While Saturday seemed like it was just going to be another day of the sweltering heat wave, the humidity slowly disappeared into the late afternoon hours and it turned out to be a great night for racing at Independence Motor Speedway. Those in attendance saw a pair of awesome finishes, along with a couple of other drivers who earned their first victories of the season.
IMCA MODIFIED
Two weeks removed from his first-ever IMCA Modified win on Independence soil, Shawn Ryan added another win to his collection in a thrilling feature Saturday night.
After Vern Jackson led the early stages of the 20-lapper, Ryan and Mark Schulte ran down the leader on the multi-groove track. After Schulte spent three laps up front running the high side, Ryan passed for the lead on the low side with five laps to go to race to the win.
Now with two career wins in weekly racing at Independence, Ryan is tied for 41st on the all-time list with Adam Bolin, Dave Bentley, Dennis Fink, Jamie Aikey, Jim Abben, Johnathan Thimmesch, Kevin Peverill, Merlin Benning, Mike Schulte and Patrick Flannagan. He is one of 52 Modified drivers at the speedway with multiple wins.
IMCA STOCK CAR
John Emerson earned his third IMCA Stock Car win of the year when he passed race leader and points leader Sean Johnson for the victory following a restart with two laps remaining. Emerson shot to the inside of Johnson as the leaders went door-to-door before Emerson lunged ahead at the checkers.
The third win of Emerson's career, he now sits tied for 17th all-time with Brad Holtkamp, Dale Hackwell Jr., Forrest Frost, Jerry Schipper and Phil Holtz. Emerson is the first driver since 2005 to win three features the year of his first career win. Brian Irvine won four times and Damon Murty won three times in the division that season, marking their first year with a Stock Car win at Indee.
IMCA LATE MODEL
Chad Lerch was no stranger to victory lane prior to Saturday night, however it had been nearly three years since he'd been there. Lerch, driving a car owned by Rick Dralle this season, passed Rory Metcalf just past the midway point of the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature to earn his first win in the division since August 15, 2009.
Lerch, who earned three wins in a six week span that season, now has four career Late Model wins to his credit at Independence. That ties him for 31st on the all-time list, joining Bill Beckman, Cal Swanson and Dennis Dugan. It was Lerch's second career win in July.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Rod Grother took over just a couple laps into the 15-lapper for the IMCA Hobby Stock division, then held off Benji Irvine to score the win, his first at Independence since June 11, 2011.
For Grother, it was win number seven of his weekly racing career at Independence, tying him with Justin Lichty and Quinton Miller for 12th on the all-time list. Of his seven career wins in Indee, it was his first to come in the month of July.
IMCA SPORTMOD
Tyler Droste took the lead from Lucas Lundry with six laps to go to score the win in the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature. It was Droste's third win in four appearances this season.
Droste now has 11 career SportMod wins in Independence, which places him alone in third on the all-time list, two victories shy of all-time leader Danny Dvorak and one behind Josh Sherbon. It was Droste's third career win in the month of July at the speedway.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Two weeks ago, Steve Miedke became the first-ever IMCA Sport Compact winner at the speedway. While that was a special non-track points event, Miedke assured a place in the history books as he also earned the first-ever points win in the division on Saturday. The program on Saturday established the beginning of weekly racing history for the division at Independence, which will include the Sport Compacts for the remainder of the season.
Tonight, the 18th annual Hogan Memorial at Benton County Speedway in Vinton is the draw. Always one of the most popular events in eastern Iowa, this year's edition promises to be no different. I'll be assisting track announcer Bucky Doren on the mic, as needed, and will also provide a thorough recap of tonight's event right here In Staging. Included in tonight's show will be the mandatory five-minute pit stop on the front stretch on lap 20 of the 40-lapper. As I have for the last couple of years, I plan to provide the complete running order at the midway point, as well as complete results and starting positions.
If you plan to make your way to Vinton tonight, be sure to get there early. It's always one of the biggest crowds of the season with some of the best Modified drivers in the area. I hope to see you there!
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