Shepherd and Keiser haul Benton County hardware home to Marengo

A pair of drivers from Marengo earned their first wins of the season Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. Paul Shepherd survived a wild IMCA Stock Car feature while Jacob Keiser drove away from the pack to take top honors in IMCA Hobby Stock action.

From the pole, Shepherd took command at the drop of the green flag while Norman Chesmore and Curtis Roster pursued in the 15-lapper for the Stock Cars. Jason Deshaw, who started in row three, ran the low groove into contention, making his way past Chesmore for second on lap five. The lead pack remained unchanged until a pair of mid-race stoppages on lap eight.

Damon Murty, who was running seventh in the 16-car field on lap seven, slid off the high side of turns three and four while the rest of the field made their way past him to complete the eighth lap before the caution flag came out. The running order on the track for the ensuing restart was: 31S, 21DE, 15, 8, 87, 19J, 18, 7H, 4, 83E, 76, 4JR, 76X, 22K, 8B and 99D. Then, things got interesting.

On the ensuing restart, Deshaw chased Shepherd into turns one and two before Deshaw got sideways in front of the pack. The chain reaction that followed resulted in a handful of cars stopped on the track, with a few more in the pits for tire changes and other quick, minor repairs. By the time the green flag waved again, the running order was: 31S, 8, 22K, 8B, 99D (yes, 99D), 18, 4JR, 4, 15, 7H, 21DE, 19J, 87, 76, 76X.

When racing resumed, Shepherd continued to show the way while Roster and Kevin Rose followed. Meanwhile, Deshaw was working his way back through the pack and into the top five as problems sidelined Murty on lap 10.

Running the low groove, Deshaw worked into the top three on the following lap, then snuck beneath Roster for second as the flying green waved. Deshaw closed on Shepherd in the waning laps, but Shepherd remained glued to the low groove to take the win, his first of the season.

The fourth straight different winner in the division, it was also Shepherd's fourth Stock Car win in weekly racing history in Vinton. The victory moved him into a tie with Cliff Gray and Jarod Weepie for ninth on the all-time list.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 31S Paul Shepherd; 2. 21DE Jason Deshaw; 3. 7H Phil Holtz; 4. 8 Curtis Roster; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore; 6. 87 John Emerson; 7. 8B Scott Beauregard; 8. 19J Jay Schmidt; 9. 4 Cory Tharp; 10. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.; 11. 76 Mike Galli; 12. 76X Chad Siems; 13. 18 Tom Schmitt; 14. 22K Kevin Rose; 15. 99D Damon Murty; 16. 83E Thomas Thompson.
First heat - 1. Shepherd; 2. Deshaw; 3. Murty; 4. Roster; 5. Schmidt; 6. Schmitt; 7. Damme; 8. Beauregard.
Second heat - 1. Tharp; 2. Chesmore; 3. Emerson; 4. Thompson; 5. Holtz; 6. Galli; 7. Rose; 8. Siems.

Jacob Keiser must have had plans Sunday night as he made quick work of the rest of the field in the 15-lap Hobby Stock main event. Keiser took charge at the drop of the green while Adam Streeter and Justin Wacha raced for second.

Following the race's only caution on lap three, Keiser again pulled away from the pack as Rod Grother and Matt Brown challenged for the runner-up spot. Keiser built a straightaway lead by the time Grother worked the high line around Wacha for second when the white flag waved. Keiser went on to lead the event in its entirety to take the win, his first of the season.

It was Keiser's fourth career trip to the BCS winner's circle in weekly racing action. He has now earned single victories in each of the last four seasons. Keiser is now tied with Dan Higdon, David Rice, J.R. Kahler, Justin Stander and Roger Ciesielski for 27th in all-time Hobby Stock wins at the speedway.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 07 Jacob Keiser; 2. 77 Rod Grother; 3. 45 Justin Wacha; 4. 78 Matt Brown; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz; 6. 67 Justin Stander; 7. 47 Scott Pippert; 8. 25 Doug Laughridge; 9. 46 Brian Happel; 10. 76S Adam Streeter; 11. 2P Cale Petersen; DQ 99 Erick Knutsen.
First heat - 1. Laughridge; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Buchholz; 5. Streeter; 6. Petersen.
Second heat - 1. Knutsen; 2. Grother; 3. Keiser; 4. Brown; 5. Happel; 6. Pippert.

Ronn Lauritzen held off heavy pressure from Scott Hogan and Troy Cordes to take the win in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. From his outside second row start, Lauritzen worked the high side around pole-sitter Jerry Dedrick before dropping to the low groove at the front of the pack to lead lap two.

While Lauritzen built a half-straightaway lead, Troy Cordes challenged the low side of Dedrick in turn four on the fifth circuit. Cordes snuck beneath Dedrick's #80, with Hogan following him into third one lap later. Hogan reeled in Cordes and made his bid for second on the low side of the speedway just prior to the race's only caution on lap 11.

When racing resumed, the three leaders broke away from the pack running the bottom groove of the fast quarter-mile. While Hogan was looking for room below Lauritzen, Cordes moved to the top of the speedway, pulling even with Hogan in the waning laps.

After Cordes showed Hogan his nose, and without any success following Lauritzen on the low side, Hogan slid to the top of the track, taking Cordes' line. This allowed Lauritzen to pad his lead by a couple of car-lengths before Hogan returned to the low side. Although Hogan ran down the leader once more, his efforts to pass for the lead were unsuccessful as Lauritzen drove to the exciting win.

Lauritzen became the sixth different Modified winner in seven nights of weekly racing in Vinton this season. Only Richie Gustin, who earned back-to-back wins last month, has made multiple trips to victory lane. It was Lauritzen's third career Modified win in Vinton, tying him with Brian Krall, Dave Stricker, Steve Droste and Tom Bartholomew for 37th on the all-time list.

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 2. 33D Scott Hogan; 3. 71 Troy Cordes; 4. 12D Joe Docekal; 5. 21K Kyle Brown; 6. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 7. 18 Jerry Luloff; 8. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 9. 8 Tony Snyder; 10. 1J Jeff Streeter; 11. 21 David Brown; 12. 57B Dennis Betzer; 13. 17 Dawn Krall; 14. 171 Buck Swanson; 15. 24 Travis Brown; 16. 2Z Zach Rawlins; 17. 15D Dustin Johnson.
First heat - 1. K. Brown; 2. Hogan; 3. Luloff; 4. Streeter; 5. Krall; 6. D. Brown; 7. Betzer; 8. T. Brown; 9. Johnson.
Second heat - 1. Cordes; 2. Lauritzen; 3. Dedrick; 4. Flannagan; 5. Docekal; 6. Snyder; 7. Rawlins; 8. Swanson.

In his first appearance at a weekly show in Vinton this season, Racer Hulin marched his way to top honors in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature. From his sixth row starting spot, Hulin sliced and diced his way through traffic before settling into third in time for the caution to wave on lap three.

Hulin made his way beneath Tom Rawlins one lap after another stoppage on lap four, then chased down leader Mike McDonald. Hulin worked the top side around McDonald on lap nine, just before the yellow flag waved. He survived a few late race restarts to take the win ahead of Danny Dvorak, who started alongside Hulin in the sixth row.

The fifth win of his career in Vinton, Hulin now ranks tied for sixth on the all-time list with Kyle Bentley and Kyle Olson.

IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 505 Racer Hulin; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak; 3. 28P Rick Paulson; 4. 81 Jesse Belez; 5. 00 Jim Buhlman; 6. J2 Dave Schulze; 7.  T17 Tom Rawlins; 8. K3 Kyle Olson; 9. 95 Mike McDonald; 10. 7D Dakoda Sellers; 11. 93 Josh Burrell; 12. 35C Casey Heil; 13. 3B Brian Anderson; 14. 6 Jim Aschenbrenner; 15. 22H Curt Hilmer; 16. 42L Lonnie Mercer; 17. 11M Jody Mitchell; 18. 16K Brandon Morris.
First heat - 1. McDonald; 2. Belez; 3. Olson; 4. Paulson; 5. Morris; 6. Mitchell.
Second heat - 1. Dvorak; 2. Hilmer; 3. Sellers; 4. Rawlins; 5. Aschenbrenner; 6. Burrell.
Third heat - 1. Buhlman; 2. Hulin; 3. Anderson; 4. Mercer; 5. Heil; DNS Schulze.

Travis Ross and Bill Whalen Jr. shared time at the front of the pack before the caution flag waved on the third of 12 laps in the IMCA Sport Compact feature. On the restart, second-running Steve Miedke shot to the low side of Whalen to take command. Miedke then held off late pressure from Nathan Chandler to seal the deal and take his second win of the season. It was the seventh win of Miedke's career in Vinton, which moved him into a tie for fifth with Whalen all-time.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 11 Steve Miedke; 2. Nathan Chandler; 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.; 4. 2 Merv Chandler; 5. 22T Travis Losenicky; 6. 36DD Gary Peiffer; 7. 83 Travis Ross; 8. 3S Craig Streeter; 9. 111 A.J. Witten; 10. 03 Neil Nabholz; 11. 8M Jacob McVay; DNS 75S Dustin Sondag.
First heat - 1. Peiffer; 2. Miedke; 3. Losenicky; 4. Streeter; 5. Witten; 6. Nabholz.
Second heat - 1. N. Chandler; 2. Whalen; 3. M. Chandler; 4. Ross; 5. McVay; DNS Sondag.

Captions without photos...
Job Well Done... Albert Auto of Cedar Rapids did a tremendous job sponsoring Sunday's program. In addition to giving away a couple of TVs, charcoal grills and other goodies, Chad Albert and his team launched some T-shirts into the crowd with a T-shirt cannon, awarded huge trophies to the winners and also trophies to other finishers, plus they awarded an extra $25 to every heat race winner. Thanks to Chad, Wes and the rest of the crew from Albert Auto for a great night at the races!
It's a Love/Hate Thing... Stock Car winner Paul Shepherd had the line of the night in victory lane. At the end of his interview with track announcer Bucky Doren, Shepherd stated, "Love me or hate me, thank you." Shepherd, one of the nice, genuine "good guy" racers, has had some good nights this season, but this was his first trip to victory lane in 2012. I don't think it would take much ink to list your haters, Paul. Great run tonight!
The Best in the Business... Despite another warm and windy day in Benton county, Don Burkey did another phenomenal job on the race track. While many may have feared extremely dusty conditions, Don's hard work paid off yet again as the track remained smooth and slick with minimal dust. Oh yeah, and there were multiple racing grooves all night.
He's Baaack... After being away from racing for a few years, the familiar green and yellow #46 Hobby Stock of Brian Happel made its return to Benton County Speedway on Sunday. Happel, the owner of a pair of wins on the BCS oval toward the end of the 2005 season, made it out in time for Albert Auto Night. Wes White of Albert Auto, the "determined one" to get Happel back on the race track, spent the last six weeks (two of which he was out of town on vacation) getting the Adams Chassis race-ready. Welcome back, Brian. By the way, I think you have a tire going down...

Of course, photos from tonight's event are available at www.actiontrackphotos.com

As I mentioned in previous blogs, I have compiled every race result for the history of weekly racing at Benton County Speedway. While the all-time wins lists have been assembled, I plan to look them over and add a few more statistical perks to them before I post them on Positively Racing. I hope to start posting them, division by division, in the near future. What I will tell you now are the names of the all-time feature wins leaders in the five divisions that currently compete in Vinton. Scott Hogan (Modified), Damon Murty (Stock Car), Danny Dvorak (SportMod), Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stock) and Nathan Chandler (Sport Compact) currently sit atop the all-time wins lists of those divisions. Their win totals and a whooole lot of other information will be coming in the near future!

Up next is my first visit of the year to Cedar County Raceway. This Tuesday, both the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models and the JR Motorsports Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds will be in action in Tipton. If you've never been to CCR or haven't been there in a while, make plans to be there Tuesday, June 12. Al and Kathy Dlouhy run a top notch show on the quarter-mile! Gates open at 5 p.m., hot laps are at 6:30 and racing is at 7. Hope to see you there!