Auringer tops Albert Auto Night at Benton County Speedway

J.D. Auringer worked around the outside of Scott Hogan midway through the IMCA Modified feature to drive to victory on Albert Auto Night at Benton County Speedway.

It was Mike Burbridge out front at the drop of the green in the 20-lapper while Scott Hogan worked the low side into contention from his third row start. Hogan settled into second on lap two, then quickly chased down the leader while Auringer followed Hogan from his fourth row starting spot.

Hogan took the lead on lap four while Auringer made his way into third. Auringer slipped around Burbridge for second just prior to a caution on lap nine.

Auringer quickly went to work on the top side of Hogan when racing resumed until he shot to the inside of the leader exiting turn two on lap 11. He pulled away while Troy Cordes entered a battle with Hogan for second.

Cordes made his way around Hogan, but his deficit was too large to overcome as Auringer drove to victory.

The win was Auringer's 13th in weekly racing history at the speedway. He is now tied with Timm Jensen on the track's Modified wins list. Six of those 13 wins have come in the month of May.

Auringer's win Sunday night came just four days after the eight year anniversary of his first win in Vinton (May 21, 2006).

There have been four different winners in the first four weeks of the season for the Modifieds. It's the 13th time in track history the Modifieds have started with four straight different winners.

Jay Schmidt raced from a fourth row starting spot and into second place just prior to a lap eight caution in the IMCA Stock Car feature. Schmidt restarted on Curtis Roster's rear bumper and shot to the inside of the leader to assume command one lap after racing resumed.

Schmidt pulled away from the field to score the victory, his second straight in Vinton. The third win of his career in Vinton, Schmidt is now tied with Doug Otto, Richard Quail, Scott Pippert, Sean Johnson, Steve Meyer and Tom Schmitt for 13th on the all-time wins list for Stock Cars at the speedway. He became the ninth different Stock Car driver in track history to earn wins in consecutive weeks. 

Damon Murty opened the season with back-to-back wins in the division before Schmidt's back-to-back wins the last two weeks. Only two times before in Vinton have two drivers earned back-to-back Stock Car wins, well, back-to-back. It actually happened twice in 2007.

Shawn Ritter made his way to victory lane in the 15-lap IMCA Northern SportMod main event. From his pole position start, Ritter survived numerous early cautions and led the event in its entirety to earn the second SportMod win of his career on the Vinton oval.

Ritter is one of 26 drivers with multiple SportMod wins in Vinton. He is tied for 19th on the division's wins list with Bob Ebaugh, Brett Root, Joe Docekal, Kurt Moeding, Kyle Wahlert, Mike Krall and Rod McDonald.

Ritter's first SportMod win came on July 23, 2006. Although he has only won two SportMod features in Vinton, that span of 2,863 days between his first and most recent wins is the second longest span in division history at the speedway. Danny Dvorak's wins span 3,024 days.

This is the third time in track history that at least four different SportMod drivers have earned wins through the first four weeks of the season. It was also accomplished in 2007 and 2008. In 2007, there were six straight different winners to start the season.

Dating back to last season, there have been eight straight different SportMod winners. The record? Nine straight different winners spanned the end of the 2006 season and the beginning of the 2007 season.

Nathan Ballard finally put his bad luck behind him in the IMCA Hobby Stock 15-lapper. Ballard took the lead from fellow front row starter Justin Wacha on the second lap and held off challenges from Jacob Keiser and then Benji Irvine to take the win.

Ballard now owns seven Hobby Stock wins in weekly racing history at the speedway. That ties him with Brad Anders, Keiser, Kyle Parizek and Steve Kesl for 17th on the all-time list. He has won one feature in each of the last three seasons.

Bill Whalen Jr. earned his third win in four weeks in the IMCA Sport Compact division. The 14th Sport Compact win of his career in Vinton, Whalen is now alone in third on the track's all-time list. He has now won back-to-back features three separate times in his career on the Vinton oval. He has also won at least three features in four of the last five seasons.

Sunday night was the first of four visits this season by the IMCA Late Model division as part of the IMCA Late Model Sunday Series. Luke Pestka, who won last year's Late Model opener, took the lead on lap two and then held off late pressure from Todd Cooney in lapped traffic to score the victory.

The BCS Micro Mods made their debut, as well, Sunday night. While they don't officially start racing for track points, the division took part in a non-points draw/redraw show.

Buster Pate took the lead at the drop of the green in that 10-lapper and then led the entire distance to become the inaugural Micro Mod winner.

Event sponsor Albert Auto Service rolled out the red carpet for both drivers and fans for Sunday night's show. Prize giveaways in the grandstands included a 40" TV, grill, four $50 gift certificates to Fareway, two Bath & Body Works gift baskets, Jeff Gordon cooler, Dewalt drill, socket set and battery charger. Free T-shirts were also thrown into the stands numerous times throughout the night.

For the drivers in the five weekly divisions, each heat race winner was awarded a $25 bonus for his efforts. In victory lane, each feature winner was presented the chance to take home additional prize money, as well. They could take their normal winner's share or select one of three envelopes. One envelope contained the normal winner's share for the respective division, one contained half of the normal amount and a third contained double. Whatever amount they selected was their prize money for the night.

In the event the winning driver selected the envelope with half of their normal winnings, the other half would be donated to Last Hope Animal Shelter.

All five drivers opted for the envelope draw and some were luckier than others. Stock Car winner Jay Schmidt doubled his money and offered half of his winnings to the animal shelter. Likewise, Shawn Ritter doubled-up and offered his entire SportMod winner's share to the shelter.

It was no harm/no foul for Bill Whalen Jr. who drew the normal amount, while Auringer and Ballard each came up short in the cash department and earned half of their normal winnings.

In the end, Last Hope Animal Shelter took home a total $980, with $500 coming from Albert Auto and $480 from promoter Mick Trier.

A 50/50 raffle was also conducted throughout the event and $200 was raised for the GoVS Scholarship Fund.

In addition to the cash prizes awarded by Albert Auto, the grandstand prizes they provided with the help from NAPA Auto Parts of Cedar Rapids, CarQuest Auto Parts of Cedar Rapids and Big B's BBQ of La Porte City, totaled thousands of dollars.

Hats off to Chad Albert, Wes White and the crew from Albert Auto for their great dedication to racing at Benton County Speedway and the incredible prizes they offered at Sunday's show. When you see them, be sure to thank them for going above and beyond!

To top it off, Don Burkey and Shawn Fisher prepared one heck of a race track Sunday night. It was smooth, multi-grooved and provided for three and four-wide racing all night long. Great work, guys!

Today, I'm off to Boone Speedway to call the action for the annual Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models event. Whether you're going to the races or have other plans, be sure to have a safe Memorial Day and please remember what this day is all about.

Thanks for reading!

RESULTS
IMCA LATE MODEL
Feature: 1. 99 Luke Pestka, Robins; 2. 30 Todd Cooney, Des Moines; 3. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 4. 37 Randy Foote, Stanton; 5. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 6. 22 Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake; 7. 23 Paul Conrad, Colo; 8. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 9. 60 Ben Seemann, Waterloo; 10. 32X Chris Snyder, Raymond; 11. 32 Curtis Glover, Des Moines; 12. 5W Tom Hanson, Vinton.
First heat: 1. Foote; 2. Snyder; 3. King; 4. Cooney; 5. Pestka; 6. Hamilton.
Second heat: 1. Hansen; 2. McKenna; 3. Conrad; 4. Glover; 5. Wagner; 6. Hanson.

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 3. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 4. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 5. 19D Darin Duffy, Urbana; 6. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 7. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 8. 20L Zach Less, Hopkinton; 9. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 10. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 11. 14 Tom Hanson, Vinton; 12. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 13. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton.
First heat: 1. Less; 2. Duffy; 3. Schmuecker; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Betzer; 6. Cordes; 7. Hanson.
Second heat: 1. Burbridge; 2. Hogan; 3. Dedrick; 4. Flannagan; 5. Auringer; 6. Docekal.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 19J Jay Schmidt, Tama; 2. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 3. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 4. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 6. 62G Adam Gebel, Cedar Falls; 7. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 8. 8B Scott Beauregard, Brandon; 9. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 10. 38 Matt Brown, Marion.
First heat: 1. Gebel; 2. Beauregard; 3. Pippert; 4. Stander; 5. Shepherd.
Second heat: 1. Roster; 2. Schmidt; 3. Chesmore; 4. Galli; 5. Brown.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 7SR Shawn Ritter, Keystone; 2. 49 Brandon Smith, Quasqueton; 3. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 4. 19J Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 5. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 6. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 7. 72L Brett Lowry, Montezuma; 8. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 9. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 10. 19G Gatlin Leytham, Garwin; 11. 95 Mike McDonald, Cedar Rapids; 12. 22 Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 13. 35 Kyle Bentley, Independence; 14. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 15. T17 Tom Rawlins, Kellogg; 16. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 17. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison; 18. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 19. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 20. 6T Siraj Thomason, Montezuma; 21. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 22. 36 Jacob Salisbury, Dunkerton.
First heat: 1. Burkhart; 2. McDonald; 3. Heishman; 4. Schulze; 5. Burrell; 6. Lowry; 7. Salisbury; DQ Leytham.
Second heat: 1. Ritter; 2. Gustin; 3. Sellers; 4. Hilmer; 5. Petrzelka; 6. Bentley; 7. Rawlins.
Third heat: 1. Dvorak; 2. Smith; 3. Schaefer; 4. King; 5. Maitland; 6. Anderson; 7. Thomason.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 3. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 4. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 5. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 6. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 7. 23 Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 8. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 9. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion.
Heat: 1. Ballard; 2. Parizek; 3. Wacha; 4. Irvine; 5. Keiser; 6. Torkelson; 7. Brown; 8. Happel; 9. Sheldon.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 00W Bill Whalen, Riverside; 2. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 3. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton; 4. 007 Adam Gates, Marion.
Heat: 1. Whalen; 2. Gates; 3. Lerch; 4. Peiffer.

BCS MICRO MOD
Feature: 1. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 2. Brandon Maitland, Waterloo; 3. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 4. 00 Brody Willett, Cedar Rapids; 5. 9F John Hershberger, Rochester, Minn.
Heat: 1. Pate; 2. Erger; 3. Hershberger; 4. Maitland; 5. Willett.