Kile, Veloz earn first IMCA tour wins at Cedar County Raceway

A terrific field of 40 Late Models and 39 Modifieds turned out for a double-dip of two of IMCA's elite touring series when the Deery Brothers Summer Series and JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour invaded Cedar County Raceway on Tuesday. When all was said and done, a pair of drivers earned their first career wins in their respective series during a fantastic night of racing on the Tipton quarter-mile.

Front row starters Kile and Dan Shelliam led the 24-car field to green in the 40-lap Deery Series Late Model feature. Running the top side of the smooth, fast oval, Shelliam settled into the top spot early. He paced the field while Kile and Denny Eckrich gave chase as those three quickly pulled away from the pack.

Running the low groove, Kile briefly pulled even with Shelliam on the 11th and 12th circuits before once again dropping in behind the leader. Kile followed on Shelliam's rear bumper until Shelliam was able to pull ahead by a couple of car-lengths when the leaders encountered lapped traffic on lap 18.

Kile chased Shelliam through the slower cars and pulled to the inside of the leader on the back stretch three laps later. Kile took charge and led the field until action was slowed for caution on lap 25.

On the double-file restart, Kile held the point, however Denny Eckrich worked the outside line past Shelliam for second. Eckrich chased Kile over the final 15 circuits, but was unable to make a run on the leader, allowing Kile to make his first-ever visit to the Deery Series winner's circle.

Late Model Results
Feature - 1. 88 Kevin Kile; 2. 50 Denny Eckrich; 3. 16S Dan Shelliam; 4. 15K Justin Kay; 5. G1 Mike Garland; 6. 58 Ray Guss Jr.; 7. 56 Andy Eckrich; 8. Z50 Joe Zrostlik; 9. 46 Nate Beuseling; 10. 14 Mike Murphy Jr.; 11. 77 Jeff Aikey; 12. 07 Matt Ryan; 13. 93 Jay Johnson; 14. 16 Tyler Bruening; 15. 77K Kurt Kile; 16. 77S Stephan Kammerer; 17. Z Mike Zemo Jr.; 18. 99D Darrel DeFrance; 19. 45K Mike Klinkkammer; 20. 40 Joel Callahan; 21. 72 Doug Yates; 22. 56D Travis Denning; 23. 38 Colby Springsteen; 24. 15 Kyle Hinrichs.
First heat (top 3 qualify/top 2 redraw) - 1. Guss; 2. Shelliam; 3. Murphy; 4. Beuseling; 5. Hinrichs; 6. Kammerer; 7. 33 Nick Marolf; 8. 18O Drake Ostram.
Second heat - 1. Aikey; 2. Ryan; 3. Zemo; 4. Klinkkammer; 5. Kurt Kile; 6. 41 Matt Strassheim; 7. Breuning; 8. Callahan.
Third heat - 1. Springsteen; 2. Kevin Kile; 3. A. Eckrich; 4. 56W Gary Webb; 5. 47 Andy Nezworski; 6. 25 Bryan Klein; 7. 44P Brunson Behning; 8. 27X Dave Stichter.
Fourth heat - 1. D. Eckrich; 2. Kay; 3. Denning; 4. 6 Jay Chenoweth; 5. 19G Richie Gustin; 6. 29 Spencer Dierks; 7. 31 Jason Utter; 8. DeFrance.
Fifth heat - 1. Zemo; 2. Garland; 3. Yates; 4. Johnson; 5. 5J Jeff Mitrisin; 6. 121 Ryan Duhme; 7. 21M Luke Merfeld; 8. 89 Tom Pestka.
B Feature #1 Qualifiers (3 transfer) - 1. Beuseling; 2. Kurt Kile; 3. Kammerer.
B Feature #2 Qualifiers - 1. Klinkkammer; 2. Hinrichs; 3. Johnson.
Provisional Starters (3) - Bruening (hard charger); Callahan (points), DeFrance (points).

A strong, patient run from a fifth row starting spot put Milo Veloz in a position to win the HDT Modified portion of the program. A late caution greatly assisted those efforts as Veloz led the final eighth of a mile to take his first career series win.

After a caution prior to the completion of the first lap of the 30-lapper, second row starter Ryan Dolan was promoted to the front row for the ensuing restart. Dolan took to the high side on the second start to take the lead as Richie Gustin ran the low groove into second. The leaders ran side-by-side for a couple of circuits a few laps into the event before Dolan pulled away.

While Dolan led, Veloz was methodically working the low side of the speedway through traffic from his 10th starting spot. He worked beneath Darin Duffy on the 11th lap for fifth, then quickly reeled in Jimmy Gustin and Dakota Hayden for third and fourth.

As Veloz was making his way through the pack, Dolan built a half-straightway lead by the time he came upon lapped traffic on lap 16. By that time, Veloz was running fourth, a short distance behind Jimmy Gustin.

As Dolan navigated the backmarkers, he extended his advantage to a full straightaway when a pair of lapped cars were running side-by-side in front of second place Richie Gustin with less than 10 laps to go. During that time, Veloz worked beneath Jimmy Gustin and was battling Richie for second when the yellow flag waved on lap 28.

On the restart, Veloz worked the low groove with Dolan remaining committed to the top side. Dolan held the point until he slid high in turn two on the final lap. Veloz skated beneath Dolan to take the lead down the back stretch, en route to the thrilling win. Richie Gustin also slid under Dolan to come home second.

Modified Results
Feature - 1. V Milo Veloz; 2. 19G Richie Gustin; 3. 11D Ryan Dolan; 4. 19 Jimmy Gustin; 5. 10M Jeremy Mills; 6. 12H Dakota Hayden; 7. 29D Brad Dierks; 8. 19D Darin Duffy; 9. 7N Jay Noteboom; 10. 2 Dusty Kraklio; 11. 71W Jeff Waterman; 12. 1 Dan Chapman; 13. 57V Mike Van Genderen; 14. 21A Kelly Meyer; 15. 12 Mark Elliott; 16. 70 Mitch Morris 17. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 18. 27M Mark Schulte; 19. 10C Cayden Carter; 20. 8 Rich Smith; 21. 93 Matt Werner; 22. 96 Larry Herring; 23. 11 Ray Cox Jr.; 24. 24R Adam Johnson.
First heat (top 2 qualify) - 1. Lauritzen; 2. Schulte; 3. Duffy; 4. Johnson; 5. Dierks; 6. Morris; 7. Noteboom; DNS 3B Brad Tyler.
Second heat - 1. Dolan; 2. Veloz; 3. Werner; 4. Waterman; 5. Van Genderen; 6. Smith; 7. 17 Todd Dykema; 8. 71D Dennis LaViene.
Third heat - 1. Herring; 2. Kraklio; 3. 11B Mike Burbridge; 4. Carter; 5. 41P Keith Pittman; 6. 4G Kevin Goben; 7. 7D Dakoda Sellers; DNS 25X Jake Bowman.
Fourth heat - 1. Elliott; 2. Hayden; 3. Meyer; 4. 77 Joe Beal; 5. 111 Justin Rix; 6. 34T Derek Thompson; 7. Cox; 8. 02 Ben Traver.
Fifth heat - 1. J. Gustin; 2. R. Gustin; 3. Mills; 4. Chapman; 5. 67 John Ehlers; 6. 9 Leon Wilson; 7. A1 Bryan Wonick.
B Feature #1 Qualifiers (6 transfer) - 1. Duffy; 2. Mills; 3. Waterman; 4. Noteboom; 5. Smith; 6. Diercks.
B Feature #2 Qualifiers - 1. Meyer; 2. Chapman; 3. Johnson; 4. Carter; 5. Morris; 6. Werner.
Provisional Starters (2) - Cox (points), Van Genderen (points).

As is every trip to Cedar County Raceway, the packed house in attendance got its money's worth. As I've said before, Al and Kathy Dlouhy put on a top notch show and tonight was true to form. The final checkered flag fell right at 10 p.m. after a great night of racing. They proved that if you do things right, it only takes a couple of classes for a mid-week show to be an overwhelming success. Thanks to the Dlouhys for their hospitality! By the way, Kathy, it wasn't really a raccoon in turn four. I think it may have been a possum...

CCR Notes: Late Model B feature transfer Nate Beuseling made a nice run to finish ninth... Doug Yates did a great job of collecting his #72 when he spun in the middle of turns three and four on lap 31 of the Late Model feature. Yates did a complete 360 in the middle of the pack, went untouched, then got moving again before the leaders approached... Jeremy Mills transferred from a B in Modified action. He came home fifth, while fellow B transfer Darin Duffy finished eighth in the feature... Brad Dierks was the last qualifier from the first Mod B, started the 30-lap feature from the back, then drove to an impressive seventh place finish... It was nice to sit in the stands and catch up with Wisconsin's Ed Reichert. A writer for Hawkeye Racing News and All the Dirt (WISSOTA's newspaper/newsletter), Reichert did a great job with his picks for Tuesday's features. He pegged Dolan as the Modified winner (which seemed like a near lock until the late caution) and second-finishing Denny Eckrich in the Late Models. Reichert may spend many of his race nights at the weekly ovals in Wisconsin, but you're likely to see him throughout the season at a number of specials in Iowa. A dedicated race fan, Ed travels all over the Midwest taking in races at numerous tracks, frequently many hours from his home. In fact, tonight he made the six hour drive (yes, six hours one way) to catch the show at Tipton. His work is among the best out there and frequently provides many details not always mentioned in typical race reports... It was also great to hear the recognizable voice of announcer Jerry Mackey. Since I'm unable to make it to the races Jerry generally works, his familiar "Helloooooo, race fans!" was a welcome sound tonight in Tipton. And, Jerry, you're not old. I think they're just making those pesky kids younger these days! It was great to see you again!

Prior to heading south to Donnellson on Friday, I plan to crunch more numbers on the all-time wins lists for Benton County Speedway. If things go according to plan, I'll have the all-time stats for Sport Compacts, SportMods and Stock Cars posted right here sometime Wednesday night. Then, I'll put the finishing touches on the Hobby Stock and Modified divisions. If those two divisions aren't posted by the end of this week, they will be made available sometime next week.

Thanks for reading!