The IMCA Sport Compacts will be added as a weekly division starting Saturday, July 7. While there were a pair of draw/redraw special events in June, the July 7 event will establish the beginning of the division's weekly history at the speedway. Numbers for the Sport Compacts will be included next month.
All photos included here are courtesy of Scott Tjabring of Action Track Photography, the official track photographer of the speedway.
Car Count
Division - Average - High - Low
Late Model - 19.2 - 22 - 17
Modified – 20.2 - 29 - 17
Stock Car – 17.7 - 25 - 15
SportMod – 18.6 - 24 - 16
Hobby Stock – 24.2 - 27 - 22
TOTAL – 99.9 - 124 - 90
Points
* 170 drivers have earned points this season.
* Among those 170 drivers, 56 different hometowns have been represented.
* No driver has held the lead in his division's point standings all nine weeks of the season. The reign of current points leaders are as follows: Mark Schulte (Modified) has led following eight of nine events, including the last three weeks; Tyler Bruening (Late Model) has led three separate times for a total of four weeks; Sean Johnson (Stock Car) has led the last eight weeks; Danny Dvorak (SportMod) has led for a total of five weeks this season, including the last four; and Justin Stander (Hobby Stock) has led for the last seven consecutive weeks.
LIKE CLOCKWORK: Tyler Bruening ended the month of June as the points leader in the IMCA Late Model division. It is the third straight year Bruening tops the division's standings entering July.
IN THE HUNT
* 22 drivers have remained in the top-10 in the points every week of the season. Those drivers include:
Late Model (5): Joel Brasch, Tyler Bruening, Drew Johnson, Curt Martin, Jon Passick;
Modified (5): Troy Cordes, Patrick Flannagan, Adam Johnson, Ronn Lauritzen, Mark Schulte;
Stock Car (4): Norman Chesmore, Phil Holtz, Sean Johnson, Jarod Weepie;
SportMod (6): Jim Buhlman, Danny Dvorak, Matt McCahen, Rick Paulson, Dave Schulze, Sam Wieben;
Hobby Stock (2): Nathan Christie, Justin Stander.
* 8 drivers have remained in the top-5 in the points every week of the season. Those drivers include:
Late Model (2): Tyler Bruening, Curt Martin;
Modified (2): Ronn Lauritzen, Mark Schulte;
Stock Car (2): Norman Chesmore, Sean Johnson;
SportMod (2): Danny Dvorak, Sam Wieben;
Hobby Stock (0): No Hobby Stock driver has spent every week in the top-5 in points.
FAMILY MAN: Although he took a week off to vacation with his family, Curt Martin remains in the hunt for his 11th Late Model track championship at Independence.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING...
Drivers who lead their division's standings at mid-season don't always find themselves collecting track championship trophies at the end of August. Below are the trends of the points leaders over the last 20 years entering the second half of the season:
LATE MODEL: Tyler Bruening enters July with the points lead for the third consecutive season. He went on to earn the track title in 2010, but missed a night late in the 2011 season due to a friend's wedding and gave up his bid for back-to-back titles in the process. In the last 20 seasons (1992-2011), 14 drivers went on to win the track championship when leading the points at the end of June.
MODIFIED: Mark Schulte is racing weekly in Independence for the first time in his career. He has positioned himself at the top of the division's standings with eight nights of racing left on the schedule. In the last 20 years (1992-2011), only nine drivers leading the Modified points at the end of June went on to win the points title. Of the nine mid-season leaders to go on to win the title, five led at the end of every calendar month during their championship seasons. Schulte has that going for him as he also led the points at the end of May.
STOCK CAR: Current points leader Sean Johnson has led the division standings at the end of June only one other time in his career. After leading at the halfway point of the 2010 season, Johnson finished second to eventual track champion Jarod Weepie by 10 points. In the 19 years the Stock Cars have competed at Indee, 10 of the mid-season leaders went on to take the track title. Although it's been done slightly more than half the time, it hasn't happened since Jarod Weepie led from June on in the 2007 season.
SPORTMOD: Danny Dvorak is looking to become the first repeat champion in the brief history of the SportMod division. Now in its fifth season, Dvorak was the inaugural titlist back in 2008. Being at the top of the standings midway through the year is right where you think you'd want to be. The top, however, hasn't been a lucky spot much of the time. In the four previous years of SportMod competition, the driver leading at the end of June failed to win the title three times. Dvorak has never held the points lead at the end of June. The year he won the title he was fifth at the mid-season mark. That, coincidentally, is the farthest a SportMod driver has come in the standings entering the month of July to win a track title. Another thing that may be working against Dvorak? No SportMod champion has ever led at the end of every calendar month of his championship season. Yes, Dvorak also led the standings at the end of May.
HOBBY STOCK: Another driver racing weekly in Independence for the first time in his career, Justin Stander leads the Hobby Stock standings. In what has been one of the closest battles all season, Stander has managed to stay atop the heap for seven of the nine weeks. In the Hobby Stocks, the last 20 years have been a wash - 10 times the mid-season leader has gone on to win the track championship and the other 10 years they did not win. One thing that may work in Stander's favor is that he has led at the end of each month through the first half of the season. Seven of the 10 track champions who led at mid-season also led at the end of each calendar month.
DOUBLE TROUBLE - Danny Dvorak is looking to become the first repeat champion in the five-year history of the IMCA SportMod division at Independence.
Feature Winners
* There have been 27 different feature winners in 45 feature events this season.* Current points leaders account for only 13 of the 45 feature wins.
* Tyler Bruening (Late Model), Adam Johnson (Modified), Danny Dvorak (SportMod) and Justin Stander (Hobby Stock) each won their first career Mid-Season Championship feature in their respective divisions at Independence. Sean Johnson (Stock Car) won his third mid-season crown in that division.
* Chris Luloff (Hobby Stock) joined Josh Irvine, Nick Wroten and Chris Wessner as the only Hobby Stock drivers in track history to string together a minimum of four straight wins. Luloff also became the all-time leading feature winner in the division on June 16.
* For the 20th time in 26 seasons, there has not been a back-to-back winner in the Late Model division (1967, 1968, 1972, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2007).
* There were no first-time Late Model feature winners in the first nine weeks for the first time since 2005.
* The Stock Cars produced back-to-back first-time winners (Jason Hocken and John Emerson) for the first time since the opening two nights of the 2005 season (Brian Irvine and Damon Murty).
* John Emerson became the first Stock Car driver to earn his first two wins at Independence in back-to-back weeks since Brad Holtkamp on May 18 and May 25, 2002.
* Sean Johnson earned back-to-back IMCA Stock Car wins to close out the month of June. It is his fourth streak with a minimum of two wins.
* Darin Duffy became the first driver to reach 40 IMCA Modified wins in weekly racing history at Independence.
FIRST TO 40: Darin Duffy recently collected his 40th win in the IMCA Modified division in weekly racing history at Independence. He is the track's all-time Modified wins leader. Shown here in victory lane following that milestone win, Duffy is joined by Late Model legends Ed Sanger (left) and Curt Hansen (right).
Top-10s
* 118 drivers have earned at least one top-10 finish this season. The top-10 leaders in each division are as follows:
Late Model (22 drivers with at least one top-10): Tyler Bruening, Curt Martin (8 each); Joel Brasch, Dale Hackwell Jr. (7 each); Jon Passick, Travis Smock (6 each);
Modified (24): Patrick Flannagan, Mark Schulte (9 each); Ronn Lauritzen (8); Jerry Luloff, Jeff Streeter (7 each);
Stock Car (23): Norman Chesmore, Sean Johnson (9 each); Jarod Weepie (8); John Emerson, Jason Hocken, Phil Holtz (6 each);
SportMod (28): Dave Schulze (9); Jim Buhlman, Danny Dvorak (8 each); Matt McCahen, Sam Wieben (7 each); Brandon Smith (6);
Hobby Stock (21): Justin Stander (9); Benji Irvine (8); Nathan Christie, Curt Graham, Rod Grother, Justin Wacha, Marcus Wayne, Jamie Whitaker (6 each).
DROP AND GIVE ME 10 - Justin Stander (67) stands as the only Hobby Stock driver with top-10 finishes all nine nights this season.
Top-5s
* 75 drivers have earned at least one top-5 finish this season. The top-5 leaders in each division are as follows:
Late Model (17 drivers with at least one top-5): Tyler Bruening, Curt Martin (7 each); Dean Wagner (5);
Modified (15): Mark Schulte (9); Ronn Lauritzen (8); Troy Cordes, Jerry Luloff (4 each);
Stock Car (12): Sean Johnson (9); Norman Chesmore, Jason Hocken (6 each); John Emerson, Jarod Weepie (5 each);
SportMod (16): Danny Dvorak (7); Jim Buhlman, Dave Schulze, Sam Wieben (5 each); Matt McCahen (4);
Hobby Stock (15): Benji Irvine (6); Marcus Wayne, Chris Luloff (5 each); Jamie Whitaker (4).
IRVINE DRIVE: Benji Irvine leads the Hobby Stock division with six top-5 feature finishes. He hopes to carry on the family name by becoming the third Irvine to earn a Hobby Stock championship in track history.
Top-3s
* 54 drivers have earned at least one top-3 finish this season. The top-3 leaders in each division are as follows:
Late Model (13 drivers with at least one top-3): Tyler Bruening (5); Dean Wagner (4); Curt Martin, Luke Pestka (3 each);
Modified (9): Ronn Lauritzen, Mark Schulte (6 each); Troy Cordes (4); Darin Duffy, Adam Johnson (4 each);
Stock Car (8): Sean Johnson (9); John Emerson, Jason Hocken (4 each); Norman Chesmore (3);
SportMod (12): Danny Dvorak (7), Sam Wieben (4), Jim Buhlman (3);
Hobby Stock (12): Chris Luloff (5), Benji Irvine (4), Justin Stander (3).
GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES: Defending track champion Adam Johnson has used three top-3 finishes in the last four weeks to move back into the hunt in the IMCA Modified division.
Feature Lap Leaders
* 54 drivers have led at least one lap of feature competition.
* Division lap leaders include:
Late Model (10 different lap leaders): Dean Wagner (52 laps led); Tyler Bruening (46); Bryan Klein (42); Luke Pestka, Travis Smock (25 each);
Modified (13): Darin Duffy (32 laps led), Patrick Flannagan (30), Adam Johnson (29), Shawn Ryan (20), Mark Schulte (19);
Stock Car (9): Sean Johnson (47 laps led), John Emerson (43), Tim Helle (23), Norman Chesmore (16), Dave Stricker (14);
SportMod (11): Danny Dvorak (49 laps led); Kip Siems (23); Tyler Droste (20); Austin Kaplan, Matt McCahen (15 each);
Hobby Stock (11): Chris Luloff (62 laps led); Justin Stander (25); Nathan Ballard (16); Jim Ball (9); Scott Pippert, Jerome Wilson (5).
GOING AWAY: Travis Smock led all 25 laps to earn his third career IMCA Late Model win on June 23.
Heat Races
* There have been 55 different heat race winners in 102 heat races.* 25 drivers have won multiple heat races this season.
* The heat race wins leaders in each division are as follows:
Late Model (11 winners in 23 heats): Dean Wagner (6), Jon Passick (4), Tyler Bruening (3);
Modified (13 winners in 20 heats): Ronn Lauritzen, Johnathan Thimmesch (3 each); Mike Burbridge, Darin Duffy, Mark Schulte (2 each);
Stock Car (9 winners in 17 heats): John Emerson (6), Jason Hocken (3), Tim Helle (2);
SportMod (8 winners in 18 heats): Danny Dvorak (4); Tyler Droste, Shane Ebaugh, Kip Siems (3 each);
Hobby Stock (14 winners in 24 heats): Chris Luloff (4); Benji Irvine (3); Five drivers tied at (2 each).
HEAT STREAK: IMCA Stock Car driver John Emerson has won six of his last seven heat races to lead the division in heat race wins.
Efficiency Stats
* 148 races have been run this season.
* 1,678 green flag laps have been completed.
* 150 caution flags have been thrown (an overall average of 1.01 per race).
Cautions Per Race Ratio
Hobby Stock: 27 cautions in 33 races (0.82 cautions per race)
Late Model: 30 / 32 (0.94)
Stock Car: 28 / 26 (1.08)
Modified: 33 / 30 (1.10)
SportMod: 32 / 27 (1.19)
Race Laps Per Caution Ratio
Late Model: 411 laps with 30 cautions (average of 13.70 green flag laps between cautions)
Hobby Stock: 332 / 27 (12.30)
Stock Car: 301 / 28 (10.75)
Modified: 348 / 33 (10.55)
SportMod: 286 / 32 (8.94)
Races with No Caution Flags
Hobby Stock: 18 of 33 races have gone flag-to-flag without a caution (54.55%)
Stock Car: 14 / 26 (53.85%)
Late Model: 17 / 32 (53.12%)
SportMod: 14 / 27 (51.85%)
Modified: 15 / 30 (50.00%)
78 of 148 races have gone green to checkers without a caution
Feature Cautions
Stock Car: 25 of 28 total cautions have been thrown in feature races (89.29%)
SportMod: 27 / 32 (84.38%)
Modified: 26 / 33 (78.79%)
Late Model: 23 / 30 (76.67%)
Hobby Stock: 20 / 27 (74.07%)
121 of 150 total cautions have been thrown during feature racing
Average Lap of First Feature Caution
Late Model: 8.67
Hobby Stock: 4.56
Stock Car: 2.33
SportMod: 4.22
Modified: 3.67
In the last six weeks, and in seven of the last eight weeks, the first caution in the Stock Car feature has come with exactly one lap scored complete.
GOING GREEN: Despite close battles all season, like the one shown above, the Hobby Stocks are averaging the fewest number of cautions per event.
Since the year 1967...
* 667 Late Model feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 97 different winners. On average, a new Late Model winner visits victory lane every 6.9 events.
* 437 Modified feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 80 different winners. On average, a new Modified winner visits victory lane every 5.5 events.
* 285 Stock Car feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 43 different winners. On average, a new Stock Car winner visits victory lane every 6.6 events.
* 60 SportMod feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 16 different winners. On average, a new SportMod winner visits victory lane every 3.8 events.
* 346 Hobby Stock feature events have been completed in weekly competition with 88 different winners. On average, a new Hobby Stock winner visits victory lane every 3.9 events.
* Overall, in the last 46-plus seasons, 1,795 features have been completed in the five divisions that currently compete at the speedway.
Qualifying Streaks
* The longest currently active feature qualifying streaks for weekly competition in each division include:
Late Model: Drew Johnson has qualified for 44 consecutive features. His last miss was July 11, 2009.
Modified: Jerry Luloff has qualified for 220 consecutive features. His last miss was July 5, 1997.
Stock Car: Norman Chesmore has qualified for 96 consecutive features. His last miss was July 9, 2005.
Hobby Stock: Rod Grother has qualified for 38 consecutive features. His last miss was August 22, 2009.
SportMod: Jim Buhlman has qualified for all 60 features dating back to the first one at the speedway on June 21, 2008.
CHES IS MORE: Norman Chesmore supplanted Jarod Weepie as the driver who has qualified for the most consecutive features in the Stock Car division. When Weepie missed a night to attend a friend's wedding (Weepie is still having withdrawals from the only night he's missed - ever - since his racing career started at Independence in the 1990s), Chesmore took over the top spot. Chesmore is four features shy of 100 straight.
* The 2012 season marked the second consecutive season that every weekly
program scheduled for the month of June was completed. It was the 21st time in 46 years that weekly racing did not suffer a single
rainout in June. It was the first time since 2002 that a month of June containing five Saturdays went without a cancellation. It was just the fourth time in track history that a five-Saturday June did not suffer a single cancellation (1968, 1985, 2002, 2012).
Weather Trends
* Dating back to last May, there have only been two rainouts in the last 24 nights scheduled for weekly racing.
* In each of the last three seasons, exactly 14 nights of weekly racing were completed. With nine nights in the books this season, eight nights remain on the schedule.
* It was the 13th time in track history that racing was scheduled for a fifth Saturday in the month of June. Eleven of those events were successfully completed.
* There has been racing scheduled for a total of 68 months containing five Saturdays in track history. Of those 68 five-Saturday months, 26 have been successfully completed without a rainout (38.2%).
* The last cancellation of a weekly race program in the month of June was June 12, 2010, meaning there have been 11 consecutive successful programs completed during the month. It is the third longest stretch of such nature in track history. The record for consecutive June events without a cancellation was a 17-week stretch from June of 1979 to June of 1983.
* Nine weekly racing programs were completed by the end of June for the first time since the 1999 season. Coincidentally, the season opener was the only rainout through the first half of that season, as well. Oh yeah, the first program scheduled for July that season was rained out. Plus, the last time the month of July went rain-free was 2008. The current three year stretch of at least one rainout during the month of July is the longest in track history.
* It is only the sixth time in track history that nine racing programs were completed by the end of June. (1981, 1985, 1992, 1997, 1999).
* This season now contains two complete months (May and June) without a single rainout. Not since 1999 has the track completed three calendar months in a single season without a rainout. That year May, June and August went rain-free. Only six times in 46 years has the track completed a season with more than two rain-free calendar months. (1976, 1985, 1992, 1994 and 1999 each had three rain-free months. The 1997 season did not have a single rainout.)
* The current streak of nine consecutive completed programs without a cancellation is the longest such streak since the final nine race nights of the 2006 season. Coincidentally, that stretch of nine straight weeks without a rainout immediately followed the second and final time in track history when three consecutive programs were rained out. (June 10, 17 and 24, 2006, were all rained out.)
* It was only the third time in track history that nine consecutive nights of racing were held following the rainout of that season's scheduled opener (1992, 1999). In both of those seasons, there was one rainout in July and no rainouts in the month of August.
* In track history, 18.8% of all rainouts (37/173) have occurred in the month of June. Historically, it is the third driest (or third wettest, depending how you look at it), month on the calendar. In the last 46 years, seasons that produced a minimum of nine successful programs by the end of June averaged only 1.2 rainouts for the rest of the season.
* Since 1967, racing has been scheduled for 182 complete calendar months. Of those, 77 (42.8%) have been successfully completed without a single rainout.
* When not including any April events (only months with racing scheduled for every Saturday), the track has seen three consecutive months without a rainout. That is the longest such stretch since a four month span without a rainout from July of 1998 through June of 1999.
* The last five seasons when there were no rainouts in the month of May, there were also no rainouts during the month of June. Ironically, during those five seasons, the month of July had at least one rainout per season, despite the fact that July has produced the fewest rainouts overall (27) in track history.
* The longest a season has gone without a rainout after the season opener was canceled was in 1992. That year, the April 25 opener was rained out, however there was not another cancellation that season until 11 weeks later on July 11.
Stuff Nobody Should Know…
* Of the 45 feature winners, 27 have come from inside starting spots and 18 from the outside.
* The Late Models, Modifieds and Hobby Stocks have produced more feature winners from inside starting spots than the outside. The Stock Cars and SportMods have produced more winners from the outside than the inside.
* The nine Stock Car winners have come from eight different starting spots. Outside row two is the only starting position to produce multiple Stock Car winners.
* Thirteen different starting positions have produced feature winners so far this season - every position in the first six rows, plus outside row eight (Sean Johnson).
* Danny Dvorak (SportMod) is the only driver who has finished in the top-3 in all of his heat races.
* In the eight weeks heats have been run, no Modified driver has earned more than five top-3 heat race finishes.
* 84 different drivers have cracked the top-10 in his division’s points for at least one week this season.
* 13 different drivers have held or shared their division's points lead at some point during the season.
* Eight different drivers have finished in second place in the nine Hobby Stock features. Vince Buchholz is the only driver with multiple runner-up finishes in the division.
* Nine different SportMod drivers have finished ninth in the feature through nine weeks of racing and nine different drivers have finished 10th through nine weeks of racing.
* Nine different Stock Car drivers have finished eighth in the feature through nine weeks of racing.
Stuff To Tell Your Friends That Makes Them Think You've Lost It...
* Seven different Late Model drivers have finished in the same position two weeks in a row at some point this season. (Examples: Joel Brasch finished ninth on consecutive weeks on June 9 and 16. Rick Dralle finished 10th on consecutive weeks on June 23 and 30.) Six different Modified drivers have also done it.
* Four of the five all-time feature winners have earned at least one win this season. They include Curt Martin (Late Model), Darin Duffy (Modified), Danny Dvorak (SportMod) and Chris Luloff (Hobby Stock). Dan Trimble (Stock Car) is the only all-time wins leader without a win this season. Since the track expanded to five divisions 20 seasons ago (1993), at no time have all active divisions seen their all-time wins leaders win in the same season. Mr. Trimble, are you willing to come back to shoot for history? The last time all-time wins leaders in all active divisions won in the same season was clear back in 1974. All-time leaders in the three weekly divisions - Ed Sanger (Late Model), Mike Krall (Roadrunner) and Keith Braun (Sportsman) - won features that year.
* The last time Independence raced on July 7 was July 7, 2007 (7/7/07). That night, a pair of drivers earned their first career Independence wins in their respective divisions. Who were they? The answer will be available this Saturday night (7/7) on the points sheet!
Hint: Both drivers compete in those same divisions today.
That will take care of the month of June for Independence Motor Speedway. I'll be back at the end of next month with post-July stats.
Thanks for reading and have a happy, safe Fourth of July!
No comments:
Post a Comment