Following last week's postponement of the Open Wheel Shootout, Mother Nature offered perfect conditions for Saturday's season points opener at Independence Motor Speedway. A great field of 113 race teams were on-hand to do battle for the first night of weekly racing. Below are the winners of those events and how they compare historically with numbers at the speedway.
IMCA Late Model
Tyler Bruening led all 25 laps en route to the opening night win in the IMCA Late Model division. After a couple of restarts slowed action early and lapped traffic slowed his progress late, Bruening was impressive in his initial bid to repeat as track champion.
It was Bruening's 13th career win in weekly points racing in Independence, which moved him into a tie with Glen Martin and Kevin Pittman for 14th in total wins since 1967. It was Bruening's first win during the month of April and his second opening night victory. He also won the opener in 2011. Bruening is now one of only nine drivers to win multiple opening night features at the speedway.
IMCA Modified
All-time IMCA Modified wins leader Darin Duffy picked up his 42nd win in weekly racing history in the division in Independence. After taking over the lead following a mid-race restart, Duffy pulled away to score the opening night win. His all-time wins lead is now three better than Vern Jackson (39), who is second on that list.
Despite his storied career, prior to Saturday, Duffy had never won an opener in Independence. By virtue of his win Saturday, Duffy became the 28th different opening night Modified winner in 31 years at the speedway and the 10th straight different winner to earn an opening night win in the division.
Remarkably, it was also Duffy's first-ever victory during the month of April in Independence. He has now won at least one feature in every month from April through September. He joins Tom Bartholomew as the only two Modified drivers in track history to boast that accomplishment.
The winner of last year's season championship feature, Duffy joined another very exclusive list. He is now one of only four Modified drivers in track history to win the opening night event following a season championship win the year before. The only other Modified drivers to do that are Steve Droste (1994-1995), Scott Hogan (2003-2004) and Vern Jackson (2007-2008).
With Saturday's win, Duffy has now won at least one feature in each of five consecutive years. That ties the sixth longest streak in division history in Independence. Duffy also strung together wins in six consecutive years from 1997-2002, which is tied for the fourth longest streak of that nature.
IMCA Stock Car
John Emerson held off race-long pressure from Sean Johnson to score his first-ever opening night win in the IMCA Stock Car division. The fifth win of his career in the division in Independence, Emerson is now tied with Curtis Roster, Darin Treptow and Lon Gadow for 11th on the all-time list for Stock Cars.
Like the others, it was also Emerson's first-ever win during the month of April. Dating back to June 9 of last season, Emerson has won five of the last 11 Stock Car features at the speedway. The other six during that time were all won by Johnson.
IMCA SportMod
Lucas Lundry won an entertaining IMCA SportMod feature. He battled Shane Ebaugh and Danny Dvorak before pulling away at the end to collect his first-ever opening night win in Independence.
The first win of his career during the month of April in Indee, Lundry has now won five SportMod features in his career at the speedway - he has earned one win in each of the last five seasons. No other driver has won at least one feature in five different seasons in the division. Fifth on the career list, Lundry moved to within a single win of Austin Kaplan for fourth all-time.
Lundry became the fifth different opening night winner in the division's sixth season at the speedway. It was also the fifth straight different opening night winner in the SportMods. Only Josh Sherbon, who won the first two SportMod openers in the 2008 and 2009 seasons, has won multiple openers in the division.
IMCA Hobby Stock
Benji Irvine took command midway through the IMCA Hobby Stock main event to take the checkers in that 15-lapper. He, too, enjoyed his first career win during the month of April in Indee.
His three career wins place him into a tie with 13 other drivers for 34th on the track's all-time list for Hobby Stocks. Dating back to July 21 of last season, all three of Irvine's wins have come in the last six events.
In the division's 25 seasons at the speedway, Irvine became the 23rd different driver to win on opening night. Irvine's win made him the 18th straight different opening night Hobby Stock winner. Only Lon Gadow (1990-1991) and Chris Wessner (1995-1996) have won multiple Hobby Stock openers.
IMCA Sport Compact
Adam Gates dominated the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, winning that event by nearly half of a lap. His first-ever win in weekly racing history at the speedway, Gates became the fourth different Sport Compact winner in the division's brief seven-race history at the speedway.
Racing will resume next Saturday in Independence for another night of weekly points racing. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with hot laps at 6 and racing to follow.
Many have asked if there will be a tack photographer in Independence this season. I'm pleased to announce that Jim Wittke has agreed to come on board to be our official track photographer. Also working on Sunday nights in Vinton, you can find Jim's work at www.speedwaysouvenir.com. Jim works at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, as well, so he will be enjoying a busy summer at area tracks. If you see Jim, be sure to thank him for spending his Saturday nights with us in Independence!
Tonight, I'll be back at Benton County Speedway in Vinton for its weekly program. I'm scheduled to fill-in for track announcer Bucky Doren, who is enjoying a successful run coaching his son's youth baseball team. Gates open at 3, with hot laps at 4:30 and racing to follow. I hope to see you there!
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