David Brown added his name to the growing list of IMCA Modified winners at Benton County Speedway on Sunday. After leading most of the 20-lapper, Brown held off Ronn Lauritzen by a nose to become the eighth different winner in 10 weeks of points racing this season on the Vinton oval.
From his pole position start, Brown took command and built a good sized lead before the caution flag waved on lap three. Occasional stoppages kept the field bunched together in the early stages of the event, allowing Jerry Luloff to run the high side into contention after starting in the fifth row.
Luloff drove the top groove into second place just before the red flag waved on lap nine when Jason Morehouse's #5 got upside down on the front stretch. Morehouse drifted high coming off turn four, then scaled the wall before flipping end-over-end at the end of the front stretch. Morehouse landed squarely on all four tires on the high side entering turn one. He was uninjured.
When racing resumed, Luloff powered around the outside of Brown as the leaders exchanged the top spot over the next couple of circuits. Luloff then drifted high in the middle of turns three and four, allowing Tony Snyder and Ronn Lauritzen to pass him to the inside.
Lauritzen made his way around Snyder for second when the flying green waved, then dropped to the low side off of turn four to challenge Brown for the win. Brown inched ahead on the top side to score the thrilling victory.
It was Brown's first career win on the Vinton oval, making him the 73rd different Modified winner in weekly racing history at the speedway. He's the first newcomer to victory lane in the Modifieds since his son, Kyle, won in Vinton five weeks ago.
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 21 David Brown; 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 3. 8 Tony Snyder; 4. 18 Jerry Luloff; 5. 33D Scott Hogan; 6. 1J Jeff Streeter; 7. 12D Joe Docekal; 8. 7T Tim McBride; 9. 24 Travis Brown; 10. 21K Kyle Brown; 11. 171 Buck Swanson; 12. 17 Dawn Krall; 13. 57B Dennis Betzer; 14. 14B Shane Burbridge; 15. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 16. 27 Jamie Johnson; 17. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 18. 01 Ed Thomas; 19. 24R Adam Johnson; 21. 5 Jason Morehouse; DNS 11B Mike Burbridge.
First heat - 1. McBride; 2. Streeter; 3. D. Brown; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Hogan; 6. J. Johnson; 7. S. Burbridge.
Second heat - 1. K. Brown; 2. Luloff; 3. Krall; 4. Dedrick; 5. Morehouse; 6. Thomas; 7. M. Burbridge.
Third heat - 1. Betzer; 2. Docekal; 3. T. Brown; 4. Snyder; 5. A. Johnson; 6. Flannagan; 7. Swanson.
Scott Pippert made his way to the front just past the midway point of the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature to earn his 40th career win in the division at the speedway.
Second row starter Doug Laughridge held the early lead with Rod Grother in tow. Grother chased Laughridge for the first five laps while Pippert made his way to the front, squeezing beneath Grother for second on lap six.
Pippert made his bid for the lead two laps later to drive to the milestone win, his fifth this year in weekly racing in Vinton. Pippert now ranks just eight wins shy of Vince Buchholz atop the division's all-time wins list at the speedway.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 47 Scott Pippert; 2. 77 Rod Grother; 3. 25 Doug Laughridge; 4. 07 Jacob Keiser; 5. 67 Justin Stander; 6. 46 Brian Happel; 7. 78 Matt Brown; 8. 45 Justin Wacha; 9. 2 Nick Welch; 10. 09 Brayden Forbes; 11. 75D Dale Kite; 12. 55 Vince Buchholz; 13. 2P Cale Petersen; 14. 2X Matt Lacoursiere; DNS 7J Gabe Phelps.
First heat - 1. Keiser; 2. Buchholz; 3. Happel; 4. Stander; 5. Wacha; 6. Phelps; 7. Forbes; 8. Kite.
Second heat - 1. Laughridge; 2. Petersen; 3. Pippert; 4. Grother; 5. Brown; 6. Welch; 7. Lacoursiere.
Front row starter Travis Ross paced the field for the first three circuits of the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature. Nathan Chandler took over the top spot on lap four while Steve Miedke was also working through traffic.
With Chandler out front, Miedke challenged for the second spot, however he took Bill Whalen Jr. around on the front straightaway on his way to the front. Miedke, who settled into second, was given the black flag for questionable driving the next time past the flagstand, however he chose to continue on in a battle for what he thought was the lead.
Meanwhile, Merv Chandler was making his way to the front, as well, and took over the lead on the fifth lap as Nathan Chandler faded to fourth in the close-knit battle. Merv Chandler held the point while Miedke continued to pressure from the low side and Nathan Chandler worked his way back through the pack.
The leaders encountered lapped traffic with only a couple of laps to go, as Nathan Chandler emerged with the lead as the while flag waved. He held on over the final circuit to take the win, his seventh of the points season. The all-time leader in Sport Compact wins in Vinton, it was Chandler's 31st trip to victory lane. He has now earned at least seven wins in each of the last three seasons in Vinton.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 22 Nathan Chandler; 2. 2 Merv Chandler; 3. 12 Brad Chandler; 4. 35 Brett Vanous; 5. 00W Bill Whalen Jr.; 6. 83 Travis Ross; 7. 3S Craig Streeter; 8. 5 Brandon Herb; 9. 78 Jeff Vislisel; 10. 8 Duayne Herb; 11. 03 Neil Nabholz; DQ 11 Steve Miedke.
First heat - 1. Miedke; 2. Whalen; 3. Streeter; 4. Nabholz; 5. B. Herb; 6. B. Chandler.
Second heat - 1. N. Chandler; 2. Vanous; 3. M. Chandler; 4. Ross; 5. Vislisel; DNS D. Herb.
Most race fans were probably already home, if not in bed, by the time the results became final in the IMCA Stock Car division. A disqualification in that 15-lapper changed the running order in that division.
Cory Tharp, who led the event in its entirety after fending off terrific battles from Curtis Roster, Jay Schmidt and Norman Chesmore, was disqualified in post-race inspection for an illegal engine. Roster, who crossed the line in second, was declared the winner. His second straight win in Vinton, it was Roster's 26th trip to victory lane in the division at the speedway. It was also the fourth time in his career that Roster earned back-to-back Stock Car wins.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 8 Curtis Roster; 2. 19J Jay Schmidt; 3. 15 Norman Chesmore; 4. 8R Sean Johnson; 5. 21DE Jason Deshaw; 6. 7H Phil Holtz; 7. 87 John Emerson; 8. 22K Kevin Rose; 9. 76 Mike Galli; 10. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.; 11. 9E Austin Evens; DNS 17 Jason Niedert; DQ 4 Cory Tharp.
First heat - 1. Roster; 2. Tharp; 3. Holtz; 4. Deshaw; 5. Galli; 6. Evens; 7. Damme.
Second heat - 1. Chesmore; 2. Schmidt; 3. Emerson; 4. Johnson; 5. Rose; 6. Niedert.
John Schaefer took the lead at the drop of the green of the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature while Curt Hilmer pressured from the low side. Hilmer snuck past Schaefer on the fourth lap, just prior to the race's first caution.
Hilmer continued to set the pace when racing resumed while Danny Dvorak was making his way through the field from a fifth row starting spot. Dvorak settled into fourth before four cautions slowed the last half of the event.
When the dust settled for a lap 11 restart, Dvorak chased Hilmer for a pair of laps before making his way to the inside of the leader in turn four as the flying green waved. Dvorak emerged the leader at the start/finish line, then led the remaining two circuits to take the victory, his fifth of the season. His second straight win in the division, Dvorak now owns seven separate streaks of two or more wins in the division in Vinton. It was his division leading 43rd SportMod win in weekly racing history at the speedway.
IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 3R Danny Dvorak; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer; 3. 95 Mike McDonald; 4. 6 Jim Aschenbrenner; 5. K0 Ken Kositzky; 6. T17 Tom Rawlins; 7. K3 Kyle Olson; 8. 00 Jim Buhlman; 9. 28P Rick Paulson; 10. 93 Josh Burrell; 11. J2 Dave Schulze; 12. 10S John Schaefer; 13. 3B Brian Anderson; 14. 7D Dakoda Sellers; 15. 35C Casey Heil; 16. 42L Lonnie Mercer; 17. 1JR Ben Chapman.
First heat - 1. McDonald; 2. Aschenbrenner; 3. Paulson; 4. Buhlman; 5. Dvorak; 6. Burrell; 7. Chapman; 8. Rawlins; 9. Mercer.
Second heat - 1. Schaefer; 2. Anderson; 3. Hilmer; 4. Olson; 5. Schulze; 6. Kositzky; 7. Sellers; 8. Heil.
Tomorrow night, it's back to Independence Motor Speedway for the Deery Series event, then a few days off until a return to Lee County Speedway on Friday night. My midweek racing plans are to focus on the Stats Blitz for Independence through the month of June. If you're hitting any of the many special this week (a full list may be found here), be sure to drink plenty of fluids. It doesn't look like this heat wave will be ending anytime soon.
See you in Indee on Monday and, as always, thanks for reading!
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