Jenae Gustin stayed with her winning ways Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway. Gustin, who has now won two straight and four of the last five IMCA Northern SportMod features in Independence, earned some extra spending cash with Saturday night's win. The SportMod division was this month's featured class in the Saturday Showcase.
From her fifth row starting spot, Gustin made her way into a battle for the lead with Lucas Lundry a handful of laps into the 15-lapper. The front-runners fought in lapped traffic and swapped the lead a number of times before Gustin pulled away to the dominant win.
With five SportMod wins to her credit in weekly racing history in Independence (all in the last 49 days, mind you), she is now tied for fifth on the division's wins list with Lundry and Joel Rust. Gustin is only the second SportMod driver in track history to win four events in five weeks. Josh Sherbon did it toward the end of the 2010 season.
Gustin can make more history next week with another win. No SportMod driver has won three straight in the division's seven-plus year history at the speedway. She is also closing in on Tyler Droste's track record of seven wins in a single season, which he set in 2011.
Darren Ackerman also won his second straight feature in the IMCA Late Model division. Ackerman took advantage of a mid-race restart which forced Sean Johnson's straightaway lead to disappear.
Ackerman made his way around Johnson as the white flag waved to drive to victory, his third in the last four weeks. Ackerman previously won back-to-back features one other time in his career - July 18 and 25, 2009.
With 21 Late Model wins in his weekly racing career in Independence, Ackerman now sits alone in eighth on the all-time list.
He, too, can make history with a win next week. Only four Late Model drivers in track history have ever won three straight features - Ed Sanger, Gary Crawford, Curt Martin and Rick Wendling. Martin was the last to do it in 2004. No Late Model driver has won four straight.
While Ackerman has been the man to beat as of late, he has never won more than three features in a single season in Independence. His three wins so far this year match the mark he set in 2007 and repeated in 2009. Coincidentally, he also won track titles both of those seasons...
Speaking of Late Model points, if you haven't already checked them out, they are tight! In fact, the top six in the standings are separated by a mere nine points. Click here to check them out.
Justin Wacha became the third different driver to get his first Independence IMCA Hobby Stock win this season. He is the 93rd different Hobby Stock winner all-time at the speedway.
After starting in the middle of the pack, Wacha reeled in leader Benji Irvine in the last few laps and inched ahead at the line to score the victory. He now owns two career Hobby Stock victories, his first coming at Benton County Speedway just over a year ago on June 9, 2013.
Wacha is the 20th Hobby Stock driver in Independence track history to get his first win during the month of June.
Take a look at the top of the Hobby Stock points, too. That's another close battle.
Troy Cordes tightened up the points in the Performance Bodies IMCA Modified division, as well. Cordes dominated that 20-lapper to earn his first win of the year by a straightaway and pull within a single point of leader Scott Hogan.
With the win, Cordes now has 32 Modified wins in weekly racing history at the speedway, which places him third all-time.
Cordes' win Saturday night nearly fell on the 20th anniversary of his first win in Independence... in the Hobby Stock division on June 18, 1994. When also considering that win, his 33 wins in weekly racing history at the speedway tie Cordes with Chris Luloff for 10th all-time.
Cordes must have a thing for the month of June as this was his 10th Modified win during that calendar month. Plus, his first Modified win in Indee came in the month of June nearly 18 years ago - June 29, 1996.
Brian Irvine earned his second win in as many appearances this season in the IMCA Stock Car division. Irvine started outside of row six, made his way into the lead a handful of laps into the 18-lapper and then checked out to drive to victory.
Irvine's 33 Stock Car wins in Independence place him second all-time at the speedway. When combined with 16 Hobby Stock wins, Irvine has earned 49 victories in weekly racing history at the speedway. He is one victory shy of tying Greg Kastli for fifth all-time.
Saturday's program was sponsored by Karsyn's Krusaders and Three Wide Media. I was one of five individuals honored to be asked by Jessica Miller of Karsyn's Krusaders to be an honorary flagman for the features. I was able to throw the green flag for the Hobby Stock feature in memory of my father, who lost a brief battle with lung cancer on May 14, 2011.
With the wet weather throughout the week, the last place I was expecting to spend my Saturday evening was at the races. Mother Nature offered a reprieve Saturday and Don Burkey had the track in tip-top shape yet again. Not only was the racing fantastic, but a huge crowd turned out despite the warm temperatures and threat of more rain. Thanks to everyone who came out to support Saturday's show!
The weekly program at Benton County Speedway is on tap for Sunday. I hope to see you there!
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