Although Joe Docekal and Brian Happel have won numerous features at Benton County Speedway, they both earned back-to-back wins for the first time in their careers Sunday night in Vinton.
Tony Olson took the lead at the drop of the green in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature. Olson paced the field on the low groove while Mike Burbridge pursued. Burbridge slid beneath the leader on lap six, just before Olson spun in turn two to bring out the caution.
Burbridge led the field through another caution one lap later while Docekal ran second. Docekal followed Burbridge on the low side before moving to the top at the midway point. He worked around the outside of the leader on the 12th circuit before returning to the low groove on the way to his second straight victory.
With 10 Modified wins in weekly racing history in Vinton, Docekal is now tied for 15th on the all-time list with Darin Duffy, Don Erger and Jeff Barkdoll. He has won at least three features in three of the last four seasons.
All three of Docekal's wins this season have come in the last four events, making him the 13th member of that club. Other Modified drivers who have won a minimum of three features in a four week span in speedway history include:
Arlo Becker - 1979 (three straight wins);
Dave Venenga - 1980 (three straight wins);
Jack Mitchell - 1981 (four straight wins), 1982 (three straight wins), 1983 (one streak of four straight wins and another separate streak of five straight wins, the track record for Modifieds);
Kevin Pittman - 1990 (four straight wins and a separate streaks of three straight wins);
Dave Burrell - 1993 (three wins in four weeks);
Scott Hogan - 1995 (three wins in four weeks), 1996 (three wins in four weeks), 2005 (three wins in four weeks); 2010 (three straight wins);
Robbie Schmuecker - 1999 (three wins in four weeks), 2000 (three wins in four weeks);
Darin Duffy - 2000 (three straight wins);
Vern Jackson - 2001 (three straight wins), 2004 (three straight wins);
Troy Cordes - 2003 (three wins in four weeks), 2007 (four wins in five weeks);
J.D. Auringer - 2007 (three wins in four weeks and another separate streak of three straight wins);
Mike Burbridge - 2012 (three wins in four weeks).
Happel survived a wildly entertaining IMCA Hobby Stock feature that was slowed six times for caution. Although he started last in the 12-car field, Happel quickly found himself in the front half of the field following a first lap caution that involved numerous cars.
Following the fourth stoppage with two laps in the books, Happel made his way into the top five and raced his way into the top three on lap four. He chased Kyle Parizek and Justin Wacha at the front of the pack as the lead pair battled in side-by-side formation.
Happel went to the top side and followed Parizek past Wacha before the caution flag waved again on lap nine. On the restart, Parizek left the track with engine problems as Happel took command. He led the remainder of the event to score the victory, his second straight and sixth of the season.
With nine career Hobby Stock wins in Vinton, Happel tied Todd Temeyer for 14th on the all-time list. His sixth win of the year broke the tie with Chris Luloff as the most in the division. By virtue of his win and Luloff's DNF following the first lap mishap, Happel took the points lead. Unofficially, he will enter the final two nights of racing with a 10 point advantage.
Shane Ebaugh made his first visit to victory lane in over five years in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Ebaugh took command from Colby Heishman midway through that 15-lapper, then held off heavy pressure from Jim Buhlman on the low side of the speedway to score the win, his first since May 11, 2008.
The span of 1,932 days (five years, three months and 14 days) between victories is the largest in division history in Vinton. Ebaugh's first win came on August 12, 2007, giving him the second longest span between first and most recent wins in SportMod history at the speedway. Danny Dvorak holds the record in that category.
Ebaugh's three career SportMod wins in Vinton place him in a tie for 15th on the all-time list with Chris Luloff, Damon Murty and Ken Kositzky.
Speaking of Murty, he was also victorious Sunday night and reached a milestone in the IMCA Stock Car division. Murty worked the high side around leader Scott Pippert to assume command at the midway point of that 15-lapper to drive to his division-leading 60th Stock Car win in weekly racing history at the speedway.
With the win, his fifth of the season, Murty has won at least five features in each of the last five seasons in Vinton. Of his 60 wins, 14 have come in the month of August.
Nathan Chandler picked up his ninth win of the year in the IMCA Sport Compact division. From his second row starting spot, Chandler worked past A.J. Witten on the fifth of 12 laps to drive to the win, the 44th of his weekly racing career in Vinton. The all-time leader in Sport Compact wins in Vinton, Chandler has now won eight times in the month of August.
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 4. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 5. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 6. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 7. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 8. 14B Shane Burbridge, Manchester; 9. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 10. 17S Alex Schmuecker, Vinton; 11. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi.
Heat one: 1. Dedrick; 2. Luloff; 3. Flanngan; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Schmuecker; 6. S. Burbridge.
Heat two: 1. M. Burbridge; 2. Auringer; 3. Docekal; 4. Cordes; 5. Olson.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 3. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 4. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 6. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 7. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 8. 22D Jared Daggett, Marshalltown; 9. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 10. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 11. 9E Mitch Evens, Independence; 12. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence.
Heat one: 1. Damme; 2. Beauregard; 3. Chesmore; 4. Emerson; 5. Rose; 6. Evens.
Heat two: 1. Daggett; 2. Pippert; 3. Murty; 4. Roster; 5. Galli; 6. Temeyer.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 26J Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 4. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 5. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 6. 95 Mike McDonald, Cedar Rapids; 7. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 8. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 9. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 10. 4 Ryan Maitland, Vinton; 11. 44G Brady Graham, Brooklyn; 12. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 13. T17 Tom Rawlins, Kellogg; 14. 11M Mike Mitchell, Cedar Rapids; 15. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison; 16. 93 Josh Burrell, Dysart; DNS/17. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; DNS/18. 72 Mike Hogencamp, Waterloo.
Heat one: 1. Heishman; 2. Buhlman; 3. McDonald; 4. Rawlins; 5. Burrell; 6. Schulze.
Heat two: 1. Maitland; 2. Ebaugh; 3. Dvorak; 4. King; 5. Graham; 6. Mitchell.
Heat three: 1. Sellers; 2. Rust; 3. Anderson; 4. Hilmer; 5. Schaefer; 6. Hogencamp.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton/Van Horne/Newhall/somewhere in Benton County; 2. 23 Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 3. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. 2 Nick Welch, Cedar Falls; 5. 4P Matt Pohlman, Kesytone; 6. 21J Jason Williams, Belle Plaine; 7. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 8. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 9. 88 C.J. Dall, Marshalltown; 10. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion; 11. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 12. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence.
Heat one: 1. Luloff; 2. Wacha; 3. Parizek; 4. Torkelson; 5. Dall; 6. Williams.
Heat two: 1. Brown; 2. Keiser; 3. Welch; 4. Pohlman; 5. Sheldon; 6. Happel.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler, Norway; 2. 00W Bill Whalen Jr., Riverside; 3. 2 Merv Chandler, Urbana; 4. 3S Craig Streeter, Vinton; 5. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton; 6. 44 Troy Scott, Fairfax; 7. 111 A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 8. 9 Toby Denning, Mt. Auburn.
Heat: 1. Witten; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. M. Chandler; 5. Scott; 6. Lerch; 7. Streeter; DNS Denning.
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