A nice field of 13 Late Models signed in to compete in a draw/redraw show for the second straight week. Luke Pestka, last week's winner, ran the top side into the lead early while Jeff Aikey chased him to the front from a third row starting spot.
Aikey quickly put his machine (the #1 normally piloted by Rick Dralle) into second after just two laps, then swept past Pestka for the lead one circuit later. Aikey quickly distanced himself from the pack, leaving the field to do battle behind him.
Todd Cooney, who started inside of Aikey, made his way around Pestka on the fourth circuit, however Aikey was on the move as he extended his advantage to a straightaway margin. Aikey came upon a logjam of traffic with five laps to go as a handful of cars were battling for sixth place right in front of the leader. Aikey survived the rush hour traffic to sail to the victory in dominant fashion a straightaway ahead of Cooney.
The slick, smooth oval provided for great racing in all five weekly divisions, as well.
Troy Cordes earned his first win of the season in Vinton in the IMCA Modified division. Cordes started inside of row three while Tony Olson paced the field at the drop of the green. Following a pair of early yellows, Cordes challenged Mike Burbridge for second on lap three, then made his way around both Burbridge and Olson to take command on lap four.
Running the low groove, Cordes maintained the point while Ronn Lauritzen made his way into second on lap six after starting deep in the field. Lauritzen pestered Cordes while Scott Hogan advanced through the pack from a fifth row starting spot. Hogan was able to work the top side around Lauritzen for second late in the 20-lapper, however Cordes was dialed in down low as he sped to victory. With the win, Cordes became the eighth different Modified winner in 11 weekly points races at the speedway this season.
The win was the 39th Modified for Cordes in his weekly racing career in Vinton. He is second on that list, four wins behind Hogan. The victory gave Cordes at least one win in Vinton in each of the last 12 seasons, which is the longest streak in track history for the Modifieds. Six of his wins have come in the month of June.
Like Cordes, Scott Pippert protected the low groove on his way to his second win in the IMCA Stock Car division. Pippert worked the bottom side into the green following a lap one caution, then locked in down low while Norman Chesmore and John Emerson gave chase. Chesmore was able to pull onto Pippert's rear bumper a number of times over the course of the 15-lapper, however Pippert was too fast off the corner as he drove to victory.
It was Pippert's second win of the season and of his career in the Stock Cars in Vinton. He is one of 22 drivers all-time with multiple Stock Car wins in Vinton. He ranks tied for 18th on that list with Frankie Dulin, Jason Deshaw, Jeremy Miller and Kevin Rose.
Nick Roberts earned his fifth win of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMods. From a fifth row starting spot, Roberts quickly put himself into contention by making his way into the top five after one lap. He pulled into second one lap later before taking the top spot on the third circuit, just prior to a caution for debris.
On the restart, Roberts led the field while Joel Rust was making his way through the pack from a sixth row starting spot. Running the top side, Rust challenged Danny Dvorak for second until his progress was slowed for caution with two laps to go.
When the green flag waved a final time, Roberts maintained the lead while Rust worked the top side of Dvorak for second. That's all the closer Rust would get as Roberts drove to victory, his sixth career SportMod triumph in weekly racing in Vinton. All-time, Roberts is tied for sixth on the BCS SportMod wins list with Kurt Hogan and Racer Hulin.
The late decision to race Sunday night paid off for IMCA Sport Compact driver Brad Chandler. Chandler started inside of row two in that 12-lapper, made his way into the lead on the first lap and drove away to victory, his second straight in Vinton and third of the season. The Chandler Express took the win, place and show positions as his father, Merv, ran second and brother Nathan finished third.
His first-ever back-to-back wins in Vinton, Chandler became the fifth driver in division history in Vinton to earn consecutive victories. His 11 career wins place him fourth on the division's all-time list.
A classic IMCA Hobby Stock feature provided the perfect finishing touch for a great night in Vinton. As many as five drivers were poised to take home the hardware in that 15-lapper, but Matt Brown got the job done with a last lap pass on race-long leader Justin Wacha.
Wacha took command at the drop of the green from his pole position start while Brown, Chris Luloff, Brian Happel (and the crowd roared), and Kyle Parizek. Running the low side, Wacha fought off pressure from his pursuers for the first 13 laps as his challengers tried numerous racing grooves to gain an advantage. That all changed when the event's only caution came on lap 13.
Wacha led the field back to green for the two-lap dash to the finish, with Happel working the low side and Brown the top groove. Brown pulled even with Wacha over the final lap, then surged ahead by a few feet off the corner to take the thrilling win, his second in the last three weeks.
The 11th win of Brown's career in Vinton, he now ranks tied for eighth on the all-time list. He shares that spot with Jerry Luloff, Scooter Dulin and Steve Meyer.
It was a fantastic night of racing in Vinton, which was taken to a whole new level by event sponsor Albert Auto of Cedar Rapids. Chad Albert and the gang rolled out the red carpet for both drivers and fans. Each heat race winner was awarded $25, each feature winner took home a huge trophy and fans were provided with numerous prizes. In addition, drivers in the five weekly divisions who were in attendance one week ago pocketed an extra $100 if they made their way to the winner's circle Sunday night. Each of those winners took home the extra cash.
The prizes offered by Albert Auto included nearly 200 T-shirts launched into the stands, plus tickets for a chance to win four $50 gift certificates to Fareway, a stainless steel grill and two 32" LED TVs.
Another grill was given away as part of the Hawaiian/Fuzzy Friends Night promotion to help support the local animal shelter. Individuals were given one ticket for each item they brought to help support the animal shelter. The more items donated meant greater odds at having their name drawn to win the grill.
Credit also goes to Janice Smith of the Lil' Racer Car Club. Janice organizes a ton of events for the younger race fans throughout the season and provided an extra kick to victory lane interviews tonight (more on that later). As part of tonight's show, the youngsters (and a few slightly older kids) took part in a limbo contest prior to hot laps. I concede the limbo contest to you, Mr. Huff. Of course, when I waved the white flag in surrender, you thought I was throwing caution to the wind...
BCS is a small, fast quarter-mile and has provided awesome racing for years, but it has been second-to-none these past two weeks. The track has been in fantastic shape, the car counts are improving and the racing has been top notch. If you haven't been to BCS in a while, you will want to set aside a Sunday in the near future to spend in Vinton.
Race Notes:
* Andy Eckrich made the trip to Vinton Sunday night, but not to compete in the Late Model division, as one may have expected. Instead, Eckrich was behind the wheel of Jason Snyder's #98 IMCA Modified. Eckrich was getting familiar with Snyder's ride as he will pilot the machine during the $10,000-to-win Modified show later this week at Farley Speedway.
* Jake Keiser's work schedule over the weekend meant no racing for him in Vinton Sunday night. Instead, he placed a call to friend and fellow Marengo resident (Marengian? Help me out here, guys) Paul Shepherd. Shepherd, who has most recently spent time behind the wheel of an IMCA Stock Car, but had success earlier (meaning you're getting old, Paul) in his career in the Hobby Stocks, competed for the first time this season in Vinton. Did Sunday night give you the racing fever again, Paul? We'd love to have you back as a regular!
* Although the Late Models aren't going to be a weekly addition to the program in Vinton, you can expect them back at least a couple more times in 2013. They have put on a terrific show each night out so far this year.
* Each of the winners Sunday night were asked (required?) to take part in the Hawaiian theme of the program. In victory lane, every feature winner sported a grass skirt and coconut "accessory" to complete the outfit, provided by Janice Smith of the Lil' Racer Car Club. I've already seen a few facebook pictures floating around out there if you weren't in attendance Sunday night and would like to view the damage. By the way, Mr. Roberts, you're not coconuts, but just plain nuts if you thought my attention was anywhere other than the victory lane interview. Great run tonight!
It's hard to believe, but in just two short weeks, the annual Hogan Memorial will be held at the speedway. The best IMCA Modified drivers in the region will be on-hand to compete in one of the biggest Modified events in our area. Details of that event are located in the flyer below.
My tentative mid-week plans include a trip to Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa this Wednesday. Friends and fellow Positively Racing bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele made the observation in Marshalltown this past Friday that I have yet to venture southwest to Osky this season. Depending how late of a night I have Tuesday in Indee, I hope to make it down your way this week. Do they sell 50/50 tickets there, Joyce?
RESULTS
IMCA LATE MODEL
Feature: 1. 77A Jeff Aikey (Cedar Falls); 2. 30 Todd Cooney (Des Moines); 3. 99 Luke Pestka (Robins); 4. Z50 Joe Zrostlik (Long Grove); 5. 24 Scott Fitzpatrick (Urbandale); 6. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 7. 9 Bobby Hansen (Center Point); 8. 15C Curt Schroeder (Ames); 9. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 10. C4 Chad Lerch (Cedar Rapids); 11. 7 Greg Hunter (Independence); 12. B00K Dylan Book (Adel); 13. 68 Tysus Pattee (Vinton).
Heat one: 1. Pestka; 2. Wagner; 3. Aikey; 4. Hunter; 5. Cooney; 6. Book.
Heat two: 1. Zrostlik; 2. Hamilton; 3. Fitzpatrick; 4. Hansen; 5. Schroeder; 6. Lerch; DNS Pattee.
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 2. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 4. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 5. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 6. 19D Darin Duffy (Hazleton); 7. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 8. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 9. 98 Andy Eckrich (Cosgrove); 10. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 11. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 12. 505 Racer Hulin (Laurel); 13. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 14. 9 Leon Wilson (Hopkinton); 15. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 16. 63 Scott Olson (Preston); 17. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart).
Heat one: 1. Dedrick; 2. Cordes; 3. Flannagan; 4. Auringer; 5. Duffy; 6. Lauritzen; 7. McBride; 8. S. Olson.
Heat two: 1. T. Olson; 2. Burbridge; 3. Hogan; 4. Luloff; 5. Docekal; 6. Eckrich; 7. Brown; 8. Wilson; 9. Hulin.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 2. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 3. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 4. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 5. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 6. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 7. 22D Jared Daggett (Marshalltown); 8. 60 Dalton Simonsen (Fairfax); 9/DNS. 19J Jay Schmidt (Tama).
Heat: 1. Pippert; 2. Chesmore; 3. Schmidt; 4. Galli; 5. Beauregard; 6. Emerson; 7. Simonsen; 8. Daggett; DNS Roster.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 2. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 3. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 4. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 5. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 6. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 7. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 8. 57R Ryan King (Montour); 9. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 10. 4N Ross Neal (Marion); 11. 11M Mike Mitchell (Cedar Rapids); 12. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 13. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 14. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 15. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 16. T17 Tom Rawlins (Kellogg); 17. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 18. 16K Brandon Morris (Ely); 10. 49C Josh Marak (Cedar Rapids).
Heat one: 1. Sellers; 2. Hilmer; 3. Schulze; 4. Mitchell; 5. Ebaugh; 6. Kitner.
Heat two: 1. Olson; 2. Burrell; 3. Dvorak; 4. King; 5. Buhlman; DNS Marak.
Heat three: 1. Rawlins; 2. McDonald; 3. Roberts; 4. Rust; 5. Schaefer; 6. Morris; 7. Neal.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 2. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 3. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 4. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 5. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 6. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 7. 07X Paul Shepherd (Marengo); 8. 21J Jason Williams (Belle Plaine); 9. 23 Andrew Torkelson (Lisbon: 10. 75D Dale Kite (Keystone).
Heat one: 1. Wacha; 2. Happel; 3. Torkelson; 4. Luloff; 5. Williams.
Heat two: 1. Parizek; 2. Brown; 3. Irvine; 4. Shepherd; 5 Kite.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 2ND Brad Chandler (Cedar Rapids); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 4. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 5. 36DD Gary Peiffer (Troy Mills); 6. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 7. 22T Travis Losenicky (Garrison); 8/DNS. 3S Craig Streeter (Vinton); 9/DNS 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn).
Heat: 1. B. Chandler; 2. Peiffer; 3. Whalen; 4. Losenicky; 5. N. Chandler; 6. Streeter; 7. Witten; 8. Denning; 9. M. Chandler.
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