Vern Jackson has earned many trips to victory lane in his career at Independence Motor Speedway. In fact, he is the all-time leading feature winner in track history and he added another win to his stellar career Saturday night.
Jackson's 40th career IMCA Modified win in weekly racing history at the speedway was the 96th of his career on the Independence oval. He took the lead from Jeff Kriz following a lap five restart, then held off pressure late from Tyler Droste to earn the win, his first victory in Independence since July 16, 2011.
The career numbers for Jackson in Independence are impressive. Not only has he won 96 features (in weekly points racing alone), he's done it in five different decades. His breakdown of wins per decade are two wins during the 1970s, 11 in
the 1980s, 49 in the 1990s, 26 in the 2000s and eight since 2010.
Jackson's first win came on August 11, 1979. That span of 34 years and six days (12,425) is the longest stretch between first and most recent wins by a single driver in track history.
He has also won in more divisions than any other driver in track history. In addition to his 40 Modified wins, which ranks second only to Darin Duffy, Jackson earned 37 wins in the Pro Stock division, 10 in Street Stocks, six in Sportsmen, two in Roadrunners and one in Late Models.
Jackson has won at least one feature in 27 of the last 35 calendar years in Independence. That, too, is a track record. Only Curt Martin (wins in 25 different seasons) and Greg Kastli (wins in 23 seasons)
have wins in 20-plus different calendar years at the speedway.
The 11th Modified win of his career to come during the month of August, 28 of Jackson's 96 wins have come during that month.
Jason Hocken and his wife, Molly, announced Saturday night that they are expecting their second child. To celebrate, Hocken made his second trip of the year to victory lane in the IMCA Stock Car division. Hocken took the lead at the drop of the green, then held off constant pressure from Justin Temeyer to score the win, his second of the year.
With three career Stock Car wins in Independence, Hocken is now tied for 18th on the division's all-time list with Brad Holtkamp, Dale Hackwell Jr., Forrest Frost, Jerry Schipper and Phil Holtz. Hocken became the fourth Stock Car driver this season with multiple wins. The record is five Stock Car drivers with multiple wins in a single season, which was set in 2004.
Joel Rust has made only three appearances in weekly racing this season in Independence, but has made two trips to the winner's circle with his victory Saturday night.
Brian Hilbert led the early stages of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature while Rust raced from a sixth row start. Rust ran the high side in a three-wide battle for second exiting turn four on lap eight, then swept past those drivers and the leader to assume command at the flagstand. Rust pulled away to score the win, his second of the year.
All-time, Rust has earned five SportMod wins in weekly racing history at the speedway, which ties him with Lucas Lundry for fifth on the all-time list. Three of his five wins have come during the month of August.
Luke Pestka held a big early lead, then led Darren Ackerman to the checkers in the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature. Pestka built a straightaway lead by the time a lap-10 caution slowed action. Ackerman made his way into second late, but was unable to reel in the leader by the time the checkers waved.
The win was Pestka's first of the season and the fourth of his career in Independence. He is tied for 33rd on the track's Late Model wins list with Bill Beckman, Cal Swanson, Dennis Dugan and Karl Sanger. Pestka has now won one feature in each of the last three seasons in Independence. Two of his four wins have come in August.
Quinton Miller earned his second straight win in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Miller, who took the lead following a mid-race restart, has now won back-to-back Hobby Stock features for the second time in his career at the speedway.
Miller's 11 Hobby Stock wins tie him with Patrick Stansbery and Vince Buchholz for fifth on the all-time list. Saturday's win was his sixth during the month of August.
Merv Chandler became the first driver to lock up his division's points title. He did it with his third trip to victory lane in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Chandler took the lead from A.J. Witten on lap three, then led the remainder of the 12-lapper to score the victory, the fifth of his career in the division in Independence. He ranks second all-time at the speedway in Sport Compact wins.
Next Saturday is the final night of weekly points racing in Independence as Budweiser Season Championships will close out the Saturday racing program for 2013. Heat races will not be run next Saturday and features for all six divisions will be lined up straight-up based on season point totals. Weather permitting, out of car introductions will be done on the front stretch and the Indee Challenge will be offered to the top four in points in the Late Model, Modified, Stock Car, SportMod and Hobby Stock divisions. Those drivers will be eligible to double their money if they can win the feature from the tail of their respective starting fields.
Tonight, IMCA Late Models make their fourth visit of the year to Benton County Speedway in Vinton. Along with increasing car counts in the five weekly divisions, plus clear skies and fantastic temperatures, it should be a great night of action on the Vinton quarter-mile. I'll see you there!
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