter
7. 27M Mark Schulte
8. 17 Dawn Krall
9. 34B Wayne Struchen
10. 15D Dustin Johnson
11. 71 Troy Cordes
12. 12D Joe Docekal
13. 91 Shawn Ryan
14. 1X Stephen Streeter
15. 1JR Ben Chapman
16. 01 Ed Thomas
17. 7T Tim McBride
DNS F7 Patrick Flannagan
DNS 26P Kevin Pittman

Outside front row starter and defending track champion Scooter Dulin took the early lead in the 15-lap Stock Car feature. He set the pace while Damon Murty worked the high side of Thomas Thompson for the runner-up spot.

Following an early mishap, the leaders encountered lapped traffic after only a couple of circuits, which allowed Murty to sneak past Thompson for second. A trio of backmarkers got back up to speed as the leaders came around turn four to complete lap three, littering the top few spots with lapped traffic.

As Dulin navigated a pair of side-by-side lapped cars, Murty snuck beneath the leader to take over the top spot. He proceeded to pull away from the pack to take the checkers by a straightaway margin ahead of hard-charging Austin Evens and Jason Deshaw. Evens was the heat race winner.

STOCK CARS
1. 99D Damon Murty
2. 9E Austin Evens
3. 21DE Jason Deshaw
4. 3T Scooter Dulin
5. 83E Thomas Thompson
6. 15 Norman Chesmore
7. 76 Mike Galli
8. 87 John Emerson

The pair of drivers who have earned the last three SportMods track championships were looking to make it a two-man race at the front of that 15-lap feature event as pole-sitter Austin Kaplan and outside second row starter Danny Dvorak quickly pulled away from the field.

Kaplan set the pace while Dvorak worked the low side of the leader, looking for a way to the front. After a handful of laps of working the bottom groove, Dvorak settled into the second spot as the leaders pulled to a near straightaway advantage. That lead was diminished when the caution flag waved on lap six.

On the restart, Kaplan again held the point, however he slowed as the leaders made their way off turn two. He pulled to the infield with mechanical problems, leaving Dvorak unchallenged out front. Dvorak led the remainder of the event to score the victory ahead of Kyle Olson and Jim Buhlman.

Dvorak and Olson won the heat races.

SPORTMOD
1. 3R Danny Dvorak
2. K3 Kyle Olson
3. 00 Jim Buhlman
4. 3 Dave McCalla
5. J2 Dave Schulze
6. 40J Jason Doyle
7. 11M Mike Mitchell
8. S16 Kip Siems
9. 1 Austin Kaplan
10. 30 Josh Modde
11. 86 Rod McDonald
12. 11 Al Sweerin
DNS 3B Brian Anderson
DNS 63 Matt McCahen

Defending Hobby Stock track champion Scott Pippert picked up where he spent much of 2011 - in victory lane. Pippert, who started outside of row two for the 15-lap feature, worked his way around the high side of front row starter Justin Stander on the second lap to drive to the win.

Pippert built a sizable lead by the time he entered lapped traffic on the fourth circuit while Stander worked to hold off Nathan Ballard for second. Ballard made his way into the runner-up spot just past the midway point of the event, and just before Stander dropped a drive shaft in turn two to bring out the race's only caution.

On the restart, Ballard was glued to Pippert's rear bumper until Ballard got his #29 sideways in turns one and two, dropping a handful of positions to the field. Although Ballard worked his way back into the second spot in the waning laps, Pippert showed once again that he is still the class of the field as he drove to the win.

Pippert and Laughridge were heat race winners.

HOBBY STOCKS
1. 47 Scott Pippert
2. 29 Nathan Ballard
3. 25 Doug Laughridge
4. 2P Cale Petersen
5. 166 Justin Lichty
6. 55 Vince Buchholz
7. 09 Braydon Forbes
8. 67 Justin Stander
9. 77 Rod Grother
10. 12OZ No driver information provided... (Sam Adams? Spuds McKenzie? Stroker Ace? Bud Miller? Mike H. Lemonade?)
11. 45 Justin Wacha
DNS 26 Nathan Christie

Similar to much of the 2011 season, a trio of Chandlers filled out the top three positions in the Sport Compact feature. Nathan Chandler took command of the 12-lapper when he worked beneath Jacob McVay to steal the lead on lap three. Chandler led the remainder of the event to take the opening night win. Merv Chandler and Brad Chandler also made their way past McVay in the waning laps to complete the top three. Merv and Nathan Chandler won the heats.

SPORT COMPACTS
1. 22 Nathan Chandler
2. 2 Merv Chandler
3. 00W Brad Chandler
4. 8M Jacob McVay
5. 11 Steve Miedke
6. 35 Brett Vanous
7. 75 Louis Trachta
8. 12 Duane Herb
9. 18J Jaycee Floyd
10. 9 Toby Denning
DNS 007 Adam Gates

Opening night tidbits: The car count was assisted tonight when Farley Speedway twice-delayed its season opener. Originally scheduled for Saturday night, the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models event was rescheduled for Sunday due to wet grounds. Sunday's make-up was pushed back to this Friday, April 6, for the same reason. A number of Modifieds who planned to make the trip to Farley for the Modified portion of that show made the trip to Vinton on Sunday... Kevin Pittman is making his return to IMCA Modified racing this season. After a claim refusal a couple of seasons ago, Pittman had his familiar #26P at the Vinton oval on Sunday night. Unfortunately for Pittman, engine problems during his heat prevented him from making the call for the feature... Hobby Stock veteran Rod Grother, who has had tire demons in past seasons, suffered through a pair of flat tires during the opener - one in his heat and another in the feature... Sport Compact driver Louis Trachta changed his number for the 2012 season, in honor of former BCS driver Ron Tharp. Tharp, a former Hobby Stock champion at the speedway, passed away unexpectedly during the off-season. A memorial race for Tharp will be held later this season... Hobby Stock driver Justin Stander was planning on taking off at least the 2012 season. That is, if he sold his car. Stander didn't sell the car this off-season so he plans to run the 2012 season at area tracks... Jason Deshaw is the new driver of the Dominator Chassis house car. Justin Temeyer formerly piloted that machine as the #56T, however Deshaw will be competing all season at BCS in the #21DE. Deshaw has spent some time behind the wheel of a Stock Car over the years, primarily at BCS. For area fans who may not remember, he and Shane Manson split duties between Vinton and Independence in their own #21 in recent years. If you're not familiar with Deshaw, he has had some great runs at Vinton in the past. You can expect to see his name at the top of the results all season in Vinton... A pair of Sunday night's feature winners finished 2011 at the top of their divisions. Richie Gustin and Nathan Ballard, both victorious on Sunday, were feature winners at the IMCA Super Nationals last September.

Traditionally, a practice session follows the annual car show in Vinton. While the annual car show was held in downtown Vinton on Sunday, rather than just practice, officials opened up the track for the actual race event this afternoon. Many of the drivers at the car show also competed Sunday night. While I didn't take a peek at the complete list of car show winners, nor did I pay attention when announcer Bucky Doren announced them (sorry, Bucky!), I do know that five of the 10 award winners were all wrapped by the same company. Those included Danny Dvorak, Joe Docekal, Troy Cordes, Justin Wacha and Scott Pippert. If you take a look on the right side of my page, you'll see a link to the facebook page for Wrap'd Up Designs, a new graphics company owned by Modified driver Joe Docekal and former/on-again/off-again/supposedly-on-again-for-2012 SportMod driver Travis Brown. If you still need your car lettered or if you need other graphics work done, get a hold of them. Not only did they letter half of this year's top award winners at the car show, two of their designs finished opening night in victory lane. Sharp looking and fast. What more do you need?

That will take care of opening night in Vinton. A busy few days is in store week. After trying to lock up our bowling league championship on Tuesday night, I plan to hit a trio of this week's five Frostbuster events, with a Late Model show in between. I hope to make it to Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on Wednesday night as the five night Frostbuster swing kicks off at the Mahaska County Fairgrounds half-mile. Although I'll miss Des Moines on Thursday night I plan to make the trek to Marshalltown Speedway on Friday for night three. On Saturday, I'll stray from the Frostbuster swing and head south to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the annual Brent Slocum Memorial/Deery Brothers Summers Series for IMCA Late Models event. I'll close the weekend back home in Vinton for the Frostbuster finale at Benton County Speedway.

I should add that I plan to do a little more blogging about Vinton this season. Since most (if not all) of my Sundays will be spent taking in action at BCS, I hope to compile a bunch of statistics throughout the season. Many of the stats I keep for Independence Motor Speedway I also hope to put together for Vinton this season. Of course, those statistics will include only weekly racing so numbers from tonight and next week will not be included. Check back throughout the year for statistical updates on your favorite Vinton drivers right here at Positively Racing.

Have a great week!