Hilmer by a nose in IMCA SportMods at Benton County Speedway

"Ain't nobody gonna catch her."

Those were the words I uttered to RACEceiver official Tysus Pattee Sunday night at Benton County Speedway despite the fact that the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature had just been slowed for caution with 11 laps scored complete. Jenae Gustin had checked out.

A few minutes later, I ate those words as Curt Hilmer proved me, and probably many others, wrong. Very wrong.

Gustin, who started the event inside of row two, charged to the front at the drop of the green and was nearly half of a track ahead of her nearest pursuers by the time the yellow flag bunched the field. Hilmer restarted on her tail and kept pace with the leader until one more stoppage slowed action a lap later.

On the final restart, Hilmer remained committed to the low groove while Gustin ran the top side. Hilmer slowly pulled alongside the leader as the two ran side-by-side over much of the final circuit. Hilmer inched ahead as the checkers waved to score the thrilling win, his first of the season. (stats and complete results follow at the end of this entry)

Richie Gustin also won in dramatic fashion in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, but had to regroup late to get the job done.

Brandon Banks led the 18-car field to green with Scott Hogan in pursuit. After trying numerous times to sneak beneath Banks, Hogan opted for a run on the top side of the speedway and made his way past Banks just shy of the midway point.

While Hogan led, Gustin and Troy Cordes were battling for third, then continued to fight for position after making their way around Banks on lap 11. Gustin worked the low side past Hogan for the lead on lap 15 and was followed to the front one lap later by Cordes.

Cordes quickly cut into the deficit and pulled onto the rear bumper of Gustin in the final two laps. Looking to repeat his thrilling win from last night in Independence, Cordes shot to the inside of Gustin in turns one and two to steal the lead on the white flag lap, only to see Gustin return the favor when they entered three and four.

Cordes tried the same maneuver in the first set of turns on the final lap, however Gustin held the advantage down the back straightaway. Gustin raced the low line through the final set of turns to secure the win, his second straight.

Brian Happel led the field to green in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. He was challenged by Chris Luloff, who made his way into second on lap three after a third row start.

Luloff repeatedly challenged to the low side of the leader, but was unable to get a run on Happel until lap 11 when he made the pass for the lead. Luloff led the remainder of the event to earn his second win of the season.

It was anyone's guess who would come out on top of the IMCA Stock Car feature as five different drivers led the first five laps of that 15-lapper. After Mike Galli, Curtis Roster, Scott Pippert and Jay Schmidt led at the stripe the first four times around the quarter-mile, John Emerson took charge on lap five.

Emerson continued to show the way while Damon Murty worked through the pack from a fourth row starting spot. Murty settled into second just prior to the midway point, then chased down Emerson.

Running the low groove, Murty pulled even with Emerson as he powered into turns three and four on the white flag lap. The two came together before Murty emerged with the lead at the stripe. He led the final circuit to score his third win of the season.

A busy week is awaiting. I plan to head to Hamilton County Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models/Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour twinbill Tuesday night.

On Thursday, our second midweek special of the season is scheduled at Independence Motor Speedway. The Entry Level Extravaganza will feature IMCA sanctioned SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Gates will open at 5, with hot laps at 6:45 and racing to follow. Details of that event are available by clicking here.

Friday, it's off to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I plan to enjoy my first WoO Sprint race since the 2002 Knoxville Nationals, then return home Saturday for Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night at Independence Motor Speedway and Cassill Motors Emergency Services Appreciation Night at Benton County Speedway on Sunday.

Hopefully, we can leave the wet weather behind with the month of May and enjoy our summer months at the race track! Support racing in your area and have a great week!


Below are the latest stats and how Sunday's winners compare historically at Benton County Speedway. Complete results from Sunday night follow below.

By the Numbers
* Curt Hilmer - His first win of 2013, Hilmer has now won at least one feature in each of the last four seasons, second only to Danny Dvorak in that category. With seven career IMCA SportMod wins in Vinton, Hilmer now ranks alone in fifth on the all-time list. He sits one win behind Drew Fish for fourth and two victories behind Tony Olson for third on the all-time wins list .

This is the earliest in any season that Hilmer has made it to victory lane in a SportMod in Vinton. Of his other six SportMod wins at the speedway, three came in the month of July and the other three in August. In fact, of his six career Hobby Stock wins in Vinton, only one came prior to the month of June (May 28, 2006). I guess you can call Hilmer a late bloomer...

* Richie Gustin - The streak is over. With his win Sunday night, Gustin became the first repeat winner in weekly racing in the IMCA Modified division this season. Six different drivers won the first six points events prior to Gustin's return trip to the winner's circle. His two wins have come in back-to-back events, a feat he also accomplished in Vinton last season. Gustin has never won three straight points races at the speedway.

His six career Modified wins in weekly points racing in Vinton place Gustin in a tie for 24th on the all-time list with Dave Venenga, Garry Stuber, Jim Schmuecker, Mike Krall, Ronn Lauritzen and Tony Olson.

Unlike Hilmer, Sunday's win was the latest in any season that Gustin has won a Modified feature in Vinton. All five of his other wins came in the months of April and May. I guess that makes Gustin an early peaker...

* Chris Luloff - His second win of the season guaranteed back-to-back seasons with multiple wins for Luloff. Luloff has now won multiple features in six different calendar years in the division in Vinton. With 19 career Hobby Stock wins to his credit in Vinton, Luloff ranks third all-time behind Vince Buchholz and Scott Pippert.

Unlike Hilmer and Gustin, Luloff's wins have been spread out evenly throughout the calendar. Sunday's win was his third all-time in the month of June, adding to five wins in April, four in May, three in July and four in August.

* Damon Murty - Murty, the all-time Stock Car feature wins leader in track history, chalked up victory number 58 Sunday night. He has now won at least three features each season over the past 10 years.

Murty seems to have a thing for early June. Sunday night was the sixth time in the last nine years that Murty has won the first Stock Car feature during the month of June in Vinton. He also opened June with wins in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

There have been 235 IMCA Stock Car features held in weekly racing history in Vinton. Murty has won 24.68% of them. If he can win next Sunday, he will have 59 wins in 236 all-time events in Vinton... 25%... 1 in every 4. Keep in mind, he hasn't even competed in every Stock Car event, but has still nearly won a quarter of all of them. Incredible.

* Nathan Chandler - Another Sunday, another win for Nathan Chandler. His third straight win in Vinton, it was Chandler's fourth in weekly racing on the quarter-mile this season. The all-time leader in Sport Compact wins at the speedway, Chandler now has 39 victories to his credit.

Sunday night marked the third time in his career that Chandler has strung together a minimum of three straight wins. He can match his own track record of four straight Sport Compact wins next Sunday night.

Much like Murty, Chandler has been dominant in his division. His 39 Sport Compact wins have come in 148 weekly events - a winning percentage of 26.35%. I don't believe Chandler was even competing in the division during its first two seasons in Vinton. Those two seasons account for (ironically) 39 of the 148 all-time events. That means he has won 35.77% of all Sport Compact features in Vinton since he joined the division in 2008.

RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 19G Richie Gustin (Marshalltown); 2. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 3. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 4. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 5. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 6. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 7. 22 Brandon Banks (Washington); 8. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 9. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 10. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 11. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 12. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 13. 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo); 14. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 15. 20L Zach Less (Hopkinton); 16. 17 Mike Krall (Waterloo); 17. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 18/DNS. 171 Buck Swanson (Waterloo).
Heat one: 1. Flannagan; 2. Gustin; 3. Docekal; 4. Dedrick; 5. Olson; 6. Krall.
Heat two: 1. Cordes; 2. Luloff; 3. Less; 4. Burbridge; 5. Jensen; 6. Swanson.
Heat three: 1. Hogan; 2. Banks; 3. Lauritzen; 4. Auringer; 5. Brown; 6. McBride.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. 19J Jay Schmidt (Tama); 4. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 5. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 6. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 7. 8675309 Justin Temeyer (Independence); 8. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 9. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 10. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 11. 77 Andy Bryant (State Center).
Heat one: 1. Roster; 2. Murty; 3. Temeyer; 4. Emerson; 5. Beauregard; 6. Ahrendsen.
Heat two: 1. Schmidt; 2. Chesmore; 3. Galli; 4. Pippert; 5. Bryant.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 2. 19J Jenae Gustin (Marshalltown); 3. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 4. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 5. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 6. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 7. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 8. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 9. 72 Mike Hogencamp (Waterloo); 10. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 11. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 12. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 13. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 14. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 15. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 16. T17 Tom Rawlins (Kellogg); 17. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 18/DNS 8B Brad Iverson (Grinnell); 19/DNS CH19 Colby Heishman (Brooklyn); DNS 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond).
Heat one: 1. McDonald; 2. Hilmer; 3. Sellers; 4. King; 5. Buhlman; 6. Iverson; DNS Ebaugh.
Heat two: 1. Gustin; 2. Roberts; 3. Olson; 4. Schulze; 5. Kitner; 6. Anderson; 7. Burrell.
Heat three: 1. Rust; 2. Hogencamp; 3. Schaefer; 4. Dvorak; 5. Rawlins; 6. Heishman.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 3. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 4. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 5. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 6. 64 Jerome Wilson (Waterloo); 7. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 8. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 9. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 10. 25 Doug Laughridge (Vinton); 11. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 12. 10J Gabe Phelps (Vinton); 13. 2 Nick Welch (Cedar Falls).
Heat one: 1. Brown; 2. Keiser; 3. Luloff; 4. Laughridge; 5. Wilson; 6. Welch; 7. Parizek.
Heat two: 1. Happel; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Vanous; 5. Phelps; 6. Ballard.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 4. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 5. 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn); 6. 2ND Brad Chandler (Cedar Rapids).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. Lerch; 5. B. Chandler; 6. Denning.