Chandler, Van Deest among winners at Benton County Speedway

By the look of the weather Sunday afternoon, I wasn't sure what was going to be the bigger frustration Sunday night - the warm temperatures or the steady winds. By the end of the evening, I had forgotten about both after a fun night of racing at Benton County Speedway.

A strong field of 74 cars passed through the pit gate to perform for a full house on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. Late race drama made for one memorable feature while a first career win made the night extra special for another driver.

The first feature out of the gate was the 12-lapper for the IMCA Sport Compacts with Adam Gates taking the early lead from his pole position start. Gates shot into the lead and pulled away by a few car-lengths while third row starter Steve Miedke charged to the front. Miedke wasted no time and settled into second by the completion of the first lap.

Miedke was working on reeling in the leader while Nathan Chandler was also making a run to the front from his fourth row starting spot. Miedke and Chandler caught Gates at around the same time as the leaders exited turn two on lap six. Gates got sideways coming off the corner with his pursuers close behind. Gates was able to collect his ride, but the shake-up allowed Chandler and Miedke to pull even in three-wide formation by the time they made it to turn four.

Running the low groove, Chandler swept beneath his competitors and escaped with the lead at the start/finish line. Chandler extended his advantage to half of a straightaway as he entered lapped traffic just after he saw the flying green. Chandler hid in lapped traffic to score the win in the caution-free event, his fifth victory of the season in Vinton and fourth in weekly points racing.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 22 Nathan Chandler; 2. 11 Steve Miedke; 3. 007 Adam Gates; 4. 2 Merv Chandler; 5. 35 Brett Vanous; 6. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.; 7. 3S Craig Streeter; 8. 8M Jacob McVay; 9. 83 Travis Ross; 10. 07 Joe Goodenbauer; 11. 75S Dustin Sondag.
First heat - 1. Vanous; 2. Miedke; 3. N. Chandler; 4. Gates; 5. Streeter; 6. Sondag.
Second heat - 1. M. Chandler; 2. Whalen; 3. Miedke; 4. Goodenbauer; DNS Ross.

Erick Knutsen paced the field to the green flag in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Knutsen took charge while Rod Grother battled Jacob Keiser for second. Running the low side, Grother reeled in the leader as they encountered lapped traffic on the seventh circuit. He then nosed ahead of Knutsen at the start/finish line just before the yellow flag waved.

Grother led the field to green on the restart while Scott Pippert, who started in row five, ran fourth. Pippert snuck beneath both August Bach and Knutsen to steal second on lap nine, then, like clockwork, ran the high line around Grother for the lead one lap later to cruise to his fourth straight win on the Vinton oval. It was Pippert's fourth win in five points nights this season and his seventh win overall in Vinton this year.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 47 Scott Pippert; 2. 77 Rod Grother; 3. 19X August Bach; 4. 99 Erick Knutsen; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz; 6. 25 Doug Laughridge; 7. 2P Cale Petersen; 8. 45 Justin Wacha; 9. 07 Jacob Keiser; 10. 500 Garrett Eilander; 11. 20W Bruce Fraser; 12. 58B Randy Byerly; 13. 76S Adam Streeter; 14. 78 Matt Brown.
First heat - 1. Knutsen; 2. Grother; 3. Keiser; 4. Brown; 5. Bach; 6. Fraser; 7. Streeter.
Second heat - 1. Laughridge; 2. Petersen; 3. Pippert; 4. Buchholz; 5. Eilander; 6. Wacha; 7. Byerly.

Duane Van Deest quickly made his way to the lead from a second row start in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature. Van Deest held the point while Curt Hilmer worked his way into a battle for the lead after starting in the third row. Hilmer was pressuring for the top spot when three caution periods on laps seven and eight slowed action.

Although the cars were under caution, the strong winds that were present throughout the day and early evening hour continued to gust. When the race eventually returned to green, you could notice a change in the track right in the middle of the race as it became extremely slick in a matter of moments.

Hilmer, who was mounting a charge prior to the caution, tucked in behind Van Deest when the green flag waved. He tried numerous times to make his way beneath the #80, but Van Deest held his line on the slick, smooth quarter-mile to secure the win.

IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 80 Duane Van Deest; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer; 3. 00 Jim Buhlman; 4. 3R Danny Dvorak; 5. K3 Kyle Olson; 6. T17 Tom Rawlins; 7. 81 Jesse Belez; 8. 40J Jason Doyle; 9. 3B Brian Anderson; 10. 28P Rick Paulson; 11. 10 Mike Knapp; 12. 7D Dakota Sellers; 13. J2 Dave Schulze; 14. 11S Bob Ebaugh; 15. 3 Dave McCalla; 16. 93 Josh Burrell; 17. 11M Jody Mitchell; 18. 95 Mike McDonald; 19. 42L Lonnie Mercer; DNS 10S John Schaefer.
First heat - 1. Dvorak; 2. McDonald; 3. Paulson; 4. Buhlman; 5. Sellers; 6. Ebaugh; 7. Mitchell.
Second heat - 1. Hilmer; 2. Belez; 3. Anderson; 4. Burrell; 5. Knapp; 6. McCalla.
Third heat - 1. Dedrick; 2. Olson; 3. Schulze; 4. Doyle; 5. Rawlins; 6. Mercer; DNS Schaefer.

Paul Shepherd ran the low groove past front row starter Curtis Roster to take the lead on lap two of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Shepherd paced the field while Norman Chesmore chased the leader. Chesmore tried repeatedly to sneak beneath Shepherd, who remained glued to the tires on the low side of the speedway. Although he remained close, Chesmore was unable to find room to make the pass. The lead pair broke away by nearly a straightaway margin when the caution flag waved on lap nine.

That's when things got interesting.

On the restart, Chesmore shot to the inside of Shepherd as the leaders entered turn one. Contact from Chesmore forced Shepherd off the bottom, allowing Chesmore to take the lead off turn two. As they made their way into turn three, Shepherd nosed to the inside of Chesmore, again resulting in contact between the leaders. In the end, both drivers were forced to an early exit with flat tires.

That altercation allowed Jason Deshaw to inherit the lead for the ensuing restart, with Damon Murty on his rear bumper. Deshaw, like Shepherd, remained committed to the low groove, leaving no room for Murty to pass. Murty tried numerous times over the final laps to get Deshaw out of his groove, however Deshaw ran the low side to perfection to take the exciting win.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 21DE Jason Deshaw; 2. 99D Damon Murty; 3. 7H Phil Holtz; 4. 8 Curtis Roster; 5. 19J Jay Schmidt; 6. 76 Mike Galli; 7. 87 John Emerson; 8. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.; 9. 31S Paul Shepherd; 10. 15 Norman Chesmore; 11. 17 Jason Niedert.
First heat - 1. Chesmore; 2. Murty; 3. Galli; 4. Deshaw; DNS Niedert.
Second heat - 1. Shepherd; 2. Holtz; 3. Schmidt; 4. Emerson; 5. Roster; 6. Damme.

Kyle Brown worked the high side around pole-sitter Jerry Dedrick to take the lead on the second lap of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Brown pulled away from the field while Scott Hogan, who started seventh, ran the top groove to reel in Dedrick. Hogan caught Dedrick on lap six and made his way past for second as they exited turn two.

Hogan, who was over half of a straightaway behind the leader by the time he made it into second, was assisted when the yellow flag waved on lap nine.

When racing resumed, Hogan again went to work on the high side, but was unable to gain any ground prior to the final caution one lap later. On that restart, Hogan worked the high side in turns one and two, and the low side in three and four, but was unable to reel in the leader as Brown drove to the victory, his first-ever in the Modified division.

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 21K Kyle Brown; 2. 33D Scott Hogan; 3. 18 Jerry Luloff; 4. 12D Joe Docekal; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 6. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 7. 8 Tony Snyder; 8. 1J Jeff Streeter; 9. 32 Chris Snyder; 10. 17 Dawn Krall; 11. 7T Tim McBride; 12. 24 Travis Brown; 13. 57B Dennis Betzer; 14. 1XX Tom Hanson; 15. 15D Dustin Johnson; 16. 11B Mike Burbridge; 17. 171 Buck Swanson; 18. 49 Mike Manson.
First heat - 1. Hogan; 2. Dedrick; 3. Manson; 4. Docekal; 5. McBride; 6. C. Snyder.
Second heat - 1. Luloff; 2. Burbridge; 3. Streeter; 4. T. Snyder; 5. Betzer; 6. Johnson.
Third heat - 1. K. Brown; 2. Hanson; 3. Krall; 4. Swanson; 5. T. Brown; 6. Flannagan.

Race Notes: As warm and windy as the day was, it was just a matter of time before the moisture disappeared from the track. Although it got slick during the features, it was a fast, smooth surface that provided excellent racing all night... Randy Byerly took a nasty roll off the high side of turn two, just after the leaders took the checkers in the Hobby Stock feature. Although his car appeared to be a little worse for wear, Byerly was not injured. In fact, he was quickly out of his car waving to the fans... It was nice to see Tom Hanson get back behind the wheel. The former Pro Stock champion and Modified driver ran the #1X Modified normally driven by Steven Streeter... Former B Mod and SportMod driver Travis Brown also returned to the track tonight after a couple year absence. Brown, one of the owners of Wrap'd Up Designs, is piloting an IMCA Modified (apparently on a part-time basis) this year. The ever-mobile Brown, a Solon native, splits time between his full-time job in Cedar Rapids, the sign shop in rural Dysart and his home in Waterloo. Track announcer Bucky Doren, uncertain which hometown Travis wanted to list (triggered by Brown's puzzled look when signing in... a look that resembles his face at any other time of day, now that I mention it), took a humorous route and offered Butte, Montana, as one of his many towns of interest. Just so you know, Travis, Bucky will be gone next Sunday and he asked me to fill in for him. If you thought Montana was bad, I have an entire week to come up with something to say!

There were a number of impressive runs tonight by a variety of drivers... Danny Dvorak, who slipped off the high side of turns three and four on lap nine of the SportMod feature, made a great run from the back of the pack to finish fourth... Likewise, Kyle Olson slid off the top of turn four in the middle of the same feature. He made his way back through the pack to finish fifth... Patrick Flannagan broke a J bar during his Modified heat race qualifier, which left him dead last on the 18-car starting grid for the feature. His quick repair paid off as he drove a great race to finish fifth... Murty, who started the Stock Car feature in the ninth spot, advanced no farther than seventh by the midway point. He made up his ground in the final few laps to pressure Deshaw late at the line.

Despite the half hour later starting time, the final checkered flag waved at 8:17. This allowed plenty of time for the folks in the pit area to enjoy their extended holiday weekend. While I don't normally hang out too long after the races on Sunday night, I visited with quite a few people this week, which is the reason (excuse?) my blog is so late tonight. I had some entertaining visits with Curt "Mr. Congeniality" Hilmer, Travis "Pocatello, Idaho" Brown, Joe Docekal (at least his girlfriend; she's the smart one), Justin Stander (who actually held the same beer in his hand for MINUTES on end), Tom Hanson (who remains one of the nicest people you'll ever meet at or away from a race track), Patrick Flannagan (Superman underwear and all) and, dare I say it, Jerry Luloff. (Note: Words can't define Jerry and everyone already knows him, so a nickname isn't required. If it wasn't for that Seinfeld guy, I doubt Luloff would even need to go by his own last name.)

That's all for tonight. Tomorrow, I'm off to Boone Speedway for the annual Deery Series event. Pit gates open at 2, grandstands at 3, hot laps at 4 and racing at 5. Although I haven't been to a non-Super Nationals event at Boone in nearly 10 years, I'm certain tomorrow's show will include a ton of cars and some great racing. If you won't be in the Boone area tomorrow, don't forget the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour will be at I-35 Speedway in Mason City. I understand there were 37 Mods on-hand in Mason City on Sunday night for a $1,000-to-win special leading up to tomorrow's HDT event. I-35 announcer Jerry Vansickle called on his way home to let me know they had a terrific show. All of the top four finishers started deep in the field, with Jeremy Mills taking the win. Look for another good night of racing on Monday in Mason City.

Regardless what your plans are for Monday, please remember to take the time to remember the loved ones you've lost and to honor those who fight every day for our freedom. While we enjoy an extra day of racing this time of year, we need to take the time to express our appreciation for all of the people in our lives who are more important than the cars we enjoy seeing go in circles.

Have a great holiday!