Curtis Roster took the lead on lap six, then held off a hard-charging Damon Murty to earn the IMCA Stock Car win at Benton County Speedway on Sunday night. It was Roster's first win of the season and the 25th of his career in the division on the Vinton quarter-mile.
Russell Damme Jr. and Cory Tharp battled for the lead early while Roster pursued as the race was slowed three times for caution over the first three laps. The third and final caution left Damme sitting on the track, which put him to the tail and Roster on Tharp's rear bumper for the ensuing restart.
When the green flag waved for the final time, Roster briefly battled Norman Chesmore for second before working his #8 to the inside of Chesmore in turn two on the sixth circuit. Immediately, Roster swept past Tharp to take command in turns three and four.
As Roster led, Murty was working from a fifth row starting spot. He struggled to make a quick charge to the front as the multi-groove racing surface presented two and three-wide battles for position in front of him.
Murty eventually made his way past Tharp for second as the flying green waved, then set his sights on Roster. Murty was able to reel in the leader, but his attempts to pass Roster both high and low were unsuccessful as Roster held off his challenger to score the milestone win.
Roster has now won a feature in 10 of the 12 seasons the Stock Car division has been a part of the weekly racing program in Vinton. He is tied with Justin Temeyer in that category, second only to Murty, who has won in 11 of the 12 seasons in Vinton.
Roster became the sixth straight different feature winner in the division. The last time there were six consecutive different Stock Car winners was in the spring of 2005. The longest string of different winners in division history is nine, which was set in 2004.
Ronn Lauritzen earned an emotional win in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Lauritzen, whose father unexpectedly passed away less than two weeks ago, earned his first visit to the winner's circle since his father's death.
It was outside front row starter Mike Burbridge taking the early lead. Burbridge held the point while Lauritzen battled Patrick Flannagan for the runner-up spot. Just following a lap four restart, Lauritzen worked the low groove past Flannagan to steal the position. He then went to work on running down the leader until the caution flag waved again on lap nine.
When racing resumed, Lauritzen continued to work the low side of the fast quarter-mile and made his bid for the lead exiting turn two on lap 11. Lauritzen shot beneath Burbridge to steal the lead, then drove away to score the emotional victory.
Lauritzen, who currently leads the North Central standings for the IMCA Modified division and ranks fourth nationally, has now earned four career weekly wins in Vinton. Sunday's win moved him into a tie for 31st on the all-time Modified wins list in Vinton with a variety of names, including Bernie Juliar, Larry Schmidt, Max Corporon, Mike Schulte, Ron Hurst and Richie Gustin, who entered a tie for that spot earlier this season. Lauritzen also joined Gustin as the only drivers who have made multiple trips to victory lane in the Modified division this season.
Matt Brown took the win on a milestone night for the Hobby Stock division. The Hobby Stocks, which were added to the weekly racing program in Vinton in 1990 and have been IMCA sanctioned since 2001, have now run 400 features in weekly racing history at the speedway.
Jacob Keiser took the lead at the drop of the green from his pole position start. Keiser paced the field while Brown made his way into second on lap two. The leaders pulled away in a terrific side-by-side battle throughout much of the 15-lapper until Brown broke free with five laps to go. He led the remainder of the event to take his first win in Vinton since July 18, 2010. It was the ninth career Hobby Stock win in Vinton for Brown. He now sits tied with Todd Temeyer for 13th on the all-time list.
All-time Benton County Speedway IMCA SportMod wins leader Danny Dvorak added another mark to his impressive wins total. Dvorak passed leader Mike Hogencamp following a lap five restart, then held off a hard-charging Brad Iverson to take his fourth win this season in weekly racing in Vinton. It was the 42nd weekly points win of his career at the speedway. Iverson, who was driving a borrowed car to help a friend test a set-up, made a terrific run in his first appearance this season to finish a close second.
Travis Losenicky held the early lead in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. Nathan Chandler made his way to the front on lap three before action was slowed for caution one lap later. While under caution, the front three got bunched up, resulting in Chandler taking a hard hit from the rear by Losenicky.
When racing resumed, Chandler held the point until mechanical problems, presumably sustained during the incident while under caution, forced him to an early exit. By that time, Merv Chandler made his way into second place. He held off Steve Miedke late to score the win. It was Merv's second win at the speedway this season, but his first in weekly action. He was also victorious during the Hawkeye Dirt Tour special on May 8.
Chandler now has seven career wins in weekly racing in Vinton in the Sport Compact division. He is tied with Miedke and Bill Whalen Jr. for fifth all-time.
Complete results follow below.
Thanks to Bucky Doren for asking me to fill in for him on the mic tonight. After five straight days of racing, I plan to take the week off from area tracks until heading back to Lee County Speedway on Friday. Of course, I may reconsider it by Tuesday when the Hawkeye Dirt Tour heads to Buena Vista Raceway in Alta on Tuesday.
Either way, I do plan to provide a few more numbers this week from the archives of Benton County Speedway. If time allows, I'll put together and post the all-time wins lists for the Pro Stock, Thunder Mod and Compact Modified divisions.
Have a great week!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 2. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 3. 33D Scott Hogan; 4. 12D Joe Docekal; 5. 8 Tony Snyder; 6. 11B Mike Burbridge; 7. 57B Dennis Betzer; 8. 01 Ed Thomas; 9. 21K Kyle Brown; 10. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 11. 7T Tim McBride; 12. 24 Travis Brown; 13. 40RC Rod Clement; 14. 27 Jamie Johnson; 15. 17 Dawn Krall; 16. 1J Jeff Streeter; 17. 18 Jerry Luloff; 18. 1XX Tom Hanson; 19. 91 Shawn Ryan; 20. 96 Eric Tuttle; DNS T23 Tony Olson.
First heat - 1. Betzer; 2. Lauritzen; 3. McBride; 4. Luloff; 5. Ryan; 6. Dedrick; 7. Hanson.
Second heat - 1. Streeter; 2. Flannagan; 3. Docekal; 4. Thomas; 5. Krall; 6. T. Brown; 7. Clement.
Third heat - 1. Hogan; 2. K. Brown; 3. Burbridge; 4. Snyder; 5. Johnson; 6. Tuttle; 7. Olson.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 8 Curtis Roster; 2. 99D Damon Murty; 3. 19J Jay Schmidt; 4. 4 Cory Tharp; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore; 6. 7H Phil Holtz; 7. 8B Scott Beauregard; 8. 22K Kevin Rose; 9. 21DE Jason Deshaw; 10. 76 Mike Galli; 11. 77 Andy Bryant; 12. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.
First heat - 1. Roster; 2. Murty; 3. Deshaw; 4. Beauregard; 5. Galli; 6. Rose.
Second heat - 1. Schmidt; 2. Tharp; 3. Chesmore; 4. Bryant; 5. Damme; 6. Holtz.
IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 3R Danny Dvorak; 2. 95J Brad Iverson; 3. 505 Racer Hulin; 4. J2 Dave Schulze; 5. 21 Brennen Chipp; 6. 28P Rick Paulson; 7. 72 Mike Hogencamp; 8. 29 Sean Vogt; 9. 10S John Schaefer; 10. 11M Jody Mitchell; 11. 7D Dakoda Sellers; 12. K3 Kyle Olson; 13. 00 Jim Buhlman; 14. 15B Troy Burkhart; 15. 22H Curt Hilmer; 16. 11S Bob Ebaugh; 17. 42L Lonnie Mercer; 18. 3B Brian Anderson; DNS 57G Rich Gerhold.
First heat - 1. Schaefer; 2. Olson; 3. Vogt; 4. Anderson; 5. Ebaugh; 6. Burkhart; 7. Hilmer.
Second heat - 1. Hogencamp; 2. Schulze; 3. Sellers; 4. Dvorak; 5. Mitchell; 6. Chipp.
Third heat - 1. Paulson; 2. Mercer; 3. Hulin; 4. Buhlman; 5. Iverson; DNS Gerhold.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 78 Matt Brown; 2. 07 Jacob Keiser; 3. 47 Scott Pippert; 4. 55 Vince Buchholz; 5. 46 Brian Happel; 6. 29 Nathan Ballard; 7. 18 Chris Luloff; 8. 77 Rod Grother; 9. 2P Cale Petersen; 10. 25 Doug Laughridge; 11. 26 Nathan Christie; 12. 45 Justin Wacha; DNS 76S Adam Streeter.
First heat - 1. Laughridge; 2. Ballard; 3. Grother; 4. Happel; 5. Petersen; 6. Wacha; DNS Streeter.
Second heat - 1. Keiser; 2. Brown; 3. Pippert; 4. Buchholz; 5. Luloff; 6. Christie.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 2 Merv Chandler; 2. 11 Steve Miedke; 3. 35 Brett Vanous; 4. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.; 5. 83 Travis Ross; 6. 22T Travis Losenicky; 7. 22 Nathan Chandler; 8. 111 A.J. Witten.
Heat - 1. Miedke; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Vanous; 4. Losenicky; 5. Ross; 6. M. Chandler; 7. Witten; 8. Whalen.
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