Rose's win from the pole far from textbook at Independence

Kevin Rose had to like the starting lineup of the IMCA Stock Car feature Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway. What he probably didn't like was running fourth for 11 laps of the scheduled 18-lapper.

Rose, who started on the pole and paced the field for the first two laps, was shuffled back to fourth when Jesse Brown, John Emerson and Sean Johnson made their way around him at the front of the pack. Brown took command on lap three and was the front-runner while Johnson and Emerson challenged.

Johnson and Emerson chased the leader for numerous laps and were contending for the lead before a flat tire sent Johnson to the pits and mechanical problems forced Emerson off the track on lap 15.

Re-enter Kevin Rose.

Rose restarted the event on Brown's rear bumper and was presented a golden opportunity when Brown pushed to the high side of turns one and two when racing resumed. Rose slipped beneath Brown and drove away to the victory. Yeah, not quite how you'd expect to win from the pole.

Remarkably, it was Rose's first career Stock Car win in Independence. The veteran driver became the 44th different winner in weekly racing history in the division in Independence. Rose is the first first-time Stock Car winner in Indee since John Emerson, 427 days ago. That stretch between new winners is the longest since a span of 693 days between first wins by Steve Meyer (August 12, 2006) and Bob Ahrendsen (July 5, 2008). Of the 44 different Stock Car winners, Rose became the ninth to earn his first win during the month of August.

Rose became the seventh different Stock Car winner this season, matching 2006 and 2010 as the most winners in a season in the division since nine different winners graced victory lane in 2005. That mark of nine Stock Car winners in a season is the most all-time at the speedway. There were eight different winners in 1997 and 2002.

Rod McDonald was another first-time Independence winner. He took the lead from Ryan Maitland following a lap five restart to drive to his first IMCA Northern SportMod win on the Independence oval ahead of Maitland and Matt McCahen.

The 24th different SportMod winner in weekly racing history in Independence, McDonald became the seventh first-time winner this season and the 10th different winner through 14 weeks. There have been four first-time winners in the last six weeks. McDonald is the sixth SportMod driver in track history to earn his first win during the month of August.

With 13 other drivers owning one career SportMod win at the speedway, McDonald is tied for 11th on the division's wins list.

Mitch Balik rounded out the list of first-time winners Saturday night. From a second row start, Balik made his way to the front of the IMCA Sport Compact feature in quick fashion, then held off a hard-charging Merv Chandler to earn the first feature win of his career in that 12-lapper.

Balik became the fourth different feature winner in the division this season and the sixth different winner in the two years the Sport Compacts have competed in Independence. He is the first driver to earn his first Sport Compact win during the month of August.

Two weeks ago, Rory Metcalf celebrated his 20th birthday in victory lane for the first time in his career. The IMCA Late Model driver earned his second career win Saturday night.

After chasing pole sitter Curran Beckler for the first four circuits, Metcalf swept past the leader to assume command on lap five. He pulled away from traffic while Jon Passick and Darren Ackerman raced through the pack.

Metcalf entered lapped traffic as early as lap 11 while Passick cut into his advantage. A restart on lap 13 of the 25-lapper bunched the field, however Metcalf again assumed command when the green flag waved.

Metcalf powered away from the pack while Ackerman worked the high side around Passick as the flying green waved. Ackerman ran out of laps to mount a charge on the leader as Metcalf drove to victory.

With his second career win, Metcalf is one of 65 drivers all-time with multiple Late Model wins at the speedway and is tied for 48th on the all-time list with 17 other drivers.

Throughout a handful of cautions over the the first five laps of the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, Ronn Lauritzen raced into contention from a sixth row starting spot. Three laps into the race's first long green flag run following a lap five restart, Lauritzen worked past Mike Burbridge to assume command. He then held off pressure from Shawn Ryan to collect his fourth win of the year.

Lauritzen's four Modified wins this season leads the division and brought his total to seven for his career in Independence. He is now tied for 16th on that list with Deon Turner, Ed Thomas, John Light, Mark Noble, Max Corporon, Mike Sampson, Ron Barker and Tim McBride. Three of Lauritzen's seven wins in Independence have come during the month of August.

Milo Matthias was the early leader in the IMCA Hobby Stock 15-lapper. Matthias set the pace while Quinton Miller made his way into second at the six lap mark. Miller raced past Matthias two laps later on his way to victory in the caution-free event.

Points leader Benji Irvine and Chris Luloff came from fifth row starts to challenge late, however they came up short to finish second and third, respectively.

His second win of the year, Miller has won multiple Hobby Stock features in three separate seasons in Independence (2007, 2010). With 10 wins in his career, Miller tied Ken Irvine, Nick Wroten and Rick Johnson for seventh on the division's all-time wins list at the speedway. Five of Miller's 10 wins have come during the month of August.

Saturday night's feature winners have a combined 22 feature wins in their careers in Independence. In the last 25 seasons, there have been only three other occasions when the collective wins on the 14th night of weekly racing was fewer than 22 - There were 19 combined career wins for the winners on the 14th night of weekly racing in 1989, 13 in 2005 and 21 in 2007.

Since the start of the 1967 season, there have been 695 weekly racing programs at Independence Motor Speedway. Saturday night marked just the 17th time that three drivers earned the first Independence wins of their careers on the same night.

The last time there were three first-time winners on the same night was June 26, 2010, when Jason Rauen (Late Model), Justin O'Brien (Modified) and Dave Stricker (Stock Car) all earned their first weekly points wins in track history.

Only once in track history have four first-time winners made it to victory lane on the same night - May 29, 1993. That night, Jamie Aikey (Modified), Bernard Reinking (Stock Car), Vince Buchholz (Hobby Stock) and Ray Lundry (Pro Stock) were first-time winners.

Tonight, it's a return to Benton County Speedway for another night on the Vinton quarter-mile. I'll have the report and complete results later tonight. I hope to see you there!