Brian Irvine hasn't raced a whole lot the last few years. In fact, his visit to Independence Motor Speedway Saturday night was his first time on the 3/8-mile oval in nearly a year-and-a-half. Despite that time away, Irvine ended his night in familiar territory as he made his way to victory lane following the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car feature.
It was a good night for Irvine to make his return as the Stock Cars were offered increased prize money as part of the Saturday Showcase. One division will be offered increased prize money one week a month and Saturday night Irvine took the top prize of $500.
After racing through the pack from a fifth row start, Irvine made his way around Jarod Weepie for the lead on lap six. He pulled away following a pair of mid-race restarts to score the impressive win.
For his career, Irvine has now earned 32 Stock Car wins in weekly racing history at the speedway. He ranks second all-time to Dan Trimble. It was his first win since May 29, 2010 and the ninth of his career during the month of May.
When combined with his 16 Hobby Stock wins in Independence, his 48 trips to the winner's circle ranks sixth all-time in weekly racing history. All of Irvine's wins have come in nine different calendar years, the fewest of any driver in the top nine in career wins at the speedway. He sits two wins behind Greg Kastli for fifth on the track's all-time wins list.
In IMCA Hobby Stock action, Shawn Kuennen earned the first win of his career in that division's 15-lapper. Kuennen took the lead early and then held off Benji Irvine in lapped traffic to win by half of a car-length.
With the win, Kuennen became the 92nd different Hobby Stock winner in weekly racing history at the speedway. He joined Matt White as first-time Hobby Stock winners so far this season. There have been at least two first-time winners in the division in 22 of the 26 years the Hobby Stocks have been part of the weekly racing program in Independence.
Jenae Gustin continued her dominance in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Despite starting in the eighth row, Gustin raced through the pack and took the lead by the midway point of that 15-lapper. She pulled away following a mid-race restart to earn her third win in the last four weeks.
Gustin's three career SportMod wins in weekly racing history place her in a tie with Chris Luloff and Ray Lundry for third on the all-time list. She became just the third SportMod driver in track history to win three events in a four-week span. Josh Sherbon won four features in five weeks in 2010 and Tyler Droste won three times in four weeks in 2011.
Keep in mind, Gustin was not present May 10, meaning she has won in each of her last three appearances in Independence. Although history will reflect that she has won three of the last four features, Gustin is the first SportMod driver in track history to win three straight features.
In arguably the best race of the night, Performance Bodies IMCA Modified point leader Scott Hogan earned a hard-fought win in that 20-lapper.
After starting in row six, Hogan positioned himself to challenge J.D. Auringer for the lead following a lap 16 caution. Hogan took control shortly after racing resumed to take the win, his first in weekly competition at the speedway since June 12, 2004.
The 12th win of his weekly racing career in Independence, Hogan sits alone in 10th on the all-time list. His 12 wins span 7,224 calendar days - 81 days shy of 20 years. That is the second longest span in division history. Darin Duffy's career Modified wins span 7,266 days.
Darren Ackerman was the class of the field in the IMCA Late Model division. Ackerman took the lead early and then ran away to hide in lapped traffic to earn his first win of the season.
With 19 Late Model wins in weekly racing history, Ackerman is alone in ninth on the all-time list. You're closing in on eighth, Darren. One more win will tie you with Greg Hunter.
The trend of different winners continued Saturday night. There have been 20 different feature winners in 25 events through the first five weeks. In fact, there have been only three repeat winners so far this season. Jenae Gustin (SportMod) and Benji Irvine (Hobby Stock) each have three wins and Ronn Lauritzen has two wins in the Modifieds.
That means there have been five different Late Model and five different Stock Car winners through the first five weeks of the season.
It has happened more often than you probably realize in the Late Models. There have been five different Late Model winners out of the gate six times in the last nine years and it's happened 22 times in track history.
The track record for the Late Models is eight different winners to open a season. That has happened twice - in 1970 and 1985.
It's much less common to see so many different winners to start a season in the Stock Car division. In the division's 22 year history at the speedway, only one other time have we seen five straight different Stock Car winners to open a season. That happened in 2003. If we get another different winner next week, a new record will be established. Who will be the first to repeat in 2014?
The track record for most consecutive different Stock Car winners at any point in a season is seven. That occurred during the middle of the 2005 season. Dating back to July 6 of last season, there have been 10 different feature winners in the Stock Cars in the last 13 events.
We continue to dodge the wet spring weather in Independence. In fact, Saturday night was beautiful from start to finish. For only the sixth time in track history have we completed the first five nights of weekly racing without a cancellation.
We'll see two days of racing next weekend in Independence. The Friday, May 30, Open Wheel Shootout special will feature the Brockway Mechanical & Roofing Sprint Invaders, along with Modifieds and Stock Cars. We'll turn right around and return next Saturday, May 31, for the sixth night of weekly points racing. Details for the busy weekend are available at www.independencemotorspeedway.com.
Tonight, it's off to Benton County Speedway for Albert Auto Night. Along with great sponsorship prizes courtesy of Albert Auto, the IMCA Late Models make their first of four appearances this season and the Micro Mods make their debut. It promises to be an exciting night on the Vinton quarter-mile.
Tomorrow, I'm heading to Boone Speedway to fill in for track announcer Jerry Vansickel for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models event.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment