Mike Burbridge got the early jump, but Troy Cordes got all the glory Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. Cordes took the lead three laps into the IMCA Modified feature and drove to victory, his career 40th in the division on the Vinton oval alone. (complete results follow)
Burbridge sat on the pole for the 20-lapper and pulled away from the pack at the drop of the green while Cordes pursued from a third row starting spot. He worked into second by the completion of the first lap while Burbridge ran a few car-lengths out front.
Running the top side, Cordes quickly reeled in Burbridge and made his bid for the lead two laps later. He then pulled away from traffic until the caution flag waved on lap 12 when Burbridge chucked a driveshaft in turn three.
On the restart, Cordes again took control on the top side of the fast, smooth, quarter-mile while Scott Hogan, J.D. Auringer and Ronn Lauritzen battled for second. The trio ran in three-wide formation as they fought for position until the caution flag waved again three laps later.
When racing resumed, Hogan slipped off the high side of turn one to bring out a final stoppage with Auringer positioned on Cordes' bumper for the ensuing restart. Cordes led the remainder of the event unchallenged to score the victory.
With 40 Modified wins in weekly racing history at the speedway, Cordes is second to Hogan's 44 victories on the all-time list.
Cordes has now won at least one Modified feature in each of the last 13 seasons in Vinton. That is not only the longest active streak, but the longest streak in Modified history at the speedway. Cordes matched Arlo Becker with Modified wins in 13 separate seasons in Vinton. He now trails only Hogan, who has Modified feature wins in 16 different seasons at the speedway.
The first time Cordes visited Modified victory lane in Vinton was July 21, 2002. That span of 4,319 days between his first and most recent wins is the seventh longest span in division history. When he won that first feature in 2002, Cordes became the 50th different Modified winner in track history. There have been 25 more first-time winners since he earned that win. Feeling old yet, Troy?
All 40 wins for Cordes in Vinton have come under the IMCA sanction. He has more sanctioned Modified wins than any other driver in weekly racing history at the speedway. Of Hogan's 44 wins to-date, 34 were IMCA sanctioned.
Eight of Cordes' 40 wins have come in the month of May. He has won 11 features in July, eight in August, six in June, five in September and two in April. He is the only Modified driver in track history with at least five feature wins in five different calendar months.
To keep the Cordes-themed number trend moving along, it was also the second straight year he won on Fuzzy Friends Hawaiian Night, which serves as a fundraiser for the local animal shelter. The evening's winners are asked (required) to wear a grass skirt, lei and coconut bra for the victory lane photo. Check out track photographer Jim Wittke's web site, www.speedwaysouvenir.com, in the coming days for the latest in the Cordes Collection, along with the rest of Sunday's winners sporting the Hawaiian look.
Zach McKinnon made the six-and-a-half hour pull from Hatley, Wis., pay off as he earned the win in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. McKinnon, who started inside of row two, chased pole-sitter Tom Rawlins throughout the first half of the 15-lapper.
McKinnon was poised to work around the outside of Rawlins for the lead on lap six, but a caution for cars tangled in turn two negated that pass. He restarted in second while Danny Dvorak, who started 11th, ran third.
McKinnon and Dvorak both pressured Rawlins for the lead before McKinnon found room on the top side of Rawlins in turn one on lap 10. He powered around the leader to assume command and then drove away to victory, his first in Vinton in only two appearances.
With the win, McKinnon became the 47th different SportMod winner in track history and the third first-time winner in the division through the first three weeks of the 2014 season. This year marks the first time in the division's 10-year history in Vinton that a season opened with three consecutive first-time winners.
Twice before have there been more than three straight first-time winners in the SportMod division at any point in the season. Kyle Walhert, Keith Williamson, Bob Ebaugh and Jody Junge earned their first Vinton wins in consecutive events toward the end of the 2005 season. There were also four straight first-time winners late in 2006 when Shawn Ritter, Mike Krall, Kyle Olson and Rob Olson earned their first wins in consecutive events.
The three first-time winners so far this year spanned a total of 28 calendar days. The three most recent first-time winners prior to this season spanned nearly a full calendar year.
Of the 47 SportMod winners in track history, 15 earned their first wins during the month of May, which is more than any other month. Dating back to August of last year, there have been seven straight different feature winners in the division.
Curtis Roster held the early lead in the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature while Norman Chesmore, Justin Temeyer and Jay Schmidt raced through traffic prior to a lap three caution. The top four were running in that order when racing resumed, however they didn't stay that way for long.
Shortly after the green flag waved, Chesmore and Temeyer challenged to opposite sides of Roster while Schmidt worked the extreme outside lane of the front straightaway as the leaders ran in four-wide formation entering the first set of turns. Schmidt powered around his competitors to assume command as he exited turn two and led the rest of the way to earn his first win of the season.
With two career Stock Car wins in weekly racing history in Vinton, Schmidt is now tied with Frankie Dulin, Jason Deshaw, Jeremy Miller and Kevin Rose for 19th on the track's all-time list.
Jay, to answer your question, I will shave my beard when you shave your goatee. I hope to be in Marshalltown this Friday. Maybe we need to make a wager of some sort before the razors come out? By the way, before tonight I'd never been asked to hold a man's bra while he was having his picture taken...
Nathan Ballard has had a rough start to his season and he hoped things would change when he took the green flag from the pole position of the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature.
Ballard, who has suffered mechanical problems every night this season, built a sizable lead by the time the demons struck again a handful of laps into the event. He coasted to a stop off the high side of turn two to bring out the event's only stoppage with 10 laps to go.
Prior to the caution, Brian Happel was trying to wrestle second place away from Justin Wacha. When racing resumed, they were fighting for the lead. Happel won that war when he shot to the inside of Wacha on the seventh lap to steal the top spot. Wacha tried to return the favor exiting turn two, but was unsuccessful in that attempt as Happel drove away to the win.
It was the first win of the season for Happel, who has now earned 10 Hobby Stock wins in weekly racing history in Vinton. He ended Sunday night tied for 12th on the all-time list with Danny Dvorak and Frankie Dulin.
The defending track champion, Happel earned his first win last season during the third night of weekly racing, as well. Are you superstitious, Brian?
Bill Whalen Jr. raced to his second win of the year in the IMCA Sport Compact division and the 13th of his career on the Vinton oval. Sunday night's victory moved Whalen into a tie with Jena Barthelmes for third on the track's all-time list. He has some work to do to move into second place on that list. It is currently occupied by Gary Peiffer, who has won 28 Sport Compact features at the speedway.
Whalen has spread out his Vinton wins through the years. He has won three times each during the months of April, May, June and July. Whalen also has one win during the month of September.
Through three nights of racing, there have been 12 different winners in 15 feature events in Vinton. Of those winners, five have been first-timers and four have earned at least 40 wins in their respective divisions on the Vinton oval. The other three have won 13, 12 and two features apiece. Now that's parity.
I know you've all heard about track conditions in Vinton this season and if you weren't there Sunday night, you missed a heck of a show. Don Burkey and Shawn Fisher have spent countless hours the last two weeks to get the track race-ready for whenever Mother Nature was planning to allow us to race again. They provided a smooth, fast, multi-groove surface that provided two, three and four-wide racing all night long.
Jay Schmidt, who has done his share of track prep through the years, said it best in victory lane Sunday night. It's easy for people to talk about preparing a race track, but it's another thing to go out, put the work into it and get the job done. I know Don and Shawn appreciate those words of support. The track was phenomenal Sunday night. Thanks, guys, for a job well done!
Depending on the week ahead, I'm tentatively planning on making my first trip of the year to Marshalltown Speedway this Friday. I'll be back at Independence Motor Speedway Saturday for the Stock Car Showcase, which will feature increased purse money for the IMCA Stock Car division. The winner's share that evening will be $500 with $400 going to the runner-up. The normal winner's share will be awarded to the third place finisher, second place money will go to fourth place and so on. It will be a regular weekly points race for the division. The Stock Cars will have a second Showcase Saturday later this season and the Northern SportMods and Hobby Stocks will have their chance to shine this season, as well. Check out the track schedule at www.independencemotorspeedway.com for details.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 2. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 4. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 5. 20L Zach Less, Hopkinton; 6. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 7. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 8. 81 Jesse Belez, Marengo; 9. 14 Tom Hanson, Vinton; 10. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 11. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 12. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 13. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 14. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton.
First heat: 1. Cordes; 2. Hogan; 3. Auringer; 4. Docekal; 5. Belez; 6. Jensen; 7. Schmuecker.
Second heat: 1. Burbridge; 2. Less; 3. Flannagan; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Hanson; 6. Dedrick; 7. Betzer.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 19J Jay Schmidt, Tama; 2. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 5. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 6. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 7. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 8. 62G Adam Gebel, Cedar Falls; 9. 8B Scott Beauregard, Brandon; 10. 38 Matt Brown, Marion.
First heat: 1. Temeyer; 2. Roster; 3. Chesmore; 4. Galli; 5. Brown.
Second heat: 1. Stander; 2. Schmidt; 3. Pippert; 4. Beauregard; 5. Gebel.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 64 Zach McKinnon, Hatley, Wis.; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 3. T17 Tom Rawlins, Kellogg; 4. 72 Brett Lowry, Montezuma; 5. 95 Mike McDonald, Cedar Rapids; 6. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 7. 49 Brandon Smith, Quasqueton; 8. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 9. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 10. 22 Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 11. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 12. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 13. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 14. 42L Lonnie Mercer, Urbana; 15. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 16. 36 Jake Salisbury, Dunkerton; 17. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison.
First heat: 1. McKinnon; 2. King; 3. Rawlins; 4. Sellers; 5. Petrzelka; 6. Heishman.
Second heat: 1. Buhlman; 2. Lowry; 3. Anderson; 4. Salisbury; 5. Schaefer.
Third heat: 1. McDonald; 2. Burrell; 3. Smith; 4. Dvorak; 5. Burkhart; 6. Mercer.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 2. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 3. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 5. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 6. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 7. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 8. 23 Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 9. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion; 10. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo.
First heat: 1. Ballard; 2. Happel; 3. Brown; 4. Irvine; 5. Wacha.
Second heat: 1. Parizek; 2. Keiser; 3. Torkelson; 4. Vanous; 5. Sheldon.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 00W Bill Whalen Jr., Riverside; 2. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton; 3. 07 Joe Goodenbour, Garrison; DNS 3S Craig Streeter, Vinton.
Heat: 1. Whalen; 2. Lerch; DNS Streeter; DNS Goodenbour.
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