Although he has been fighting engine gremlins in recent weeks, IMCA Northern SportMod driver Danny Dvorak reached a new plateau Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. The all-time leader in SportMod wins in Vinton, Dvorak raced to his 50th career weekly SportMod victory in track history - and he did it from an eighth row start. (complete results below)
Second row starter Mike McDonald challenged pole-sitter Mike Hogencamp for the early lead in the 15-lapper. McDonald raced the low side past Hogencamp on the second circuit while Curt Hilmer closed the gap after starting in row four.
Hilmer challenged for the lead just as the caution flag waved on lap seven. On the restart, Hilmer was forced to the pit area for a flat tire on his #22H, leaving Austin Kaplan in second. Kaplan worked the high side of McDonald and was able to pull even a number of times, however they continued to battle out front while Dvorak was racing through traffic from his 15th starting spot.
Dvorak chased Nick Roberts and Joel Rust into the top six before the first of three more stoppages slowed action on lap 11. Following that restart, Dvorak powered to the inside of Kaplan and McDonald to assume command prior to another caution one lap later.
Kaplan drifted off the top of turn four to bring out the final caution on lap 13, setting up a two-lap dash to the finish with Dvorak leading Rust and McDonald back to green. Rust closed to the outside over the final two laps, however Dvorak held serve on the lower side of the speedway to take the win.
His fourth win of the season, Dvorak has now won one time each in the months of April, May, June and July. With 50 wins all-time in weekly racing history in Vinton, Dvorak's total is exactly double that of Austin Kaplan, who sits second on the list with 25 wins.
Kyle Brown found a home on the bottom groove, then held off a late surge from Joe Docekal on the top side to become the first three-time IMCA Modified winner this season.
Racer Hulin led the first time around the fast, smooth quarter-mile for the 20-lapper before Brown worked his way to the front from a second row start. Brown worked beneath the leader to assume command by the completion of lap two.
Joe Docekal and Jerry Luloff joined the four-car breakaway at the front of the pack with the leaders remaining committed to the low groove. With a pair of laps to go, Docekal drifted to the top side to try to mount a run around the leader. He was able to gain ground, however ran out of time as Brown held on by less than a car-length to score the win. Hulin was close behind in third.
Brown now owns four career Modified wins in weekly racing history at the speedway. He is tied for 33rd on that list with Bernie Juliar, Larry Schmidt, Max Corporon, Mike Schulte and Ron Hurst.
Brian Happel also drove to his third win of the season in the IMCA Hobby Stock 15-lapper. Outside front row starter Jacob Keiser held the early command with Justin Wacha and Justin Stander in tow.
The leaders raced around the bottom of the speedway in nose-to-tail formation until Wacha built a run to the low side of the leader on lap nine. Wacha pulled even with Keiser down the back stretch before the two made contact as they fought for the same real estate entering turn three. The contact resulted in Keiser spinning and being sent to the tail for the ensuing restart.
Wacha led the field back to green with Stander on his rear bumper and Brian Happel on the top side in third. Happel worked around the front-runners to assume command on lap 10, then led the remaining five laps to seal the victory.
The sixth win of Happel's career in Vinton, he now sits tied for 18th on the Hobby Stock list with Bill Bonnett, Curt Hilmer, Curtis Roster, Kyle Parizek and Rick Johnson.
Norman Chesmore raced to his division-leading fourth IMCA Stock Car win of the season in Vinton. Chesmore chased early leader Scott Pippert for one lap before making the pass for the lead on the inside as the leaders exited turn four to complete lap two. A pair of cautions kept the field close and Pippert within striking distance, however Chesmore denied the challenges of Pippert to take the win.
Chesmore's four wins in a single season are a career-best for him in Vinton. His win Sunday came just one day prior to the anniversary of his first career Stock Car win at the speedway (July 8, 2001). Chesmore's 18 Stock Car wins in Vinton leave him a single victory behind Dan Trimble for fourth all-time.
Bill Whalen Jr. went the distance in the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact main to earn his third win of the season, his first since May 5. Whalen worked past front row starters Craig Streeter and Travis Losenicky by the completion of the first lap as he sailed to the win ahead of Jeremy Lerch.
With the win, his 10th in weekly racing history in Vinton, Whalen tied Steve Miedke for fifth all-time. His three wins this season match his personal best, which he set in 2010 and matched in 2011.
Fellow Positively Racing bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele made the trip to Vinton Sunday. Be sure to check out their take on the night's action in the 4dfan Report.
After filling in for Bucky Doren on the microphone in recent weeks, I spent all of Sunday night's program sitting in the grandstands. (No, Bucky, it wasn't because I have a one night a week Bucky limit! Welcome back!) Actually, it was the first time in many years I enjoyed an entire show at BCS from the grandstands. Thanks to Darin and Jen Duffy, Andy and Jessica Miller, Jason Snyder and the rest of their group for letting me sit with them. Darin and Jen's son Karter certainly has the knack for predicting all the winners and, despite the fact that he thinks the announcer in Independence talks too much, I enjoyed a night back in the stands!
This week I plan to head to West Liberty Raceway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models Tuesday night. The tour's most recent stop there a few weeks ago was fantastic, so if you were unable to make it to that one, try to make plans to attend this Tuesday night.
Next Sunday in Vinton is the 19th annual Hogan Memorial. As I've been saying all weekend, the event is huge. The best of the best in the IMCA Modified ranks come out for a great Sunday in Vinton and it promises to be another stellar show next Sunday. In fact, last season 41 IMCA Modifieds were on-hand to do battle for the increased prize money and the total car count for the five divisions was 127. It is definitely a show you will want to attend. Details of the event are in the flyer located at the top of this page.
To preview this year's Hogan Memorial, I will provide an historical perspective In Staging sometime this week. I'll cover the history of the event, the all-time winners, the trends, the top-finishers and who may be the odds-on favorites to stand in victory lane this year.
Have a great week!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 2. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 3. 505 Racer Hulin (Laurel); 4. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 5. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 6. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 7. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 8. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 9. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 10. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 11. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 12/DNS. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 13/DNS. 81 Jesse Belez (Marengo).
Heat one: 1. Docekal; 2. Auringer; 3. Hogan; 4. Brown; 5. Olson; 6. Belez.
Heat two: 1. Hulin; 2. Cordes; 3. Luloff; 4. Flannagan; 5. Lauritzen; 6. Dedrick; DNS Thomas.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 2. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 3. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 4. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 5. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 6. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 7. 9E Mitchell Evens (Independence).
Heat: 1. Galli; 2. Roster; 3. Emerson; 4. Chesmore; 5. Pippert; 6. Beauregard; 7. Evens.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 2. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 3. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 4. 72 Mike Hogencamp (Waterloo); 5. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 6. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 7. 4N Ross Neal (Marion); 8. 44G Brady Graham (Brooklyn); 9. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 10. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 11. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 12. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 13. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 14. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 15. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 16. 1 Austin Kaplan (Des Moines); 17. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 18. 11M Mike Mitchell (Cedar Rapids); 19. 15B Troy Burkhart (Urbana); 20. 57R Ryan King (Montour).
Heat one: 1. Hilmer; 2. Graham; 3. Hogencamp; 4. Ebaugh; 5. Schaefer; 6. Mitchell; 7. Burkhart.
Heat two: 1. Sellers; 2. Roberts; 3. Anderson; 4. Rust; 5. Neal; 6. Maitland; 7. Schulze.
Heat three: 1. Buhlman; 2. Kaplan; 3. McDonald; 4. Olson; 5. Dvorak; DNS King.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 2. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 3. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 4. 67 Justin Stander (Shellsburg); 5. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 6. 14C Leah Wroten (Independence); 7. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 8. 12J Jeremy Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 9. 57 Malena Betzer (Cedar Rapids); 10. 90 Chris Moore (Fairfax); 11. 19B James Sheldon (Marion); 12. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 13. 14J Jacob Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 14. 55 Vince Buchholz (Waterloo); 15. 75D Dale Kite (Keystone).
Heat one: 1. Keiser; 2. Happel; 3. Luloff; 4. Brown; 5. Jacob Floyd; 6. Betzer; 7. Kite; 8. Sheldon.
Heat two: 1. Wacha; 2. Stander; 3. Parizek; 4. Wroten; 5. Jeremy Floyd; 6. Buchholz; 7. Moore.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 2. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 3. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 4. 22T Travis Losenicky (Garrison); 5. 36DD Gary Peiffer (Troy Mills); 6. 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn); 7. 3S Craig Streeter (Vinton); 8. 22 Nathan Chandler (Cedar Rapids).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. Losenicky; 5. Streeter; 6. Lerch; 7. Peiffer; DNS Denning.
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