Luloff sweeps the weekend with win at Benton County Speedway

After a rough first month of the season, Chris Luloff turned things around in a big way in an even bigger hurry. The IMCA Hobby Stock driver capped off his weekend with his third win in as many nights with his triumph at Benton County Speedway. Luloff, who also won Friday at Farley Speedway and Saturday at Independence Motor Speedway, ran the low groove to perfection on his way to victory on Sunday in Vinton.

Following a pair of early cautions that left the front row relegated to the tail, Matt Brown inherited the pole and quickly made his way into the lead. Brown paced the field while Luloff was racing from an original fifth row starting spot on the bottom side of the speedway.

After the pair of early cautions, Luloff started in the seventh slot for the first successful green flag run, then methodically picked his way through traffic. Running fifth on the first lap, Luloff gained exactly one position per lap until settling into second on the fourth circuit. Committed to the low groove for his entire run, Luloff stuck the nose of his #18 to the inside of Brown's #78 to steal the lead by the completion of lap six.

While Luloff was marching toward the front on the low side, points leader Scott Pippert was chasing Luloff through traffic on the high side. Pippert followed Luloff to the front, settling into second just past the midway point. Although he closed the gap in the waning laps, Pippert was unable to reel in the leader as Luloff sailed to the win.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 18 Chris Luloff; 2. 47 Scott Pippert; 3. 78 Matt Brown; 4. 29 Nathan Ballard; 5. 25 Doug Laughridge; 6. 77 Rod Grother; 7. 55 Vince Buchholz; 8. 2P Cale Petersen; 9. 07 Jacob Keiser; 10. 45 Justin Wacha; 11. 2 Nick Welch; 12. 1S Greg Sweerin; 13. 99 Erick Knutsen; 14. 09 Brayden Forbes; 15. 76S Adam Streeter.
First heat - 1. Knutsen; 2. Pippert; 3. Brown; 4. Luloff; 5. Grother; 6. Ballard; 7. Wacha; 8. Streeter.
Second heat - 1. Keiser; 2. Laughridge; 3. Buchholz; 4. Streeter; 5. Welch; 6. Forbes; 7. Petersen.

Another driver who has seen his fair share of struggles throughout the first weeks of the season also earned a much needed win on Sunday. Troy Cordes led all 20 laps to score his first win of the year in the IMCA Modified feature.

From his outside front row start, Cordes shot into the lead and quickly built a straightaway advantage over Mike Burbridge. Ronn Lauritzen then reeled in Burbridge just shy of the midway point to take second. Cordes, however, was out of sight as he drove to the victory in convincing fashion. 

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1.  71 Troy Cordes; 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 3. 33D Scott Hogan; 4. 11B Mike Burbridge; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 6. 18 Jerry Luloff; 7. 12D Joe Docekal; 8. 1J Jeff Streeter; 9. 171 Buck Swanson; 10. 24 Travis Brown; 11. 17 Dawn Krall; 12. 80 Jerry Dedrick; DNS 57B Dennis Betzer.
First heat - 1. Lauritzen; 2. Luloff; 3. Hogan; 4. Swanson; 5. Dedrick; 6. Krall.
Second heat - 1. Cordes; 2. Streeter; 3. Burbridge; 4. Docekal; 5. Flannagan; 6. Brown; 7. Betzer.

Phil Holtz made an impressive run from the fifth row to steal the win at the end of the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Running the low side, Holtz powered into contention with just five laps to go before reeling in leader Jay Schmidt late in the event. Running the high side, Holtz swept pass Schmidt as the white flag waved to take the exciting victory, his second of the season in Vinton. 

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

Mike McDonald held the lead throughout much of the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature. In search of his first win, McDonald maintained a few car-lengths on his nearest pursuers as they battled side-by-side behind him.

A pair of cautions five laps into the event, along with another with only five laps to go, kept the field bunched. Between stoppages, Danny Dvorak made his way into contention and restarted on the rear bumper of the leader when the race went green one last time on lap 10.

On the restart, Dvorak moved to the outside of McDonald, putting the leaders in side-by-side formation before Dvorak broke free as the field completed the 11th lap. Dvorak went on to lead the remainder of the event to take his third win of the season. 

IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 3R Danny Dvorak; 2. J2 Dave Schulze; 3. 00 Jim Buhlman; 4. 28P Rick Paulson; 5. 80J Jared Van Deest; 6. K3 Kyle Olson; 7. 95 Mike McDonald; 8. 3B Brian Anderson; 9. T17 Tom Rawlins; 10. 81 Jesse Belez; 11. 7D Dakota Sellers; 12. 22H Curt Hilmer; 13. 57G Rich Gerhold; 14. 42L Lonnie Mercer; 15. 93 Josh Burrell; 16. 10S John Schaefer.
First heat - 1. Hilmer; 2. Buhlman; 3. Paulson; 4. Olson; 5. Sellers; 6. Mercer; 7. Gerhold; 8. Schaefer.
Second heat - 1. Dvorak; 2. McDonald; 3. Van Deest; 4. Anderson; 5. Schulze; 6. Burrell; 7. Rawlins; 8. 81 Belez.

Nathan Chandler wasted little time making his way through traffic in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. From his outside fourth row starting spot, Chandler dropped to the inside and ran the low groove in a pack of cars that was racing two and three-wide multiple rows deep.

Chandler made his way into second by the time the leaders exited turn two, then shot into the lead by the time he hit turn three on the first lap. He led the 12-lapper uncontested to score his fourth straight win and fifth in weekly racing. 

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 22 Nathan Chandler; 2. 72 Jacob Ellithorpe; 3. 2 Merv Chandler; 4. 36DD Gary Peiffer; 5. 11 Steve Miedke; 6. 22T Travis Losenicky; 7. 8M Jacob McVay; 8. 3S Craig Streeter; 9. 57 Bill Whalen Jr.; 10. 83 Travis Ross; 11. 111 A.J. Witten; 12. 35 Brett Vanous; 13. 78 Jeffrey Vislisel; 14. 00 Brad Chandler.
First heat - 1. Vanous; 2. N. Chandler; 3. B. Chandler; 4. Vislisel; 5. Streeter; 6. Whalen; 7. Witten.
Second heat - 1. Peiffer; 2. Ellithorpe; 3. M. Chandler; 4. Miedke; 5. McVay; 6. Losenicky; 7. Ross.

Captions without photos:
I fell into a burning ring of fire... Nathan Chandler's night appeared to be over following his heat race. Chandler pulled his #22 Sport Compact to the infield near the Vinton Fire crew as smoke rolled from under the hood at the conclusion of his qualifier. What appeared to be a small fire erupted into a large burst when he opened the hood. Some patchwork prior to the feature paid off as Chandler drove to the win...
The Miedke touch... After bringing out an early caution in the Sport Compact feature, Steve Miedke made a nice run from the back of the 14-car field to come home fifth...
No Mo' Jo Do No No... Reportedly, Joe Docekal does not like being called "Jo Do No No." New nickname/photo caption requests are being accepted at Ryanraceia@yahoo.com...
Stock Pile... Phil Holtz entered the night tied with Jason Deshaw atop the IMCA Stock Car standings, one point ahead of Jay Schmidt. His win, combined with Deshaw's DNF, now places Holtz in sole possession of the points lead, two markers ahead of Schmidt...
Mod Quad... Although the standings were close at the beginning of the evening, by night's end the race became tighter at the top of the IMCA Modified points. Following Sunday's program, Docekal (see above) now holds a slim two point lead over both Jerry Luloff and Patrick Flannagan. Scott Hogan sits in fourth, just five points out of the lead...
Yes, Dear... Travis Brown does not live in, nor is he believed to have ever even visited, the following locations: Tijuana, Mexico; Tupelo, Mississippi; and Pocatello, Idaho. He currently lives in Waterloo, Iowa, or wherever it is his girlfriend tells him he lives... 

Special thanks to track announcer Bucky Doren for asking me to fill in tonight while he enjoyed some family time at his son's baseball tournament in Des Moines. As always, it was a blast to call the action in my hometown.

Next Sunday, June 10, Albert Auto of Cedar Rapids is sponsoring the racing program. As part of that sponsorship, they are planning a lot of giveaways, including TVs, charcoal grills and digital cameras. They'll also bring the T-shirt cannon to shoot T-shirts into the crowd. Plus, they plan to offer purse money to heat race winners. If you haven't made it to Vinton yet this season, next Sunday will be the perfect night to do it.

The following Sunday, June 17, will be Gary's Auto Mid-Season Championships. It's hard to believe, but the halfway point of weekly racing is fast approaching. That night, the Lil' Racer Car Club will have drivers available for kids to get a few autographs. The racing that evening will include the standard qualifying/point invert format.

Although it's a few weeks down the road, the annual Hogan Memorial is also fast approaching. The pinnacle event on the BCS schedule, which is slated for Sunday, July 8, is expected to offer more purse money than any other time in its history. Lap sponsorships are still available, as are sponsorships for mystery positions. If you are interested in pitching in, contact BCS Race Director Dana Benning or a Hogan family member. You may also send me an e-mail at Ryanraceia@yahoo.com and I will pass your contact information along to them.

My next visit to a race track will be this Tuesday as I plan to make the trip to Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City for the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour. Depending how Tuesday night goes, I may (I repeat MAY, Brandon Banks) head to Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa for double features due to last week's rain shortened event. Along with the extra racing, a special haircut for golden boy Brandon "Hollywood" Banks is on the schedule. Banks has agreed to have his head shaved at the race track that night to help raise money for Payton Schultz, a youngster from Ainsworth who is fighting the rare disease HIDS. It's a great gesture on the part of Banks (who REALLY likes his hair, I might add). For more information, visit the Shaving Hollywood event page on facebook. Better yet, head to Osky on Wednesday and help support the cause!

That's all for now. Have a great week and, as always, thanks for reading!