One first-time victor and a pair of back-to-back winners highlighted action Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway.
Brennen Chipp added his name to the track's storied list of feature winners Saturday night as he picked up his first win on the Independence oval in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Chipp started the 15-lapper on the pole, then survived a handful of restarts and furious challenges from Danny Dvorak to drive to the milestone victory.
A previous winner at Dubuque Fairgrounds Speedway, the triumph was Chipp's first-ever in Independence. He became the 18th different winner in division history at the speedway. The 294-day span since the most recent first-timer (Travis Peterson) ended the second longest span between first-time winners in the division's six-year history in Independence. Chipp became just the fourth SportMod winner to earn his first victory during the month of May.
Tyler Bruening used a mid-race restart to make his way around leader Jon Passick in the 25-lap IMCA Late Model main event. Bruening survived lapped traffic and late pressure from Passick to secure the win, his second straight.
Bruening joined Ed Sanger (1971, 1978), Glen Martin (1975) and Curt Martin (1990) as the only Late Model drivers in track history to win the first two points events of a season. With a victory next week, Bruening can join Sanger, Gary Crawford, Curt Martin and Rick Wendling as the only drivers in division history to earn three straight Late Model wins at the speedway.
The 14th win of his career in Independence, Bruening tied Bill Zwanziger and Darin Burco for 12th on the division's all-time list. When considering total career wins in weekly racing in Independence, Bruening is now tied for 37th on the all-time list.
The win, the second of Bruening's career to come in the month of May at Independence, gave him four consecutive seasons with a minimum of two wins. Prior to Bruening, only six Late Model drivers in track history had strung together at least four straight seasons with multiple wins. Previous drivers to accomplish that include: Ed Sanger (seven straight years with multiple wins, 1968-1974), Gary Crawford (five straight years, 1976-1980), Jim Burbridge (four straight years, 1986-1989), Rick Wendling (four straight years 1987-1990) and Curt Martin (13 straight years, 1994-2006).
John Emerson was also a back-to-back winner as he scored the win in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. Emerson made his way past Sean Johnson near the midway point, then held off repeated challenges from Johnson over the final half of the event to score his second straight win.
Emerson joined Jon Gadow (1993), Dan Trimble (1998, 1999, 2000) and Brian Irvine (2009) as the only Stock Car drivers in track history to win the first two events of a season. It was Emerson's first win in Independence during the month of May.
The sixth win of Emerson's career, he now ranks 11th all-time in Stock Car wins at the speedway. He sits one win shy of tying Ken Irvine for 10th on the career list.
All-time Hobby Stock wins leader Chris Luloff added another victory to his total in that 15-lapper. After swapping the lead with Quinton Miller and Benji Irvine, Luloff took over for good with five laps to go to drive to victory.
The win was Luloff's 23rd all-time in Independence, three more than his nearest competitor. His third career Hobby Stock win during the month of May at the speedway, Luloff has now won at least one feature in three consecutive seasons.
When adding Luloff's three Northern SportMod wins from 2009 to his career total, his 26 career wins tie him for 13th on the track's all-time list. He shares that position with Jack Mitchell and his father, Jerry Luloff.
Troy Cordes led wire-to-wire to score the win in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. After receiving early pressure from J.D. Auringer, Cordes pulled away on the top side of the speedway to drive to his first win in Independence since August 20, 2011.
The 29th Modified win in his weekly racing career in Independence, Cordes ranks third all-time behind Darin Duffy and Vern Jackson. Of those 29 wins, it was only the second during the month of May for Cordes.
When adding his 1994 IMCA Hobby Stock win to his career total, Cordes' 30 wins place him alone in 12th all-time at the speedway.
Dylan Clinton led all 12 laps of the IMCA Sport Compact feature to earn his first-ever win in Independence. The second straight first-time winner in the division at the speedway, Clinton became the fifth different feature winner in eight points events all-time for the Sport Compacts in Independence.
Complete results from Saturday's show, plus updated points, are available at www.independencemotorspeedway.com.
Next up at Independence will be Armed Forces/Veterans Night at the Races, coming up Saturday, May 18. All service men and women, past and present, will be admitted free to the grandstands if they show their military IDs. All individuals active in the service are invited to dress in uniform that evening. Stay tuned to the track's web site for more details.
Tonight, it's back to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for the fifth night of weekly points racing. Happy Mother's Day!
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