A pair of drivers were looking to extend winning streaks Sunday night, but both came to an end during the racing program at Benton County Speedway. (complete results follow below)
In the IMCA Modifieds, Troy Cordes was hoping to become just the ninth driver in track history to earn three straight wins in the division on the Vinton quarter-mile. After emerging late from the staging area, Cordes started the 12-car event from the tail, one row farther back than he was expected.
Jesse Belez took the lead from his pole position start when the green flag waved to start the 20-lapper. He was quickly pressured by Mike Burbridge, who started behind him. Burbridge raced the low groove into the lead on lap three while Scott Hogan was making his way to the front from a fourth row start.
Hogan settled into the runner-up spot on lap five and quickly went to work on cutting into Burbridge's half-straightaway lead. Cordes made his way into fourth on the eighth circuit while Hogan closed the gap on the leader.
Hogan reeled in Burbridge at the midway point as Cordes made his way around Belez for third - a full straightaway behind the leaders.
Hogan continued to pester Burbridge on the low side of the speedway, but was unable to sneak beneath him for the lead. While the leaders battled, Cordes was gaining on them, but running out of time when he spun in turns one and two on lap 15, essentially ending his bid for the threepeat.
When racing resumed, Hogan changed lanes and tried to get a run on Burbridge on the high side, however Burbridge led the event in its entirety to take the win, his first of the year.
Burbridge, who has now won at least one Modified feature in each of the last four seasons, owns 12 Modified wins in his weekly racing career in Vinton. He is tied with Patrick Flannagan, Robbie Schmuecker and Tim McBride for 11th on the all-time list.
His third career win during the month of June, Burbridge's victory Sunday night came just a few days following the anniversary of his first Vinton win, which he earned on June 5, 2011.
The list of drivers who have earned three straight Modified wins in weekly racing action in track history will remain at eight for the time being. Those drivers, who have accomplished the feat a combined 12 times, are listed at the bottom of this blog.
Bill Whalen Jr. was looking to set a new standard for consecutive IMCA Sport Compact wins in Vinton. He was in search of his fifth straight win Sunday night, however Adam Gates played the role of spoiler.
From his pole position start, Gates built a huge early lead while Whalen worked through traffic from a third row starting spot.
Whalen made his way into second on lap two of the 10-lapper, but Gates had checked out and sailed to his first win in Vinton since May 29, 2011. His two victories place him in a tie for 11th on the track's all-time Sport Compact wins list with Bryan Klein, David Moorman, Dennis Preston, Justin Wacha and Neil Nabholz.
Entering the night, there had been six different winners in as many weeks to open the season in the IMCA Northern SportMod division, which matched the mark set at the start of the 2007 season. Shawn Ritter ended the streak of different winners as he earned his second trip to victory lane.
From his second row starting spot, Ritter worked past front row starters Brandon Morris and Jake Salisbury to assume command by the end of the first lap. Ritter held the point through a handful of cautions over the first five laps while Danny Dvorak made his way into the runner-up spot after starting in row four.
Ritter, who was battling a loose car throughout the event, attempted to protect the low groove while Dvorak closely challenged. Dvorak tried numerous times both high and low to work past the leader, but was unable to get the job done as Ritter held on for victory.
Ritter, who led all 15 laps in each of his two victories this season, now has three career SportMod wins in Vinton. He is tied with Chris Luloff, Damon Murty, Ken Kositzky and Shane Ebaugh for 15th on the all-time list.
Norman Chesmore picked up his second win of the year in the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. From a fifth row starting spot, Chesmore raced his way into second just before the caution flag waved with five laps complete.
He chased leader Buck Swanson when racing resumed and was able to work beneath the leader when Swanson got loose exiting turn four on lap seven. Chesmore worked the low side of Swanson and took the lead the next time past the flagstand. Chesmore survived a couple more stoppages over the final half of the event to secure the win.
With the victory, Chesmore has won multiple features in six separate seasons in Vinton. He remains fourth on the career wins list at the speedway with 22 trips to the winner's circle. Seven of those wins have come during the month of June.
Nathan Ballard's seasons of highs and lows continued Sunday night. The IMCA Hobby Stock driver has as many DNFs as he does victories through seven weeks this season. He righted the ship once again by picking up his third win of the year.
Fellow front row starter Justin Wacha set the pace over the first half of the 15-lapper before Ballard was able to work around the leader on lap nine. Ballard then held off late pressure from Benji Irvine to score the victory.
With nine career Hobby Stock wins in weekly racing in Vinton, Ballard finished the night tied with Todd Temeyer for 15th on the all-time list. It was his second win during the month of June. His other June win was also his first win at the speedway and came nearly seven years ago (June 17, 2007).
Don Erger led all 10 laps of the BCS Micro Mod feature to earn his first career win in the division. Although it was his first win in a Micro Mod, Erger has been no stranger to victory lane in Vinton - he has now won at least one feature in four different divisions at the speedway.
In weekly racing alone, Erger won in the Compact Modifieds (twice in 1997), Pro Stocks (five times from 1999-2000) and IMCA Modifieds (10 times from 2002-2009), bringing his total to 18 career wins in Vinton.
Here is the chronological list of Modified drivers with at least three consecutive wins in weekly racing history at Benton County Speedway:
Arlo Becker (1979): The first Modified driver with a three-race winning streak, Becker did it in the first three races after Rick Brinkema won the first-ever IMCA Modified feature in June of 1979;
Dave Venenga (1980): The first three wins of Venenga's career came in the final three events of the 1980 season;
Jack Mitchell (1981): This streak in 1981 was a four race winning streak, the first of its kind for the Modifieds in Vinton;
Jack Mitchell (1983): This was also a four-race winning streak for Mitchell and took place in the first four events of the 1983 season;
Jack Mitchell (1983): No, you're not seeing double... Mitchell had a second streak of at least three straight wins in 1983. In fact, this streak was a FIVE race winning streak and is separate from the four-race streak he had to open the season. The only thing preventing the two from becoming one longer winning streak was a June 12 win that season by Mike Krall;
Kevin Pittman (1990): Pittman earned a four race winning streak to start the 1990 season. That year marked the reopening of the track for weekly racing after it closed at the end of the 1983 season.
Kevin Pittman (1990): Pittman also had a three race winning streak later in 1990, which was separate from his four race winning streak to start the year.
Darin Duffy (2000): Duffy opened the year with wins in the first three weeks of the season. If not for Vern Jackson's first BCS Modified win May 21 of that year, Duffy may have had a six race winning streak to his credit. He won five of the first six Modified features that year.
Vern Jackson (2001): Following the Hogan Memorial Mid-Season Championship program in 2001 and prior to the Benton County Fair races, Jackson reeled off the first of two career three race winning streaks.
Vern Jackson (2004): Jackson's second three race winning streak in the Modifieds ended with a photo finish victory over Troy Cordes in the Hogan Memorial Mid-Season Championship special.
J.D. Auringer (2007): In another Hogan Memorial-related note, Auringer's three race winning streak started with the 2007 Hogan Memorial Mid-Season Championship victory.
Scott Hogan (2010): The last Modified driver to win three straight features in Vinton, Hogan's wins came on May 2, 9 and 16 of that year.
Note: The Hogan Memorial was a weekly points race from 1995-2007. Auringer was the last to win the event as part of weekly points racing. Although the Hogan Memorial stayed part of the Mid-Season Championship program for a couple more years as a non-points event for Modifieds, it was moved to a July date in 2010 and has remained there ever since. Speaking of which... the 20th edition of the Hogan Memorial is scheduled for next month on Sunday, July 13. How was that for a segue?
And now, for Sunday's results...
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 81 Jesse Belez, Marengo; 4. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 5. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 6. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 7. 20L Zach Less, Hopkinton; 8. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 9. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 10. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 11. 415 Josh Barta, Cedar Falls; 12. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton.
Heat one: 1. Lauritzen; 2. Auringer; 3. Flannagan; 4. Cordes; 5. Belez; 6. Barta.
Heat two: 1. Hogan; 2. Burbridge; 3. Less; 4. Docekal; 5. Jensen; 6. Dedrick.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 2. 171 Buck Swanson, Waterloo; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 5. 22D Jared Daggett, Marshalltown; 6. 8B Scott Beauregard, Brandon; 7. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 8. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 9. 4H Scott Hampton, Waterloo; 10. 19J Jay Schmidt, Tama; 11. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 12. 38 Matt Brown, Marion.
Heat one: 1. Swanson; 2. Brown; 3. Stander; 4. Chesmore; 5. Galli; 6. Hampton.
Heat two: 1. Damme; 2. Beauregard; 3. Schmidt; 4. Pippert; 5. Roster; 6. Daggett.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 7SR Shawn Ritter, Keystone; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 5. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 6. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 7. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 8. 16K Brandon Morris, Cedar Rapids; 9. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 10. T17 Tom Rawlins, Kellogg; 11. 72 Brett Lowry, Montezuma; 12. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 13. 17 Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 14. 50H Steve Wimer, Toddville; 15. 42L Lonnie Mercer, Urbana; 16. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 17. 36 Jake Salisbury, Dunkerton; 18. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 19. 22 Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 20. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 21. 19J Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 22. 30 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 23. 95 Mike McDonald, Cedar Rapids; 24. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison.
Heat one: 1. Olson; 2. Morris; 3. Salisbury; 4. Maitland; 5. Buhlman; 6. Gustin; 7. Schulze; DNS Heishman.
Heat two: 1. Sellers; 2. Dvorak; 3. Rawlins; 4. Krall; 5. Petrzelka; 6. Schaefer; 7. Mercer; 8. McDonald.
Heat three: 1. Ritter; 2. Hilmer; 3. Schaefer; 4. Lowry; 5. King; 6. Burrell; 7. Wimer; 8. Anderson.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 3. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. 07 Jake Keiser, Marengo; 5. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 6. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 7. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 8. 1 Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 9. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion.
Heat: 1. Ballard; 2. Wacha; 3. Parizek; 4. Brown; 5. Happel; 6. Irvine; 7. Keiser; 8. Siems; 9. Sheldon.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 007 Adam Gates, Cedar Rapids; 2. 00W Bill Whalen Jr., Riverside; 3. 01 Aaron Miller, Marshalltown; 4. 3S Craig Streeter, Vinton; 5. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 6. 02 John Gill, Marshalltown; 7. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Vinton; 8. 2M Dallas Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 9. 73B Andrew Bieber, Independence; 10. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton.
Heat: 1. Gates; 2. Chandler; 3. Miller; 4. Peiffer; 5. Lerch; 6. Whalen; 7. Streeter; 8. Gill; 9. Goodenbaur; 10. Bieber.
BCS MICRO MOD
Feature: 1. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 2. 2 Brandon Maitland, Waterloo; 3. 00 Brody Willett, Cedar Rapids; 4. Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 5. 111A A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 6. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 7. 10 Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup.
Heat: 1. Erger; 2. Pate; 3. Maitland; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Cordes; 6. Willett; 7. Witten.
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