Due to the rain-shortened season points opener April 14, this Sunday's program provided fans more than their money's worth at Benton County Speedway. Eight feature events were completed, including three make-up features from a week ago, plus five features from the evening's scheduled event. (Complete April 14 and April 21 results are listed at the end of this entry.)
In all, seven different drivers made their way to victory lane and one added his name to the speedway's history book by picking up a pair of feature wins.
Entering the evening, only five times in the track's history had a driver won a make-up feature and the regularly scheduled feature on the same night. IMCA Stock Car driver Damon Murty added his name to that very short list Sunday night.
In the make-up event, Murty started outside of row one and led the 15-lapper in its entirety to score the win ahead of John Emerson and Rick Kriegel.
After points were compiled and qualifying completed, Murty started in the third row of the regular feature. He quickly made his way into third by the time the caution flag waved after one lap.
On the restart, Murty snuck between leaders Mike Galli and Rick Kriegel as the field made its way off turn two. He escaped down the back straightaway with the lead while Emerson followed him to the front.
Following a lap 12 restart, Emerson made contact with the leader as they exited turn two, sending Murty into a spin. While Emerson was penalized for questionable driving, Murty stayed on the gas and continued moving prior to the caution flag, which allowed him to retain the lead for what would be the final restart of the event.
When racing resumed, Murty pulled away to take the victory ahead of Norman Chesmore and Jerry Miles. His second win on the night, Murty joined the following list of drivers to win two features on the same night in the same division at the speedway:
Jack Mitchell (Modified, 7/3/83)
Scott McLaughlin (Compact Modified, 6/22/97 and 8/3/97)
Josh McGowan (Pro Stock, 6/22/97)
Frankie Dulin (Hobby Stock, 7/9/00)
With his two wins Sunday, Murty has earned 57 for his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. That total is 20 more wins than Justin Temeyer, who sits second on that list. Of his 57 wins, Murty has won nine times in the month of April. He has also has eight separate streaks of at least two wins.
Ronn Lauritzen also made a little history in the IMCA Modified division by winning the make-up feature from opening night.
Lauritzen, who sat fifth on the starting grid, made his way into second after just one lap, then set his sights on leader Joe Docekal. Lauritzen ran the low groove into contention and reeled in Docekal a short time later.
When Docekal went high in turn four on the ninth lap, Laurtizen powered to his inside to take the lead at the flagstand. A lap later, Richie Gustin entered the mix as he made his way into second after a fourth row starting spot.
Lauritzen encountered lapped traffic on the 12th circuit as Gustin continued to cut into his lead. Gustin reeled in the leader running the low groove and challenged numerous times before mounting one last effort just after taking the white flag. Entering turn one, Gustin shot to the low side to make a bid for the lead when his machine locked up and came to a stop to bring out a final caution.
Lauritzen held off Docekal on the restart to take the win, his sixth at the speedway. Lauritzen is now tied for 24th with Dave Venenga, Garry Stuber, Jim Schmuecker, Mike Krall and Tony Olson on the division's wins list at the speedway.
Also the winner on season championship night last year, Lauritzen became just the third driver in the division's 29 year history at the speedway to win on opening night the year after winning the season championship feature. The only other Modified drivers in track history to do that are Scott Hogan and Troy Cordes, who have each done it twice.
In the regularly scheduled feature, David Brown and Mike Burbridge raced side-by-side at the front of the pack for many laps before Brown broke free near the midway point of the 20-lapper. By the time Brown reached lapped traffic on the 12th circuit, Gustin was positioning himself to strike. His efforts were aided when caution slowed the race with five laps to go.
In the waning laps, Gustin mounted a charge on Brown by rocketing off the top side of three to the bottom of turn four, however Brown held on to take the exciting victory. The second win of his career in Vinton, Brown became the 49th Modified driver in track history with multiple trips to the winner's circle.
The other division with double features on the evening was in the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Shannon Anderson was leading a week ago when rain halted action after five laps were completed in that 15-lapper.
When the event resumed Sunday, Anderson took command with Brian Happel and Chris Luloff giving chase. Luloff made his way past Happel on lap six before he spun, dropping him back to eighth in the running order.
Now unchallenged, Happel chased Anderson through lapped traffic, then reeled in the leader as the flying green waved. Happel made a bid for the lead when he shot to the low side of turns one and two after the leaders had taken the white flag. Happel powered into the corner and made contact with Anderson, sending them both spinning. When the dust settled, Happel was disqualified for questionable driving, while Anderson made his way back to the pit area.
By the time the leaders made their exits, Luloff worked his way back into third and inherited the lead for a green, white, checkered finish. He raced to the checkers ahead of Kyle Parizek to steal the win, the 18th of his career in weekly points racing in Vinton. The victory moved him into a tie with Brad Forbes for third on the all-time list. It will be a while before Luloff moves up any further as Scott Pippert ranks second with 47 wins.
In the other Hobby Stock main, BCS newcomer Paul Nagle started on the pole and led all 15 laps to take his first-ever win in Vinton. Anderson challenged throughout that event, but came up a car-length short at the line. With the win, Nagle became the 82nd Hobby Stock winner in the track's history. He is the most recent newcomer to victory lane since Cale Petersen's first win on July 14, 2011. That span of 647 days is the longest between new winners in Hobby Stock history at the speedway.
In separate incidents, Luloff and Happel got upside down in the second Hobby Stock feature. Both drivers walked away uninjured.
Nick Roberts was looking to become just the third IMCA Northern SportMod driver in track history to win the first two points events of the season. Following last week's opening night win, Roberts once again made the haul from Des Moines to try his luck on the quarter-mile.
It was pole-sitter Brady Graham showing the way early in the 15-lap event as his #44G paced the field through the first five laps and the first caution. On the restart, Danny Dvorak, who started in row four, was on the leader's rear bumper.
Dvorak raced the low side past Graham one lap after racing resumed while Roberts was making his way through traffic from a fifth row starting spot. Roberts made his way into second just past the midway point, then went work on cutting into Dvorak's sizable lead.
A pair of late cautions assisted those efforts as Roberts shot to the low side of the leader in turn one following a restart on lap 11. Roberts was unable to make the move stick as Dvorak raced past him on the outside.
Roberts buried his #23JR deeper into the same set of turns after the field took the flying green. He cleared the leader into turn two until Dvorak returned the favor and shot to the inside of the Roberts as they exited the corner. The leaders battled wheel-to-wheel for position off the corner until the two came together, sending Roberts into a spin to bring out the final caution.
With Roberts sent to the back for the stoppage, Dvorak went on to hold off Brett Lowry for the victory. Dvorak's 47 SportMod wins in weekly racing history at the speedway are 23 more than his nearest competitor.
All-time BCS IMCA Sport Compact wins leader and opening night winner Nathan Chandler was looking to go two-for-two Sunday night. Although he quickly settled into second from a second row starting spot, Chandler had a hard time making his way around leader Bill Whalen Jr.
Whalen paced the field for the entirety of the 12-lapper, denying Chandler his second win of the season, as he made his way to victory lane. His eighth career points win in the division in Vinton, Whalen is now tied with Merv Chandler and Brad Chandler for fifth on that list.
Early start times remain in effect for next Sunday night. Gates will open at 3 p.m., with hot laps scheduled for 4:30 and racing to follow.
My next event is scheduled to be Saturday night for the season opener at Independence Motor Speedway. I hope to see you there. Have a great week!
APRIL 14 RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature (completed April 21): 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 2. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 3. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 4. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 5. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 6. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 7. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 8. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 9. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 10. 17 Mike Krall (Waterloo); 11. 19G Richie Gustin (Gilman); 12. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 13. 22 Brandon Banks (Washington); 14. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 15/DNS. 8S Josh Star (Tipton).
Heat one: 1. Auringer; 2. Cordes; 3. Jackson; 4. Flannagan; 5. Brown; 6. Krall; 7. Star.
Heat two: 1. Lauritzen; 2. Gustin; 3. Banks; 4. Docekal; 5. Burbridge; 6. Olson; 7. Luloff; DNS Dedrick.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature (completed April 21): 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. K17 Rick Kriegel (Brooklyn); 4. 4 Jerry Miles (Bernard); 5. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 6. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 7. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 8. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 9/DNS. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton).
Heat: 1. Murty; 2. Emerson; 3. Kriegel; 4. Roster; 5. Pippert; 6. Miles; 7. Galli; 8. Beauregard; 9. Ahrendsen.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 2. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 3. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 4. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 5. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 6. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 7. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 8. 10S John Schaefer (LaPorte City); 9. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 10. CH19 Colby Heishman (Brooklyn); 11. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 12. 10 Mike Knapp (Cedar Rapids); 13. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 14. 44G Brady Graham (Brooklyn); 15. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 16. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 17/DNS. Casey Heil (Cedar Rapids); 18/DNS. 1X Steve Streeter (Vinton); DNS. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart).
Heat one: 1. Roberts; 2. McDonald; 3. Sellers; 4. Burrell; 5. Anderson; DNS Kitner; DNS Knapp.
Heat two: 1. Schulze; 2. Buhlman; 3. Hilmer; 4. Olson; 5. Graham; 6. Streeter.
Heat three: 1. Rust; 2. Dvorak; 3. Schaefer; 4. Heishman; 5. Heil; 6. King.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature (completed April 21): 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 3. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 4. 99JR Nick Murty (Chelsea); 5. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 6. 96R Jamie Songer (Ankeny); 7. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 8. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 9. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 10. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 11. 78X Shannon Anderson (Atlantic); 12. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 13. 05 Paul Nagle (Nevada); 14. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo).
Heat one: 1. Parizek; 2. Songer; 3. Happel; 4. Ball; 5. Wacha; 6. Ballard; 7. Stander.
Heat two: 1. Luloff; 2. Brown; 3. Nagle; 4. Murty; 5. Anderson; 6. Keiser; 7. Vanous.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 2. 21 Mike Barten (Maquoketa); 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 4. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 5. 30 Shawn Cooney (Des Moines); 6. 2 Merv Chandler (Vinton); DQ 111 Buster Pate (Hiawatha); DNS 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Barten; 4. Whalen; 5. Pate; 6. Lerch; 7. Cooney; DNS Denning.
APRIL 21 RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 2. 19G Richie Gustin (Gilman); 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 4. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 5. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 6. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 7. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 8. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 9. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 10. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 11. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 12. F71 Dennis Betzer (Central City); 13. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 14. 17 Mike Krall (Waterloo); 15. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 16/DNS. 22 Brandon Banks (Washington); DNS. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids).
Heat one: 1. Brown; 2. Burbridge; 3. Flannagan; 4. Cordes; 5. Schulte; 6. Docekal; 7. Krall; DNS Olson.
Heat two: 1. Luloff; 2. Auringer; 3. Gustin; 4. Droste; 5. Jackson; 6. Lauritzen; 7. Dedrick; 8. Banks; 9. Betzer.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 3. 4 Jerry Miles (Dubuque); 4. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 5. 4W John Watson (Des Moines); 6. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 7. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 8. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 9. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 10. 77T Trent Jeanes (Chariton); 11. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 12. K17 Rick Kriegel (Brooklyn).
Heat one: 1. Miles; 2. Watson; 3. Beauregard; 4. Emerson; 5. Weepie; 6. Ahrendsen.
Heat two: 1. Murty; 2. Kriegel; 3. Chesmore; 4. Galli; 5. Jeanes; 6. Pippert.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 2. 72 Brett Lowry (Montezuma); 3. 7M Kurt Moeding (Mason City); 4. 8B Brad Iverson (Grinnell); 5. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 6. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 7. 44G Brady Graham (Brooklyn); 8. 10S John Schaefer (LaPorte City); 9. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 10. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 11. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 12. 10 Mike Knapp (Cedar Rapids); 13. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 14. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 15. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 16. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 17. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 18. 35C Casey Heil (Cedar Rapids); 19. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 20. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 21. 7P Jordan Peters (Des Moines); 22/DNS. CH19 Colby Jeishman (Brooklyn); 23/DNS. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 24/DNS. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo).
Heat one: 1. Roberts; 2. Lowry; 3. Maitland; 4. Graham; 5. Heishman; 6. Buhlman; 7. Olson; 8. Kitner.
Heat two: 1. Rust; 2. Anderson; 3. Iverson; 4. Hilmer; 5. Moeding; 6. Heil; 7. Sellers; 8. Burrell.
Heat three: 1. King; 2. McDonald; 3. Schulze; 4. Dvorak; 5. Schaefer; 6. Peters; 7. Knapp; 8. Chipp.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 05 Paul Nagle (Nevada); 2. 78X Shannon Anderson (Atlantic); 3. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 4. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 5. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 6. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 7. 500 Garrett Eilander (Newton); 8. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 9. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 10. 99JR Nick Murty (Chelsea); 11. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 12. 99 Erick Knutsen (Center Point); 13. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 14. 96R Jamie Songer (Ankeny); 15. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 16/DNS. 2 Nick Welch (Cedar Falls).
Heat one: 1. Anderson; 2. Nagle; 3. Ball; 4. Brown; 5. Stander; 6. Knutsen; 7. Luloff; 8. Vanous.
Heat two: 1. Happel; 2. Songer; 3. Keiser; 4. Parizek; 5. Wacha; 6. Eilander; 7. Murty; 8. Welch.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 2. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 3. 2 Merv Chandler (Vinton); 4. 11 Steve Miedke (Shellsburg); 5. 22T Travis Losenicky (Garrison); 6. 30 Shawn Cooney (Des Moines); 7. 21 Mike Barten (Maquoketa); 8. 3S Craig Streeter.
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Barten; 4. Whalen; 5. Losenicky; 6. Miedke; 7. Cooney; 8. Streeter.
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