Five new winners, including one first-timer at Independence

For the sixth time in the last 13 seasons, no drivers won back-to-back features to open the season at Independence Motor Speedway. While a pair of last week's winners came close on Saturday night, both finished third in their respective features.

In the IMCA Late Model division, Jeff Aikey took the win in the 25-lapper after race-long leader Bryan Klein was sent to the tail on a restart after he had already been warned not to start racing until he reached the designated firing area in turn four. For Aikey, it was his ninth career win in weekly Late Model racing at Independence, and his first since May 29, 2010. Saturday night's win moved Aikey into a tie with Bill Barthelmes for 10th on the all-time list at Indee.

Coincidentally, it was the third time in track history that Curt Martin and Aikey won on consecutive weeks and the second time those two drivers won on consecutive nights to open a season. Jeff Aikey was the opening night winner and Curt Martin won night number two... 24 years ago in 1988.

Aikey's first Late Model victory in weekly racing at Independence came on June 15, 1985, or 9,828 days prior to his most recent victory. That span between first and most recent wins places him seventh for the division all-time at Independence. Denny Osborn is just ahead of Aikey on that list, with a 9,912 day span between first and final wins. That difference of 84 days (12 weeks) mean's Aikey's next win after August 4 of this season will move him past Osborn in that category.

Patrick Flannagan was the winner in the IMCA Modified feature. He started in the third row and made his way to the front after just a couple laps. He then fought off challenges from a number of drivers, including Troy Cordes, Vern Jackson, Ronn Lauritzen and opening night winner Mark Schulte. Lauritzen earned runner-up honors on Saturday with Schulte coming home third and retaining the points lead.

For Flannagan, it was his second career victory in weekly racing at Independence and his first since July 5, 2008. Flannagan became the 51st Modified driver in weekly racing history at Indee to become a multi-race winner. It was the 16th straight year that the Modified division produced different winners in the first two weeks of the season.

Defending track champion Sean Johnson added to his career wins total in the IMCA Stock Car division by taking the victory on Saturday and moving into the division points lead. Johnson made his way around race-long leader John Emerson just prior to the midway point of that 18-lap feature to score the victory, the 18th of his career at Independence. The win moved Johnson into a three-way tie for third with Jarod Weepie and Justin Temeyer on the track's all-time wins list.

Dating back to July of last season, Johnson has now won six of the last seven Stock Car features at the speedway. When considering the entire 2011 season, Johnson has won 10 of the last 16 features.

Despite his recent dominance in the division, it was only Johnson's second career win in the month of May at Indee. His first was May 7 of last season.

A first-time winner graced victory lane in the IMCA SportMod division as Kip Siems earned his first victory on the Independence oval. From his pole-position start, Siems drove away from the pack to take the emotional milestone win ahead of Jim Buhlman and Sam Wieben.

With his win, Siems became the 15th different driver to visit the winner's circle in the SportMod division at Independence and the seventh different SportMod driver in the division to record his first win in the month of May.

Scott Pippert won an entertaining IMCA Hobby Stock feature as the top six drivers consistently ran two and three-wide at the front of the pack before Pippert broke free late in that 15-lapper. Justin Stander came home second.

It was Pippert's second career win in weekly racing at Independence, his first coming on May 7, 2011, opening night of last season. Pippert became the 57th Hobby Stock driver in track history to earn multiple wins in the division.

There have been 10 different winners through 10 feature events to start the season. While having no repeat winners through two weeks isn't all that uncommon, seeing no repeat winners through three weeks is very rare. It's been 30 years since there have been different winners in every feature through the first three weeks of the season. That means it's very likely that someone who has already visited victory lane this season will make a repeat trip to the winner's circle next Saturday. 

Once again, the track stayed smooth all night long, despite all of the new clay added to the surface during the off-season. I spoke with many drivers after the races and they have remained pleasantly surprised with the surface. While many tracks tend to be rough at the beginning of the season even without the addition of new clay, the odds are even higher for a rough track when material is added. Great job to new promoters Darin Burco and Todd Summers for all their hard work in making the surface very racy right out of the gate this year.

Along with chatter about the smooth track, there was concern about the level of dust it produced on Saturday night. Burco and Summers plan to work diligently to cut down the dust level in upcoming weeks. They admit there is a learning curve involved in the process, however they should be applauded for all the time spent on track prep during recent months as the surface has been racier than ever so far this season.

Folks were also eager to talk about the penalties issued to Late Model driver Bryan Klein and Hobby Stock driver Chris Luloff when they were sent to the tail of their respective features after uneven starts during restart situations in their events. Prior to the night's action, the drivers were informed that officials would be keeping a close eye on all of the starts to make sure there were no jack-rabbit or uneven starts. Tires placed in turn four were painted orange prior to the event to indicate where the drivers could start racing.

Luloff was declared in violation of a jackrabbit restart in the Hobbies while both drivers were guilty of getting up to speed between turns three and four prior to reaching the orange tires. The biggest comment I heard following the races from people complaining about the calls was that "the leader sets the pace." While this is generally understood in all racing circles, my question for them would be, "At what point does the leader set the pace?" Are they permitted to start racing exiting turn two when the caution light blinks out? Are they permitted to get up to speed before even reaching turn three prior to the green flag? Nine times out of 10, most tracks will call off a start if the driver starts racing that early, with or without a designated starting tire or cone. There has to be a definitive rule in place to make it fair and understandable to everyone. The purpose of the tires is to create a fair, even and consistent starting spot for all drivers in all divisions. Yes, the leader sets the pace to a point, but that is not with the intent to provide them an unfair advantage to start early or to pile-up the field behind them with a jackrabbit style start.

I understand that many other drivers were happy with the new starting procedures since there is a clearly defined area marked on the track to indicate when they can start racing. Either way, it is a rule that is in place to provide a degree of fairness across the board. Granted, it may take a little while for everyone to become acclimated to the procedure, but it will provide for better racing in the long run.

Jeff Aikey said it best in his victory lane interview. Although he admitted he doesn't like to win races in the manner he won last night, he was pleased with the attempts of the new promoters to look for consistent, fair starts. He added that people may not like the rule at first, but the expectations are clear, stating that it's good to have a rule in place that is enforced.

That will wrap up the recap from night number two at Independence. Tonight, it's back to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for the next round of weekly racing on the Vinton quarter-mile. Hope to see everyone there. For all the moms who are reading, have a very happy Mother's Day!