Chesmore dedicates win to Brandon Smith at Benton County Speedway

Norman Chesmore closed out an emotional weekend the best way he could Sunday night at Benton County Speedway. He earned his first IMCA Stock Car win of the year and dedicated the victory to friend and fellow racer Brandon Smith who died in an accident in his garage over the weekend.

Chesmore, a longtime friend of the family of Smith's girlfriend, Stephanie King, became emotional in victory lane when joined by Stephanie and her two-year-old son, Carver.

Chesmore's victory was hard-fought as he held off consistent pressure from numerous drivers on his way to victory in the 15-lapper.

After starting inside of row three, Chesmore worked the low groove into the lead by the completion of the third lap. Paul Shepherd posed his biggest challenge throughout the event while Scott Pippert and Jay Schmidt remained dialed in on the lead pair.

Shepherd pulled alongside the leader and briefly assumed command on the 12th circuit as the four leaders ran in two-wide formation two rows deep at the front of the pack. Chesmore surged ahead a short time later to regain the lead and take the win by a couple of car-lengths. 

Chesmore's victory was the 21st of his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. He ranks fourth on the division's all-time list. He has won at least one feature in each of the last three seasons in Vinton and in 11 of the 14 seasons IMCA Stock Cars have been part of the weekly racing program. Six of his 21 wins have come during the month of June.

Troy Cordes earned his second win in the last three weeks in the IMCA Modified division - and he did it in thrilling fashion.

Mike Burbridge assumed command at the drop of the green in the 20-lapper. He protected the low groove while Scott Hogan ran the same line from a third row start into second place by the completion of lap two.

While Hogan worked to keep pace with Burbridge, Cordes was working his magic in the high groove. Cordes, who started alongside Hogan, remained committed to the top side and worked around Zach Less for third place just prior to the race's only caution with 13 laps complete.

When racing resumed, Cordes again worked the top side and made his way around Hogan with five laps to go. He chipped away at Burbridge's lead and pulled even with the leader over the final two laps. With Cordes charging, Burbridge bobbled in the final set of turns on the final lap as Cordes stole the win.

With the victory, Cordes became the first Modified driver this season to earn multiple wins. He has now won multiple features in 10 separate seasons on the Vinton oval. This is his first season with multiple trips to the winner's circle since 2011.

Sunday's victory was the 41st win of his weekly racing career in Vinton, which ranks second to Hogan's 44 triumphs. Of those 41 wins, Cordes has raced to victory lane seven times in the month of June.

Ryan Maitland also pulled off a thrilling win Sunday night, fending off Danny Dvorak in the 15-lap IMCA Northern SportMod feature.

From a third row starting spot, Maitland was a rocket on the low side of the fast, smooth, quarter-mile and assumed the top spot from pole sitter John Schaefer by the completion of lap four. He quickly pulled away while Curt Hilmer gave chase and Dvorak worked through traffic from a fifth row start.

Hilmer was riding in the second spot and Dvorak made his way into the top five by the time the yellow flag waved on lap seven. After another three laps were scored complete and the caution flag waved twice more, Dvorak found himself on Maitland's rear bumper for what would be the final restart on lap 10.

Dvorak powered beneath Maitland on the restart and took charge entering the first set of turns before Maitland returned the favor in turns three and four to regain control at the flag stand. Maitland held the point for the remainder of the event to earn his first win of the season.

Maitland has now won twice in his career in weekly racing history at the speedway, placing him in a tie for 19th on the all-time list with Bob Ebaugh, Brett Root, Joe Docekal, Kurt Moeding, Kyle Wahlert, Mike Krall, Rod McDonald and last week's winner, Shawn Ritter.

Maitland, whose other win in Vinton came last August, currently stands as the only driver with SportMod wins in Vinton in both 2013 and 2014.

Nathan Ballard earned back-to-back IMCA Hobby Stock wins for the first time in his weekly racing career in Vinton. Despite his win one week ago, Ballard's struggles this season left him with a point average low enough to allow him to start on the pole of Sunday night's 15-lapper.

After the race was slowed twice for caution with only one lap scored complete, Ballard led the field back to green. He set the pace for 14 caution-free laps, leading the entire way, en route to victory lane.

With eight Hobby Stock wins in weekly racing history in Vinton, Ballard is tied with Jerry Dedrick for 16th on the all-time list. 

Ballard became the 23rd driver in track history to earn consecutive Hobby Stock features. The others include Scott Pippert (5 times); Vince Buchholz (4); Scooter Dulin (3); Brad Forbes, Danny Dvorak, Frankie Dulin, Jerry Luloff, Matt Brown and Ron Tharp (2 times each); Benji Irvine, Brad Anders, Brian Happel, Brian Irvine, Chad Koch, Curtis Roster, Heath Kusel, J.R. Kahler, Jerry Dedrick, Paul Shepherd, Rick Johnson, Steve Kesl and Stoney Leonard (1 time each).

Next week, Ballard hopes to join the list of six Hobby Stock drivers in track history who have won three straight features.

Sunday's win was the first for Ballard during the month of June. His eight wins in Vinton have come in six different calendar months. He has earned one win each during the months of April, June, July and September and two wins each in May and August.

During only one other season has Ballard won multiple Hobby Stock features in weekly racing action. He won three times in 2007, the year of his first feature win. Coincidentally, that first feature win came nearly seven years ago - June 17, 2007.

Bill Whalen Jr. continued his dominance in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Whalen took the lead at the drop of the green and led the entire 10-lap distance to earn his third straight win and his fourth of the season in Vinton.

Whalen became the fifth driver in Sport Compact history in Vinton to win three straight features. The others on that list include Nathan Chandler and Gary Peiffer (3 times each), and Jena Barthelmes and Steve Miedke (once each). A win next Sunday would match the record of four straight weekly Sport Compact wins in Vinton. That mark was set by Nathan Chandler in 2012. Chandler matched his own record with a second four-race winning streak last season.

With the win Sunday night, Whalen's four wins match his total from last season. It marks the 10th time in track history a driver has had back-to-back seasons of four or more Sport Compact victories.

His 15 Sport Compact victories in weekly racing history in Vinton ranks third among all drivers. Four of those wins have come during the month of June.

While the BCS Micro Mods took part in last weekend's program, they competed in their first-ever points race Sunday night. It was a different night, but the same result as Buster Pate drove to the win in the first weekly racing event for the division at the speedway.

Pate led all 10 laps and held off a furious charge from Don Erger to earn the victory.

Don Burkey and Shawn Fisher did another great job on the track prep for Sunday's show. Despite Mother Nature's desire to throw some pesky wind into the recipe, a splash of water during intermission eliminated the dust and the emergence of the moisture already applied to the track during regular prep time provided for an excellent surface for the features.

Many people have inquired about service times for Brandon Smith. His complete obituary and service times have been posted at http://www.richardsonfuneralservice.com/obituaries/Brandon-Smith-3/ and those who visit the link are able to express their condolences and share memories with the family. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, even if you didn't know Brandon, you're very much a part of the racing family if you're reading this. I'm certain his loved ones would be grateful if you took a few moments to share your memories of Brandon or simply leave a few words of support.

Since I was on the go today, I logged into my blog tonight for the first time since I wrote about last night's events at Independence Motor Speedway. On facebook I saw the link had been shared over 70 times, which helped bring the total number of hits to last night's entry to over 2,200 in just 20 hours. Yes, the love we have for our racing family goes deeper than words could ever describe. To the Smith and King families, I hope you are able to take comfort in knowing that we are here for you and will forever be part of your family.

RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED

Feature: 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 2. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 3. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 4. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 5. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 6. 20L Zach Less, Hopkinton; 7. 81 Jesse Belez, Marengo; 8. 7M Kurt Moeding, Mason City; 9. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 10. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 11. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 12. 415 Josh Barta, Cedar Falls; 13. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 14. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup.

Heat one: 1. Cordes; 2. Docekal; 3. Flannagan; 4. Moeding; 5. Jensen; 6. Dedrick; 7. Belez.

Heat two: 1. Lauritzen; 2. Hogan; 3. Burbridge; 4. Auringer; 5. Less; 6. Betzer; 7. Barta.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 5. 19J Jay Schmidt, Tama; 6. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 7. 76 Mike Galli, Urbana; 8. 12 Duayne Herb, Cedar Rapids; 9. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 10. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 11. 62G Adam Gebel, Cedar Falls; 12. 8B Scott Beauregard, Brandon.

Heat one: 1. Beauregard; 2. Stander; 3. Murty; 4. Shepherd; 5. Temeyer; 6. Galli.

Heat two: 1. Pippert; 2. Chesmore; 3. Schmidt; 4. Roster; 5. Gebel; 6. Herb.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD

Feature: 1. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 3. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 4. 22 Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 5. 95 Mike McDonald, Cedar Rapids; 6. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 7. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 8. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 9. 72 Brett Lowry, Montezuma; 10. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 11. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 12. 36 Jacob Salisbury, Dunkerton; 13. 3B Brian Anderson, Garrison; 14. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City; 15. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 16. 42L Lonnie Mercer, Urbana.

Heat one: 1. Sellers; 2. Petrzelka; 3. Hilmer; 4. Dvorak; 5. Heishman; 6. Schulze; 7. Anderson; 8. Salisbury.

Heat two: 1. Buhlman; 2. Burrell; 3. McDonald; 4. Maitland; 5. Schaefer; 6. Lowry; 7. King; 8. Mercer.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

Feature: 1. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 3. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 4. 17K Kyle Parizek, Belle Plaine; 5. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 6. 4P Matt Pohlman, Keystone; 7. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 8. 19B Jim Sheldon, Marion; 9. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 10. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton.

Heat one: 1. Ballard; 2. Parizek; 3. Happel; 4. Vanous; 5. Sheldon.

Heat two: 1. Wacha; 2. Brown; 3. Keiser; 4. Irvine; 5. Pohlman.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT

Feature: 1. 00W Bill Whalen Jr., Riverside; 2. 99J Jeremy Lerch, Vinton; 3. 3S Craig Streeter, Vinton; 4. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 5. 02 John Gill, Marshalltown; 6. 01 Aaron Miller, Marshalltown; 7. 07 Joe Goodenbour, Garrison.

Heat: 1. Whalen; 2. Gill; 3. Lerch; 4. Miller; 5. Peiffer; 6. Goodenbour; 7. Streeter.

BCS MICRO MODS

Feature: 1. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 2. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 3. 00 Brody Willett, Cedar Rapids; 4. 71 Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 5. 2 Brandon Maitland, Waterloo.

Heat: 1. Maitland; 2. Pate; 3. Willett; 4. Cordes; 5. Erger.