Sunday night was the final night of racing prior to the September 16 season championship program at Benton County Speedway. It was also the final night before the 30th annual IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals gets underway. For those who went to Boone a day (or two, or three) early, you missed a great show in Vinton.
Although the car count was down due to the early Boone-goers, the action on the superbly prepared quarter-mile was a plenty.
The night was extra special for IMCA SportMod driver Mike Hogencamp as he led all 15 laps to earn his first career feature win. From his outside front row starting spot, Hogencamp set sail with last week's winner, Ben Chapman, pursuing.
Running the middle groove, Hogencamp held the point while Chapman pressured from the low side. Chapman was able to sneak to the inside of the leader at various points, however Hogencamp maintained his stay out front through a pair of mid-race cautions.
As Hogencamp led, Kyle Olson challenged Chapman for second. Although Olson inched ahead of Chapman at the line for the runner-up spot, Hogencamp was the first to the checkers. With the win, Hogencamp became the 42nd SportMod winner in track history. It was the first time since 2008 that two SportMods drivers earned their first Vinton wins in back-to-back weeks.
After a last lap pass forced him to settle for second place one week ago, IMCA Hobby Stock driver Jacob Keiser held on to take the thrilling win in Sunday's 15-lapper.
Keiser rocketed into the lead on the first lap from his second row starting spot with Erick Knutsen in second. The leaders ran in that formation while Brian Happel worked through traffic from a fourth row starting spot. Happel made his way into third on lap three, then made his way past Knutsen for the runner-up spot just prior to a lap nine yellow.
When racing resumed, Happel chased Keiser and was able to pull alongside the leader exiting turn for on the final circuit. Keiser held on at the line by a couple of feet to take the win, his second of the year. It's the first time Keiser has earned multiple wins in a season and he now has five career BCS Hobby Stock victories to his credit. He ranks tied for 22nd on the division's all-time list with Brian Irvine, Chad Koch, Kyle Parizek, Nathan Ballard and Nick Murty. Interestingly, each of Keiser's wins have come in different calendar months. He now owns one win each in the months of May, June, July, August and September.
A wild finish shuffled up the points standings in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Entering the night, Merv Chandler and Steve Miedke were tied atop the division, however last lap contact with a fellow competitors ended the night with Miedke five points behind the leader entering championship night.
Miedke held the lead at the drop of the green while Nathan Chandler ran second. Although Chandler applied pressure throughout the event, the leaders ran in the same formation until caution slowed action on lap nine.
When racing resumed, Mitch Bielenberg, who was running third, made it a three-car battle out front with Merv Chandler in fourth. Nathan Chandler worked past Miedke for the lead as Bielenberg made contact with Miedke in turns one and two on the final lap. Miedke returned the favor as the pair exited the set of turns, sending both off the back straightaway. Nathan Chandler raced to the checkers as Merv Chandler made his way past the fracas for second. Miedke crossed the line in seventh and will enter the final night five points behind Merv and just four points ahead of Nathan in the standings.
For Nathan Chandler, the win was his third straight, giving him two separate winning streaks this season of at least three wins. It was his 11th win of the season. The 140th Sport Compact feature in the track's weekly racing history, it was the division leading 35th career win for Chandler... Chandler has won exactly 25% of all weekly Sport Compact features in Vinton.
Although smallest in number Sunday night, the IMCA Stock Cars put on arguably the best show of the night in their 15-lapper. While only eight cars signed in and only six took the green flag in the feature, the top five ran nose-to-tail and side-by-side throughout the entirety of that event.
Curtis Roster assumed command at the drop of the green from his outside front row starting spot with Norman Chesmore close behind. The leaders ran nose-to-tail with points leader Phil Holtz and Jay Schmidt close behind.
Sean Johnson entered the fray as the top five battled in close formation until Schmidt worked the low side into contention late. Roster, Chesmore and Schmidt ran three-wide in the waning moments with Roster taking the win by a car-length, leading the caution-free event in its entirety. Chesmore finished second ahead of Schmidt, who pulled to within a single point of Phil Holtz atop the division's standings.
It was Roster's third win of the season and the 27th of his career. The number of days spanning Roster's first and most recent Stock Car wins in Vinton is 4,081. That 11 year, two month and one day span eclipses Norman Chesmore's previous mark by 14 days.
An early caution in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature shook up the lineup when pole sitter Shawn Bistline spun in front of the pack prior to the completion of the first lap. Shane Burbridge held the point for the ensuing restart and took charge when the green flag waved.
Burbridge paced the filed while Tim McBride pursued and Scott Hogan ran both the high and low grooves into contention. Hogan worked past McBride on the eighth lap, then slipped past Burbridge for the lead one lap later. Hogan led the final half of the event to score his first win in Vinton since June 26, 2011. Brandon Banks patiently worked past Joe Docekal and Burbridge to take home runner-up honors. Burbridge ran third at the line with Docekal fourth. By virtue of their finishes, Hogan takes a one point lead over Docekal into the final night of the season.
Sunday's victory was the 43rd of Hogan's career in weekly racing history in Vinton. He leads the all-time list by five victories over Troy Cordes. Hogan now owns at least one win in each of the last 11 seasons. That streak ties Cordes for the longest such streak in track history. The 11 year streak for Cordes is also currently active. It was Hogan's third career win in Vinton during the month of September, which is second only to five wins during that month for Cordes.
In 16 nights of Modified points racing this season, there have been 11 different feature winners. That ties the all-time mark for the most Modified winners in a single season with the 2003 and 2011 seasons.
That's all for this week. It's off to sleep for a few hours, then off to Boone for a few days. I won't be blogging while at Super Nationals, but I look forward to seeing everyone there. Have a great Labor Day!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 33D Scott Hogan; 2. 22 Brandon Banks; 3. 14B Shane Burbridge; 4. 12D Joe Docekal; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 6. 7T Tim McBride; 7. 15D Dustin Johnson; 8. 92 Shawn Bistline; 9. 17 Dawn Krall; 10. 18 Jerry Luloff; 11. 80 Jerry Dedrick; 12. T23 Tony Olson; 13. 1XX Tom Hanson; 14. 11B Mike Burbridge; DNS 1J Jeff Streeter; DNS 14 Dustin Morgan; DNS 21K Kyle Brown.
First heat - 1. McBride; 2. Banks; 3. Bistline; 4. Luloff; 5. Docekal; 6. Olson; 7. M. Burbridge; 8. Krall; DNS Morgan.
Second heat - 1. M. Burbridge; 2. Hogan; 3. Hanson; 4. Dedrick; 5. Johnson; 6. Streeter; 7. Flannagan; DNS Brown.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 8 Curtis Roster; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore; 3. 19J Jay Schmidt; 4. 7H Phil Holtz; 5. 8R Sean Johnson; 6. 76 Mike Galli; DNS 4 Cory Tharp; DNS 4JR Russell Damme Jr.
Heat - 1. Roster; 2. Schmidt; 3. Chesmore; 4. Holtz; 5. Johnson; 6. Tharp; DNS Galli; DNS Damme.
IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 72 Mike Hogencamp; 2. K3 Kyle Olson; 3. 1JR Ben Chapman; 4. J2 Dave Schulze; 5. 21 Brennen Chipp; 6. 7D Dakoda Sellers; 7. 3 Dave McCalla; 8. 93 Josh Burrell; 9. 3B Brian Anderson; 10. 35C Casey Heil; 11. 11S Bob Ebaugh; 12. 3R Danny Dvorak; 13. 81 Jesse Belez; 14. 22H Curt Hilmer.
First heat - 1. Dvorak; 2. Chapman; 3. Schulze; 4. Hilmer; 5. Heil; 6. Ebaugh; DQ Sellers.
Second heat - 1. Hogencamp; 2. Olson; 3. McCalla; 4. Belez; 5. Burrell; 6. Chipp; 7. Anderson.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 07 Jacob Keiser; 2. 46 Brian Happel; 3. 99 Erick Knutsen; 4. 78 Matt Brown; 5. 47 Scott Pippert; 6. 45 Justin Wacha; 7. 25 Doug Laughridge; 8. 1S Greg Sweerin; 9. 09 Brayden Forbes; 10. 7J Gabe Phelps; 11. 77 Rod Grother.
First heat - 1. Keiser; 2. Pippert; 3. Wacha; 4. Brown; 5. Sweerin; 6. Forbes.
Second heat - 1. Happel; 2. Knutsen; 3. Laughridge; 4. Grother; 5. Phelps.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 22 Nathan Chandler; 2. 2 Merv Chandler; 3. 72 Jacob Ellithorpe; 4. 22T Travis Losenicky; 5. 71 Kimberly Abbott; 6. 111 A.J. Witten; 7. 11 Steve Miedke; 8. 9 Joe Bean; 9. 12 Mitch Bielenberg; 10. 35 Brett Vanous; 11. 36DD Gary Peiffer.
Heat - 1. Miedke; 2. Peiffer; 3. N. Chandler; 4. Bielenberg; 5. Vanous; 6. M. Chandler; 7. Ellithorpe; 8. Losenicky; 9. Witten; 10. Abbott; 11. Bean.
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