Youth prevailed in a big way as two 14-year-olds earned the first wins of their careers Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. (complete results follow)
IMCA Northern SportMod driver Ryan Maitland, who turns 15 next month, and IMCA Sport Compact driver A.J. Witten, who turned 14 in April, had both been very close to their first wins in recent weeks. They brought down the house by earning their first trips to the winner's circle during a memorable night on the Vinton quarter-mile.
Dakoda Sellers took the lead at the drop of the green in the 15-lap SportMod main. Working the high side from his second row starting spot, Maitland quickly made his way into second by the completion of the first lap.
Maitland pursued Sellers before sweeping to his outside to assume command on the fourth circuit and then quickly pulled away from the field. Maitland distanced himself from the pack while Dave Schulze worked into a battle with Sellers for the runner-up spot until the caution flag waved with nine laps scored complete.
When racing resumed, Maitland again built a comfortable lead while Curt Hilmer and Danny Dvorak raced their way into contention. Three more stoppages kept the field close before the final caution on lap 13 set up a green, white, checkered finish. On the restart, Dvorak was able to work past Hilmer for second, however Maitland pulled away to drive to the milestone win.
The number four played an eerily recurring role in Maitland's first win. Not only does the #4 adorn the side of his race car, but Maitland started in the fourth position and took the lead on lap four of a feature that was stopped four times for caution. Maitland also became the 44th different SportMod winner in weekly racing history at the speedway.
One of 19 SportMod drivers in track history with a single SportMod win, Maitland enters the Benton County Speedway record books tied for 26th on the division's all-time list.
Speaking of the number 26 (yes, the number coincidences continue)...
Witten became the 26th different IMCA Sport Compact winner in weekly racing history in Vinton. From his outside front row starting spot, Witten assumed command with points leader Bill Whalen Jr. in tow. The front-runners pulled away from the pack while Witten continued to extend his advantage.
Witten enjoyed a big lead throughout the race as he led the 12-lapper in its entirety to score his first win in the caution-free event. Witten, who drives the #111 is one of 11 (1 of 11? 111?) drivers in division history in Vinton with a single win in the division. That places him in a tie for 16th on the all-time list.
With the victory, Witten became the first new Sport Compact winner in nearly two years in Vinton. It had been 721 days since the last first-timer, Jacob McVay, won on August 28, 2011. The 721 day span is the longest between first-time Sport Compact winners in track history.
Joe Docekal drove to his second win of the year in the IMCA Modified division. Following a restart before the completion of the first lap, third row starting Docekal raced into the lead by the time the first lap was scored.
Driving the low groove, Docekal maintained the point while Patrick Flannagan worked the high side into contention and Ronn Lauritzen ran down low. Flannagan closed in on the leader before a miscue in turns three and four on the fourth lap allowed Lauritzen to sneak by.
Docekal continued to show the way while Flannagan regrouped and closed in on the leader. With Docekal down low and Flannagan in the top groove, the leaders came upon lapped traffic in the late stages of the 20-lapper.
A car-length separated the front-runners as they made their way past the slower traffic exiting turn four to the checkers. Docekal was able to sneak beneath the backmarker to score the win, his second in three weeks.
Docekal has now earned nine Modified wins in his weekly racing career in Vinton, which places him in sole possession of 18th on the all-time list. He is one win shy of tying three other drivers for 15th on the Modified wins list. Four of Docekal's nine wins have come during the month of August.
The eerie number coincidences didn't end with Maitland and Witten. In fact, they became even more interesting with Docekal's win. Aside from the fact that Docekal, 28, is the same age as Maitland and Witten combined (now that's just plain funny stuff, old man), the pattern in which Docekal wins Modified features in Vinton is just as interesting.
On four other occasions Docekal has won a Modified feature in Vinton, he has followed up with another win exactly two events later. Docekal's first win in Vinton came on Sunday, July 18, 2010. Although he won the following Sunday, July 25, he did not win the Modified points race held between those events that year during the Benton County Fair on Thursday, July 22.
Docekal's third win came on August 22, 2010. His fourth? You guessed it, two events later on September 5. Docekal also won on July 31, 2011. His next win? Yep, two events later on August 14.
Fast forward to 2013 (because it had been such a loooong time since he last won) when Docekal won August 4. Yep, two weeks ago.
The only time Docekal won a Modified feature in Vinton and didn't follow it up with a win two events later was after his win May 15, 2011. I did a little digging and discovered Docekal finished third to J.D. Auringer and Troy Cordes two weeks later on May 29. Couldn't even muster a runner-up finish that night, Joe?
Norman Chesmore reached a milestone of his own in the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. After stealing the lead from Scott Pippert following a lap seven restart, Chesmore drove to his sixth win of the year and the 20th of his career in Vinton.
Mike Galli and Kevin Rose split time at the front of the 15-lapper before Pippert made his way between the front-runners to snag the lead. He took over just before caution slowed action on lap three. Pippert worked the top side on the restart while Chesmore raced the low groove into second on lap six. He was running second when the caution waved one lap later.
Chesmore powered to the low side of Pippert when racing resumed and took control the following time by the flagstand. He survived one more stoppage to take the victory.
Chesmore's sixth victory this season doubled his previous best mark - three wins in 2008. His 20 career wins place Chesmore alone in fourth on the division's all-time list. His six career wins in the month of August in Vinton are more than any other calendar month for Chesmore.
Brian Happel earned his fifth win of the year in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Happel chased Justin Wacha for the first two circuits before working the outside lane past the leader to assume command. Happel survived a mid-race caution, then pulled away from traffic to score the victory.
With eight Hobby Stocks wins in his weekly racing career in Vinton, Happel is now tied with Jerry Dedrick for 15th on the all-time list. Three of those eight wins have come during the month of August. Sunday's win came just four days after the eighth anniversary of Happel's first Hobby Stock win in Vinton (August 14, 2005).
Happel joined Chris Luloff as five-time Hobby Stock winners in Vinton this season. Only two other times have multiple Hobby Stock drivers won at least five features in the same season in Vinton. In 2001, Scooter Dulin won six times while Vince Buchholz was a five-time winner and, in 2009, Scott Pippert was a nine-time winner while Brad Forbes won five times. If two-time winners Matt Brown, Jacob Keiser or Kyle Parizek could sweep the final three events of the season, the track will have three five-time Hobby Stock winners in the same season for the first time in history.
IMCA Late Models joined the weekly program for the fourth time this season. Although short in number, the eight-car field provided plenty of excitement for the fans in attendance.
Darren Ackerman worked past early leader Luke Pestka to take command just prior to a lap two caution. Ackerman showed the way until the caution flag waved one lap later when Todd Cooney spun to the top of turn four.
On the restart, Ackerman pulled away from the pack while Cooney raced the low groove back into contention. Conney slipped beneath Pestka for the runner-up spot on the 13th of 20 laps, then worked to reel in Ackerman before caution bunched the field on laps 15 and 19.
The lap 19 caution set up a green, white, checkered finish with Ackerman leading the field back to action. Cooney, who traded slidejobs with Ackerman throughout the late stages on the event, powered to the low side of Ackerman exiting turn four on the final lap. When the dust settled, Cooney emerged with the win, his first at the speedway.
Only three weeks of racing remain in Vinton this season. After weekly racing programs the next two Sundays (August 25 and September 1), the speedway takes a week off for the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals, then returns for championship night on Sunday, September 15. If you haven't been to Vinton in a while, be sure to visit over the final three nights. I have never seen points battles this close in so many divisions at one track this late in the season.
The points at the top of four of the five weekly divisions are paper thin. Consider, three drivers are separated by five points at the top of the IMCA Modified standings. J.D. Auringer holds a slim two point edge over Ronn Lauritzen and a five point advantage over Joe Docekal.
In the IMCA Stock Car division, John Emerson leads Scott Pippert by a mere four points and Norman Chesmore by 19. Keep in mind, Chesmore missed opening night and has finished no worse than fourth in his 16 appearances this season. That three-car battle is far from over.
Chris Luloff holds a one point lead over Brian Happel after 19 nights of points racing for the IMCA Hobby Stocks. Bill Whalen Jr. is just eight points ahead of Merv Chandler in the IMCA Sport Compacts.
Even the largest lead remains undecided. Danny Dvorak is ahead of Joel Rust by 16 points in the IMCA Northern SportMods. With three weeks remaining and the SportMods averaging nearly 22 cars a night, that race is far from over, either.
It's crazy to think that the points can remain so close in every division despite the fact that 2,801 laps have been completed in 276 events this season. The racing is only bound to get more intense and entertaining as we enter the final three weeks of the season in Vinton. Make plans to be there!
RESULTS
IMCA LATE MODEL
Feature: 1. 30 Todd Cooney, Des Moines; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Readlyn; 3. 15C Curt Schroeder, Ames; 4. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 5. 60 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 6. 99 Luke Pestka, Robins; 7. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 8. 31 Chad Cooney, Des Moines.
Heat: 1. T. Cooney; 2. Pestka; 3. Ackerman; 4. Kastli; 5. Schroeder; 6. Wagner; 7. C. Cooney; DNS Pattee.
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 4. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 5. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 6. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 7. 21K Kyle Brown, Kellogg; 8. 8 Tony Snyder, Readlyn; 9. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 10. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 11. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 12. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 13. 98X Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 14. 81 Jesse Belez, Marengo; 15. 14B Shane Burbridge, Manchester.
Heat one: 1. Flannagan; 2. Olson; 3. Cordes; 4. Luloff; 5. Auringer; 6. S. Burbridge; 7. T. Snyder; 8. Schmuecker.
Heat two: 1. Docekal; 2. M. Burbridge; 3. Lauritzen; 4. Brown; 5. J. Snyder; 6. Dedrick; 7. Belez.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 2. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 3. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 4. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 5. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 6. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 7. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 8. 87A Aaron Matthias, Fairbank; 9. 4JR Russell Damme, Waterloo; 10. 22D Jared Daggett, Marshalltown; 11. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 12. 9E Mitch Evens, Independence.
Heat one: 1. Emerson; 2. Rose; 3. Pippert; 4. Galli; 5. Daggett; 6. Evens.
Heat two: 1. Temeyer; 2. Chesmore; 3. Roster; 4. Beauregard; 5. Damme; 6. Matthias.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. T17 Tom Rawlins, Kellogg; 5. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 6. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 7. 19J Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 8. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 9. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 10. 11M Mike Mitchell, Cedar Rapids; 11. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 12. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 13. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 14. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison; 15. 12 Kendall Arp, Brooklyn; 16. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 17. 26J Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 18. 93 Josh Burrell, Dysart; 19. 72 Mike Hogencamp, Waterloo.
Heat one: 1. Schulze; 2. Burrell; 3. Maitland; 4. Buhlman; 5. King; 6. Burkhart.
Heat two: 1. Sellers; 2. Dvorak; 3. Hilmer; 4. Gustin; 5. Mitchell; 6. Rawlins.
Heat three: 1. Rust; 2. Schaefer; 3. Ebaugh; 4. Anderson; 5. Arp; 6. Heishman; 7. Hogencamp.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 4. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 5. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 6. 23 Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 7. 90 Chris Moore, Fairfax; 8. 88 C.J. Dall, Marshalltown; 9. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion; 10. 4P Matt Pohlman, Keystone; 11. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo.
Heat one: 1. Parizek; 2. Luloff; 3. Wacha; 4. Dall; 5. Torkelson; 6. Sheldon.
Heat two: 1. Keiser; 2. Happel; 3. Brown; 4. Moore; 5. Pohlman.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 111 A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 2. 00W Bill Whalen Jr., Riverside; 3. 22 Nathan Chandler, Norway; 4. 11 Steve Miedke, Shellsburg; 5. 2 Merv Chandler, Urbana; 6. 9 Toby Denning, Mt. Auburn; 7. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton.
Heat: 1. Witten; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Miedke; 4. Lerch; 5. Whalen; 6. M. Chandler; DNS Denning.
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