If you're an IMCA Modified fan at both Benton County Speedway in Vinton and Independence Motor Speedway, you've had to absolutely love the last nine days. In the last two weeks of racing, both tracks have seen thrilling finishes, including last lap lead changes in all four feature events.
The trend continued Sunday night in Vinton.
Jerry Dedrick led the field to green in the 20-lap event with Joe Docekal in pursuit running the high side of the fast, smooth, quarter-mile. Docekal pulled alongside the leader on the third circuit and made his way into the top spot to take command a short time later.
Docekal continued to distance himself from the pack while Kyle Brown and Jerry Luloff advanced from deep in the field. That pair settled into second and third, respectively, at the midway point as they attempted to reel in Docekal.
While Docekal led, Luloff worked the low side of Brown for second and was able to steal that position with three laps to go. Entering turns one and two on lap 18, contact from Brown sent Luloff into a spin as the race's only caution slowed action with two laps remaining.
Since he was stopped on the track when the caution came out, Luloff was sent to the tail of the pack for the ensuing restart. Brown joined him after being penalized for questionable driving.
J.D. Auringer, who was running fourth at the time of the caution, pulled onto Docekal's rear bumper for the ensuing restart. Auringer chased the leader until he dropped to the low side of the speedway while Docekal remained committed to the high groove. Auringer pulled even to go two-wide with Docekal for the lead as they exited turn two on the final lap. The leaders raced side-by-side through the final set of turns before Auringer pulled ahead off the final corner to take the win, his first of the season. (stats and complete results below)
Norman Chesmore earned his second win in as many days in the IMCA Stock Car division. In the early going, it was points leader John Emerson in control after he inherited a front row starting spot following a pair of early cautions.
Emerson paced the field until Chesmore positioned himself to challenge for the lead three laps into the 15-lapper. Chesmore pulled to the inside of Emerson in the first set of turns to take command. Much like his win the night before in Independence, Chesmore ran the low groove to perfection to hold off Emerson for the victory.
Colby Heishman and Mike Hogencamp shared time at the front of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature before Danny Dvorak challenged for the lead a few laps into that 15-lapper.
Dvorak, who started outside of row five, worked the low groove into contention before making his bid for the lead on lap four. He pulled away and appeared to have the field covered until the caution flag waved late to set up a two-lap dash to the finish.
By the time the yellow waved, Nick Roberts and Joel Rust made their way through traffic and restarted directly behind the race leader. Dvorak went back to work on the low side when racing resumed and held off pressure from Roberts to take the win, his third of the season.
Justin Wacha added his name to the history books by earning his first career victory in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Wacha chased leader Matt Brown for one lap, then shot to the inside of Brown to steal the lead on the second circuit. He withstood a late charge from Brian Happel to earn the milestone victory.
Nathan Chandler continued his winning ways in the IMCA Sport Compact division. From his outside front row starting spot, Chandler took charge at the drop of the green and never looked back on the way to his fourth straight victory.
***
Below are the latest stats and how Sunday's winners compare historically at Benton County Speedway. Complete results from Sunday night follow below.
By the Numbers
* J.D. Auringer - Sunday night's win was the first for Auringer in weekly points racing in Vinton since May 29, 2011. (Auringer did win the non-points Frostbuster event in Vinton on April 8, 2012.) For his career, Auringer has earned 12 Modified victories in weekly points competition at the speedway. Sunday's win moved him into a tie for 10th on the track's all-time list with Patrick Flannagan, Robbie Schmuecker and Tim McBride. Auringer became the seventh different Modified winner in eight nights of points racing this season. The record for the highest number of different Modified winners in a season? 11. There were that many different winners during the 2003, 2011 and 2012 seasons. While we still have a few more to go before even thinking of reaching that number, we still have 12 nights of weekly Modified points racing on the 2013 schedule. It is certainly within the realm of possibility.
* Norman Chesmore - For the first time in Chesmore's career, he swept features at Independence and Vinton in the same weekend, becoming the seventh driver in history to do so. Among those drivers, the feat has now been accomplished 19 different times. It was Chesmore's 16th career weekly points win in Vinton, leaving him in sole possession of fifth on the track's all-time list. His second win this season, Chesmore has now won multiple features in back-to-back seasons in Vinton for the first time in his career.
* Danny Dvorak - Dvorak earned his third victory of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMods, giving him an all-time division best 49 wins in weekly racing history at the speedway. He has now won at least three SportMod features in Vinton every year since the division was introduced there in 2005. Dvorak now has 14 wins during the month of June, more than any other calendar month. In fact, his 14 career wins during June matches Scott Hogan's 14 Modified wins during the month of May. No other driver has won more features in the same division in a single calendar month in track history.
* Justin Wacha - With his win Sunday night, Wacha became the 84th different Hobby Stock winner in weekly racing history in Vinton. He joined Paul Nagle and Andy Coffman as first-time winners in the division this season. Prior to the trio of new winners this season, it had been 647 days since the most recent first-time Hobby Stock winner - Cale Petersen on July 14, 2011. Wacha became the 21st Hobby Stock driver in track history to earn his first win during the month of June. The month of June has produced more first-time winners in the division than any other time of year. Through just eight nights of racing this season, Wacha became the sixth different Hobby Stock driver to reach the winner's circle. That number matches the total number of different Hobby Stock winners for the entire 2012 season. I guess we can refer to that as the Scott Pippert Effect.
* Nathan Chandler - For the second time in his career, Chandler has strung together four straight IMCA Sport Compact wins in Vinton. Not only did that match his personal best, it matched the all-time best for the division at the speedway. He will have a chance to extend that historic mark next Sunday. In fact, only three other drivers in track history have strung together five consecutive wins. They include Jack Mitchell, who won five straight Modified features in 1983; Danny Dvorak, who earned five straight SportMod wins in 2005; and Scott Pippert, who strung together five consecutive Hobby Stock wins in 2011. No driver has won more than five straight features in speedway history. Chandler can at least match it next Sunday. If he does get the job done during the next event in Vinton, it will be during the division's 150th feature at the speedway. For his weekly racing career in Vinton, Chandler has now earned 40 trips to the winner's circle in the division, the most all-time.
* Don Burkey - I know he didn't end the night in victory lane, but Don Burkey came out a winner Sunday. After a lot of negativity from folks who have never prepped a track, yet were never short on input, Don's long hours and hard work paid off Sunday night. The track was smooth, fast and provided excellent racing all night long. Enough dry days during a very wet spring finally provided Don the time he needed to get the track ironed in for a terrific show Sunday night. Yes, it was just one night, but he definitely has things going in the right direction. You can rest assured he will continue to devote himself to BCS, as he has done all year. Rather than complain about the surface and take the night off from the races like many may have chosen to do, Don only worked harder and spent more time getting the track race-ready for Sunday. Many folks are never short on criticism, but let's see how willing they are to thank him for a job well done. BCS Race Director Dana Benning said it best on the track's facebook page. If you have taken the time in the past to complain or question the effort in preparing the track, now is the time to leave a comment to thank Don for all the hard work he's put into making Sunday nights fun for all of us.
Next up for me is the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models / Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds double-header Tuesday night at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton. This was an incredible show last year so make plans to attend if you haven't already marked it on your calendar. Details of that event are located in the flyer at the top of this page. Be sure to get to Tipton early. There wasn't an empty seat in the house last year!
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 2. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 4. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 5. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 6. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 7. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 8. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 9. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 10. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 11. 32 Chris Snyder (Raymond); 12. 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo); 13. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 14. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi).
Heat one: 1. Docekal; 2. Auringer; 3. Burbridge; 4. Cordes; 5. Olson; 6. Flannagan; 7. Snyder.
Heat two: 1. Hogan; 2. Dedrick; 3. McBride; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Luloff; 6. Brown; 7. Jensen.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 4. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 5. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 6. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 7. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 8. 9E Mitch Evens (Independence); 9. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana).
Heat: 1. Beauregard; 2. Galli; 3. Emerson; 4. Chesmore; 5. Ahrendsen; 6. Evens; 7. Murty; 8. Roster; DNS Pippert.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 2. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 3. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 4. 72 Mike Hogencamp (Waterloo); 5. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 6. 20 Brett Moffitt (Grimes); 7. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 8. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 9. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 10. 15B Troy Burkhart (Urbana); 11. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 12. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 13. CH19 Colby Heishman (Brooklyn); 14. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 15. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 16. 0B Colby Oberembt (Adel); 17. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 18. 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond); 19. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 20/DNS 7P Jordan Peters (Des Moines).
Heat one: 1. Hogencamp; 2. Olson; 3. Buhlman; 4. Dvorak; 5. Moffitt; 6. Anderson; 7. Ebaugh.
Heat two: 1. Heishman; 2. Rust; 3. Schaefer; 4. Maitland; 5. Peters; 6. Hilmer; 7. Oberembt.
Heat three: 1. Burkhart; 2. Schulze; 3. Roberts; 4. Sellers; 5. King; 6. Kitner.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 2. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 3. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 4. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 5. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 6. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 7. 178X David Rieks (Eldora); 8. 14C Leah Wroten (Independence); 9. 09X Brad Forbes (Waterloo); 10. 11 David Castellano Jr. (Des Moines); 11/DNS. 51D Dustin Filloon (Toledo).
Heat: 1. Brown; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Luloff; 5. Parizek; 6. Happel; 7. Wroten; 8. Forbes; 9. Castellano; 10. Filloon; DNS Rieks.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 4. 22T Travis Losenicky (Garrison); 5. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 6. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 7. 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. Witten; 5. Losenicky; 6. Lerch; 7. Denning.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Droste delivers exciting IMCA Modified win at Independence
Drivers will typically say their first wins are among the most memorable. It's safe to say Tyler Droste's first win at Independence Motor Speedway Saturday night will be long remembered for the first-year IMCA Modified driver. Droste, who won a Modified feature earlier in the year at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, became the 81st driver in track history to take the IMCA Modified checkers at Independence Motor Speedway.
Scott Hogan led the 21-car starting field to green and was joined at the front with Darin Duffy in a two-car breakaway from the pack. Droste worked from an 11th place starting spot and was assisted by a pair of cautions on his march to the front.
Hogan, Droste and Duffy entertained the crowd in a three-car battle for the lead in the waning laps, with Droste and Hogan swapping the lead in the late stages. A late push by Duffy made it three-wide on the final lap before Droste broke free on the low groove to score the thrilling win.
His first win in the Modifieds in Independence, Droste became the first first-time Modified winner at the speedway in nearly a year. Prior to Droste, the most recent first-time winner, was Shawn Ryan on June 23, 2012 - 350 days ago.
Droste became the 19th different first-time Modified winner during the month of June at the speedway, second only to 23 first-timers in during the month of May. It is the 13th straight season in Independence there has been at least one new winner in the division.
When adding his 14 Northern SportMod victories at the speedway, Droste has 15 wins in his career in Independence. That places him in a tie for 34th on the all-time list with Denny Osborn, Norman Chesmore (more on Chesmore shortly), Tom Hanson, Tom Schmitt and Tyler Bruening.
Droste became the fourth different Modified winner in five events this season. Through five weeks of racing, no driver has held the points lead for consecutive weeks. In fact, no driver has even repeated time atop the standings. There have been five different drivers leading the points following each week of the season. With his win Saturday, Droste took over the top spot in the standings.
Norman Chesmore earned his 15th career win in the Stock Car division by taking his first victory at the speedway since June 21, 2008. Chesmore took command just prior to a lap four caution, then raced the low groove to victory, holding off John Emerson and Sean Johnson to take the win.
With his 15th Stock Car win in Independence, Chesmore is now tied for seventh with Tom Schmitt on the division's all-time list. On the over-all wins list, he matched Droste and sits tied for 34th on the track's overall wins list.
Chesmore's sixth win during the month of June at the speedway, his win on Saturday came nearly 20 years to the day of his first win in Independence. That first win came on June 12, 1993. Chesmore is the only Stock Car driver in track history with wins spanning all 21 seasons the division has competed at the speedway.
Luke Merfeld set sail early, then methodically made his way through heavy lapped traffic to lead all 25 laps in the IMCA Late Model feature. Merfeld, who took a big lead early, built a straightaway advantage by the time Tyler Bruening raced into second place from a sixth row start. Bruening closed late, but trailed Merfeld by half of a straightaway by the time the checkers flew.
The first win for Merfeld this season, he now has three career Late Model wins in weekly racing history in Independence. He is tied for 37th on that list with Dave Bentley, Dave Gerner, Dave Thorsten, Gary Henderson, LaVern Carey, Luke Pestka, Tom Fitspatrick, Tysus Pattee and Wes Merritt.
It was Merfeld's second win during the month of June, which came nearly two years to the day of his first Late Model win in Independence - June 11, 2011.
Chris Luloff continued to add to his all-time leading Hobby Stock wins mark at the speedway. Luloff pursued Nathan Ballard over the last half of that 15-lapper, then slid beneath Ballard in the waning laps to secure his second win of the season and the 24th of his career in Independence.
Like Chesmore and Merfeld, Luloff's most recent win nearly fell on the anniversary of his first at the speedway. His first Hobby Stock win was nearly nine years ago, on June 19, 2004. It was his eighth win during the month of June.
All-time (Northern SportMod wins included), Luloff now has 27 career wins in Independence, moving him into sole possession of 13th on the track's all-time list.
Kip Siems made his way to the front early, then survived a trio of caution flags to secure his first win of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Siems also won a feature last season, giving him two for his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. He is now one of 10 drivers with multiple career SportMod wins in Independence.
Adam Gates continued his domination in the IMCA Sport Compact division. After making his way to the front on the first lap, Gates rolled to his fourth win in as many appearances this season. The victory moved him past Steve Miedke for the most Sport Compact wins all-time in Independence.
It was another fantastic night of racing in Independence, and was made even better through the sponsorships of Ferguson Enterprises, Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating and Cooling.
Doug Cue from Superior Cleaning Services provided an incredible amount of candy for the first candy dash at the speedway in a few years. He dumped 26,000 Tootsie Rolls alone on the front stretch for the nearly 200 kids in attendance.
The kids also had an extra bonus Saturday during Scout Night activities. All Scouts in uniform were admitted free and were able to take part in the program. Many joined flagman John Huff in the flag stand to wave the flags throughout heat race qualifying and every Scout had an opportunity to ride in the pace car and present victory lane trophies.
All of this was also made possible by talking former grandstand announcer Marc Magers out of retirement for the night. Marc joined us to help get the kids involved in the program and to entertain those in attendance, as he has been known to do for many years. Many thanks, Marc! Anytime you want to join us, please let me know. It was a pleasure to have you back in Independence!
Next Saturday in Independence will be sponsored by Tournier Recycling. The folks from Tournier plan to give away hats and T-shirts, plus hand out can koozies to the first 500 people through the gate.
We were able to dodge the predicted rain in Independence last night and it looks like we may do the same tonight in Vinton. I'll be back at the Benton County quarter-mile tonight for Cassill Motors Emergency Services Appreciation Night. I hope to see you there!
Scott Hogan led the 21-car starting field to green and was joined at the front with Darin Duffy in a two-car breakaway from the pack. Droste worked from an 11th place starting spot and was assisted by a pair of cautions on his march to the front.
Hogan, Droste and Duffy entertained the crowd in a three-car battle for the lead in the waning laps, with Droste and Hogan swapping the lead in the late stages. A late push by Duffy made it three-wide on the final lap before Droste broke free on the low groove to score the thrilling win.
His first win in the Modifieds in Independence, Droste became the first first-time Modified winner at the speedway in nearly a year. Prior to Droste, the most recent first-time winner, was Shawn Ryan on June 23, 2012 - 350 days ago.
Droste became the 19th different first-time Modified winner during the month of June at the speedway, second only to 23 first-timers in during the month of May. It is the 13th straight season in Independence there has been at least one new winner in the division.
When adding his 14 Northern SportMod victories at the speedway, Droste has 15 wins in his career in Independence. That places him in a tie for 34th on the all-time list with Denny Osborn, Norman Chesmore (more on Chesmore shortly), Tom Hanson, Tom Schmitt and Tyler Bruening.
Droste became the fourth different Modified winner in five events this season. Through five weeks of racing, no driver has held the points lead for consecutive weeks. In fact, no driver has even repeated time atop the standings. There have been five different drivers leading the points following each week of the season. With his win Saturday, Droste took over the top spot in the standings.
Norman Chesmore earned his 15th career win in the Stock Car division by taking his first victory at the speedway since June 21, 2008. Chesmore took command just prior to a lap four caution, then raced the low groove to victory, holding off John Emerson and Sean Johnson to take the win.
With his 15th Stock Car win in Independence, Chesmore is now tied for seventh with Tom Schmitt on the division's all-time list. On the over-all wins list, he matched Droste and sits tied for 34th on the track's overall wins list.
Chesmore's sixth win during the month of June at the speedway, his win on Saturday came nearly 20 years to the day of his first win in Independence. That first win came on June 12, 1993. Chesmore is the only Stock Car driver in track history with wins spanning all 21 seasons the division has competed at the speedway.
Luke Merfeld set sail early, then methodically made his way through heavy lapped traffic to lead all 25 laps in the IMCA Late Model feature. Merfeld, who took a big lead early, built a straightaway advantage by the time Tyler Bruening raced into second place from a sixth row start. Bruening closed late, but trailed Merfeld by half of a straightaway by the time the checkers flew.
The first win for Merfeld this season, he now has three career Late Model wins in weekly racing history in Independence. He is tied for 37th on that list with Dave Bentley, Dave Gerner, Dave Thorsten, Gary Henderson, LaVern Carey, Luke Pestka, Tom Fitspatrick, Tysus Pattee and Wes Merritt.
It was Merfeld's second win during the month of June, which came nearly two years to the day of his first Late Model win in Independence - June 11, 2011.
Chris Luloff continued to add to his all-time leading Hobby Stock wins mark at the speedway. Luloff pursued Nathan Ballard over the last half of that 15-lapper, then slid beneath Ballard in the waning laps to secure his second win of the season and the 24th of his career in Independence.
Like Chesmore and Merfeld, Luloff's most recent win nearly fell on the anniversary of his first at the speedway. His first Hobby Stock win was nearly nine years ago, on June 19, 2004. It was his eighth win during the month of June.
All-time (Northern SportMod wins included), Luloff now has 27 career wins in Independence, moving him into sole possession of 13th on the track's all-time list.
Kip Siems made his way to the front early, then survived a trio of caution flags to secure his first win of the season in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Siems also won a feature last season, giving him two for his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. He is now one of 10 drivers with multiple career SportMod wins in Independence.
Adam Gates continued his domination in the IMCA Sport Compact division. After making his way to the front on the first lap, Gates rolled to his fourth win in as many appearances this season. The victory moved him past Steve Miedke for the most Sport Compact wins all-time in Independence.
It was another fantastic night of racing in Independence, and was made even better through the sponsorships of Ferguson Enterprises, Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating and Cooling.
Doug Cue from Superior Cleaning Services provided an incredible amount of candy for the first candy dash at the speedway in a few years. He dumped 26,000 Tootsie Rolls alone on the front stretch for the nearly 200 kids in attendance.
The kids also had an extra bonus Saturday during Scout Night activities. All Scouts in uniform were admitted free and were able to take part in the program. Many joined flagman John Huff in the flag stand to wave the flags throughout heat race qualifying and every Scout had an opportunity to ride in the pace car and present victory lane trophies.
All of this was also made possible by talking former grandstand announcer Marc Magers out of retirement for the night. Marc joined us to help get the kids involved in the program and to entertain those in attendance, as he has been known to do for many years. Many thanks, Marc! Anytime you want to join us, please let me know. It was a pleasure to have you back in Independence!
Next Saturday in Independence will be sponsored by Tournier Recycling. The folks from Tournier plan to give away hats and T-shirts, plus hand out can koozies to the first 500 people through the gate.
We were able to dodge the predicted rain in Independence last night and it looks like we may do the same tonight in Vinton. I'll be back at the Benton County quarter-mile tonight for Cassill Motors Emergency Services Appreciation Night. I hope to see you there!
Friday, June 7, 2013
Harris, Ruter top series action at Hamilton County Speedway
Since Independence Motor Speedway's special was canceled Thursday night, I made my way west for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models/Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds double-dip at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City.
Quality fields in both the Late Model and Modified divisions, along with SportMods and Hobby Stocks turned out for the event, which was rescheduled from a rainout two days earlier. (feature results listed at the end of this entry)
Pole-sitter Spencer Diercks took command at the drop of the green in the 40-lap Deery Series headliner. The 16-year-old surged into the lead while second row starter Jeff Aikey settled into second. After briefly challenging the low side of the leader on lap two, Aikey let Diercks pull away before caution slowed action a trio of times on laps six and seven.
When racing resumed, Diercks again pulled away from traffic with Aikey in tow, while sixth row starter and series points leader Brian Harris made his way to the front running the top side of the fast half-mile. Harris raced the top side around series ironman Darrel DeFrance on lap 11 and continued to reel in the leaders.
In the meantime, Aikey was able to cut into Diercks' advantage when the youngster had trouble navigating the exit of turn two. While Diercks had little difficulty making his way off turn four, he struggled for a handful of laps exiting the first set of turns. He slid the #29 from the bottom to the top numerous times before his luck ran out on lap 16 when he made contact with the retaining wall, ending his impressive run.
With the leader gone, Aikey and Harris started side-by-side to lead the field back to green. Aikey powered to the front on the low side of the speedway, while Harris again went to work upstairs. Harris pulled the switcheroo on Aikey in turn two one lap later. Exiting turn two, Harris shot to the low side of the leader and escaped down the back stretch with the lead.
Harris continued to extend his advantage, pulling away by half of a straightaway with a dozen laps to go. His progress was cut short when the caution flag waved a final time on lap 32 for a spinning DeFrance, who sat idle on the low side of turns three and four.
On the final restart, Harris led the field to green with Aikey in second and Ray Guss Jr. now in third. After spotting Harris a few car-lengths over the pack, Guss closed late, but came up a few car-lengths short at the line, leaving Harris standing in victory lane for the second straight series event. Guss ran second ahead of a hard-charging Denny Eckrich and Andy Eckrich. Aikey faded to fifth.
Richie Gustin took command at the drop of the green in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour 25-lapper. Like a rocket, Gustin quickly pulled away from the pack, leaving Scott Olson to do battle with Ryan Ruter for second. Jimmy Gustin, Mark Elliott and Mike Van Genderen joined in a six-car breakaway at the front of the pack before the event's only caution flag waved on lap eight.
On the restart, Ruter quickly shuffled Olson back to third, then raced the top side into a challenge for the lead. Ruter surged ahead of Gustin off turn four on the 10th circuit to take command at the starter's stand. He won the event going away ahead of Gustin and Olson.
In other action, 28 IMCA SportMods signed in to do battle in a non-track points draw/redraw special. Doug Smith, Matt Lettow and Carter VanDenBerg made it clear that it would be one of those three standing in victory lane after 16 laps as that trio of drivers pulled away and entertained the crowd in a close battle throughout the race.
Following three early cautions, the event went green a final time following a lap three caution. At that time, pole-sitter Smith paced the field back into action with Lettow running the low side and VanDenBerg up top. The leaders ran in that same formation as they pulled over half a straightaway ahead of the pack by the midway point.
Lettow was able to pull ahead of VanDenBerg late, then stick his nose to the inside of Smith's #12 over the final laps, however Smith held on by a car-length to score the exciting win.
Ten IMCA Hobby Stocks battled to the checkers in that 14-lapper. Ty Griffith took command from his outside front row starting spot with Randy Embrey and Devin Smith in pursuit. The leaders ran in that order until Embrey challenged to the low side of Griffith when the leaders made their way down the back stretch on the fifth lap. This allowed Smith to sneak between his competitors as they made their way off turn four as he surged ahead at the line to take charge. Smith led the remainder of the event to score the victory over Embrey and Griffith.
Race Notes:
* Jeff Aikey fans may have been disappointed with his fifth place run after he spent time at the front of the Late Model feature, however a late-race caution in his 10-lap heat race qualifier may have prevented a much worse outcome for him. Aikey was running two positions out of a redraw spot in his heat when the caution flag waved with a couple laps to go. He was able to race his way into the redraw after that stoppage, then redrew #3 for the 40-lap feature.
* Craig Jacobs was the only one of 25 Late Models not to take the green flag in the feature. He fought his #95 during his heat race qualifier prior to an early exit.
* HDT series opener winner Cayden Carter suffered mechanical problems in his bid to start the 2013 campaign with back-to-back wins. The series winner at Benton County Speedway in Vinton last month, Carter pulled off with nine laps complete in Thursday's 25-lap feature to finish 23rd.
* Jay Noteboom's ninth place run was not what he bargained for at the start of the night, but he worked his tail off to get there. After dropping out of his heat early, Noteboom started the Modified feature 24th on the grid. Despite only one caution, he made a nice run through the pack to earn the top-10 finish.
* Likewise, in the SportMod division, defending track champion Joel Rust failed to make the redraw for that 16-lapper, however he came from near the back of that 24-car pack to finish ninth. If you haven't seen Rust pilot a race car, he's worth the price of admission alone and is always a threat to contend regardless where he is on the starting grid.
* Thursday's HDT event was the first-ever for first-year IMCA Modified driver Jesse Sobbing. The former IMCA Northern SportMod champ, Sobbing was impressive in his first go-round against the top Modified drivers in the region, racing to an eighth place finish after starting 12th.
* Track promoter Mike Van Genderen wore two hats Thursday night. In addition to running the show and keeping a close eye on track conditions, Van Genderen signed in his #57V Modified to take part in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour portion of the program. Van Genderen raced the high groove to a 10th place finish.
* Speaking of Van Genderen, rescheduled events are always a crap shoot when it comes to car count and attendance. It makes things even tougher when you are forced to consider available make-up dates to accommodate not just one, but two traveling series and the schedule is already loaded with special events. That level of uncertainty is even greater when an event is rescheduled for two days following the original date. While the two-day turnaround didn't provide a lot of time for drivers and fans to make adjustments around their work and family schedules, a quality field of cars and good number of fans turned out for the make-up event. On top of that, Mike and his crew did a fantastic job preparing the track for the program. As I told him following the show, if anyone walked away from Thursday night's show at all disappointed, they aren't true race fans. My hat is off to Mike and his crew for a well-run show on a near-perfect race track.
* It's rare when I spend any race sitting in the grandstands. After working at area tracks for many years, I've found it difficult to sit still and take in a show without walking around or keeping myself busy. I was able to do that Thursday night in Webster City in the company of fellow Positively Racing bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele. We shared a number of great stories and even more laughs throughout the night and I thank them for letting me spend the evening with them. Be sure to read their report from Thursday's show in the 4dfan Report.
Originally, I was planning to attend the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event at 34 Raceway tonight, however last night's trip to Webster City and other obligations today have forced me to change those plans. Although I won't be there tonight, I'm certain a number of Positively Racing representatives will be on-hand to report the action. Be sure to visit the site over the weekend to check out the stories from Burlington and other area tracks. If you're a Sprint fan and are able to make it to Burlington tonight, do it! Not only are they the best Sprint Car drivers in the country, but 34 has some of the greatest facilities in the Midwest. The 305 Sprints will be joining the 410s tonight, so it will be a quality show that should have you on the road home by a reasonable hour.
Tomorrow, I'll be back at Independence Motor Speedway for Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night at the Races. All Scouts in uniform will be admitted free and offered a concession special. In addition, Jarod Weepie, Curt Martin and Darin Duffy will have their race cars on display behind the grandstands prior to race time for the kids to get a close-up look at some of the competitors. Also, Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating & Cooling will sponsor a candy dash for the kids during intermission. Saturday promises to be another great night of Fast Family Fun at the Buchanan County Fairgrounds!
Have a great weekend!
HAMILTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS
DEERY BROTHERS SUMMER SERIES FOR IMCA LATE MODELS
1. 15R Brian Harris; 2. 58 Ray Guss Jr.; 3. 50 Denny Eckrich; 4. 56 Andy Eckrich; 5. 77 Jeff Aikey; 6. 16 Tyler Bruening; 7. 40 Joel Callahan; 8. 26JR Corey Zeitner; 9. 15K Justin Kay; 10. 1M Rob Moss; 11. 15C Curt Schroeder; 12. 99D Darrel DeFrance; 13. 76 Jason Hahne; 14. 29X Nick Pedersen; 15. 12 Ron Klein; 16. 15X Ryan Griffith; 17. 74 Ron Boyse; 18. 46 Nate Bueseling; 19. 16S Dan Shelliam; 20. 33 Nick Marolf; 21. 38 Colby Springsteen; 22. 29 Spencer Diercks; 23. 2 Jeremiah Hurst; 24. 98 Travis Smock; 25. 95 Craig Jacobs.
KARL PERFORMANCE HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR FOR IMCA MODIFIEDS
1. 555 Ryan Ruter; 2. 19G Richie Gustin; 3. 8X Scott Olson; 4. 15 Mark Elliott; 5. 69X Jon Snyder; 6. 19 Jimmy Gustin; 7. 2L Adam Larson; 8. 99 Jesse Sobbing; 9. 7N Jay Noteboom; 10. 57V Mike Van Genderen; 11. 27M Mark Schulte; 12. 5 Todd Shute; 13. 47 Greg Elliott; 14. 21CZ Tim Czarneski; 15. 22T Tyler Prochaska; 16. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 17. 13H Travis Hatcher; 18. 21 David Brown; 19. 71W Jeff Waterman; 20. 1BC Tony Cox; 21. 64 Casey Greubel; 22. 21K Kyle Brown; 23. 10C Cayden Carter; 24. 20L Zach Less; 25. 99M Tim Murty.
IMCA SPORTMODS
1. 12 Doug Smith; 2. 21 Matt Lettow; 3. 7 Carter VanDenBerg; 4. 23JR Nick Roberts; 5. 24 Aaron Benson; 6. 14E Chase Ellingson; 7. 69 Kyle Germandson; 8. 85T Brandon Toftee; 9. 26J Joel Rust; 10. 46 Matt Northrop; 11. 4ORD Bob Sutherland; 12. 63R Rick Fasse; 13. 51X Matthew Webb; 14. 66 Levi Chipp; 15. 99 Rocky Caudle; 16. 49X Cody Knecht; 17. 2 Jerid Ratzke; 18. 02A Coty Albers; 19. 22A Shawn Albers; 20. 64 Brandon Leeman; 21. 20 Gerald Curry; 22. 11H Mike Hay; 23. 23K Ben Kates; 24. 10H Jack Housely. DNQ: 1R Brad Ratcliff, 10L Levi Laymon, 26B Bryan Johnson, 138 Jon Peed.
IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
1. 81 Devin Smith; 2. 40 Randy Embrey; 3. 56 Ty Griffith; 4. 8R Cory Rose; 5. 2013 Bill Bonnett; 6. 29N Cody Nielsen; 7. 13G Craig Graham; 8. 4D Daniel Ayers; 9. 20B Ben Bruck; 10. 21 Myles Michehl.
Quality fields in both the Late Model and Modified divisions, along with SportMods and Hobby Stocks turned out for the event, which was rescheduled from a rainout two days earlier. (feature results listed at the end of this entry)
Pole-sitter Spencer Diercks took command at the drop of the green in the 40-lap Deery Series headliner. The 16-year-old surged into the lead while second row starter Jeff Aikey settled into second. After briefly challenging the low side of the leader on lap two, Aikey let Diercks pull away before caution slowed action a trio of times on laps six and seven.
When racing resumed, Diercks again pulled away from traffic with Aikey in tow, while sixth row starter and series points leader Brian Harris made his way to the front running the top side of the fast half-mile. Harris raced the top side around series ironman Darrel DeFrance on lap 11 and continued to reel in the leaders.
In the meantime, Aikey was able to cut into Diercks' advantage when the youngster had trouble navigating the exit of turn two. While Diercks had little difficulty making his way off turn four, he struggled for a handful of laps exiting the first set of turns. He slid the #29 from the bottom to the top numerous times before his luck ran out on lap 16 when he made contact with the retaining wall, ending his impressive run.
With the leader gone, Aikey and Harris started side-by-side to lead the field back to green. Aikey powered to the front on the low side of the speedway, while Harris again went to work upstairs. Harris pulled the switcheroo on Aikey in turn two one lap later. Exiting turn two, Harris shot to the low side of the leader and escaped down the back stretch with the lead.
Harris continued to extend his advantage, pulling away by half of a straightaway with a dozen laps to go. His progress was cut short when the caution flag waved a final time on lap 32 for a spinning DeFrance, who sat idle on the low side of turns three and four.
On the final restart, Harris led the field to green with Aikey in second and Ray Guss Jr. now in third. After spotting Harris a few car-lengths over the pack, Guss closed late, but came up a few car-lengths short at the line, leaving Harris standing in victory lane for the second straight series event. Guss ran second ahead of a hard-charging Denny Eckrich and Andy Eckrich. Aikey faded to fifth.
Richie Gustin took command at the drop of the green in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour 25-lapper. Like a rocket, Gustin quickly pulled away from the pack, leaving Scott Olson to do battle with Ryan Ruter for second. Jimmy Gustin, Mark Elliott and Mike Van Genderen joined in a six-car breakaway at the front of the pack before the event's only caution flag waved on lap eight.
On the restart, Ruter quickly shuffled Olson back to third, then raced the top side into a challenge for the lead. Ruter surged ahead of Gustin off turn four on the 10th circuit to take command at the starter's stand. He won the event going away ahead of Gustin and Olson.
In other action, 28 IMCA SportMods signed in to do battle in a non-track points draw/redraw special. Doug Smith, Matt Lettow and Carter VanDenBerg made it clear that it would be one of those three standing in victory lane after 16 laps as that trio of drivers pulled away and entertained the crowd in a close battle throughout the race.
Following three early cautions, the event went green a final time following a lap three caution. At that time, pole-sitter Smith paced the field back into action with Lettow running the low side and VanDenBerg up top. The leaders ran in that same formation as they pulled over half a straightaway ahead of the pack by the midway point.
Lettow was able to pull ahead of VanDenBerg late, then stick his nose to the inside of Smith's #12 over the final laps, however Smith held on by a car-length to score the exciting win.
Ten IMCA Hobby Stocks battled to the checkers in that 14-lapper. Ty Griffith took command from his outside front row starting spot with Randy Embrey and Devin Smith in pursuit. The leaders ran in that order until Embrey challenged to the low side of Griffith when the leaders made their way down the back stretch on the fifth lap. This allowed Smith to sneak between his competitors as they made their way off turn four as he surged ahead at the line to take charge. Smith led the remainder of the event to score the victory over Embrey and Griffith.
Race Notes:
* Jeff Aikey fans may have been disappointed with his fifth place run after he spent time at the front of the Late Model feature, however a late-race caution in his 10-lap heat race qualifier may have prevented a much worse outcome for him. Aikey was running two positions out of a redraw spot in his heat when the caution flag waved with a couple laps to go. He was able to race his way into the redraw after that stoppage, then redrew #3 for the 40-lap feature.
* Craig Jacobs was the only one of 25 Late Models not to take the green flag in the feature. He fought his #95 during his heat race qualifier prior to an early exit.
* HDT series opener winner Cayden Carter suffered mechanical problems in his bid to start the 2013 campaign with back-to-back wins. The series winner at Benton County Speedway in Vinton last month, Carter pulled off with nine laps complete in Thursday's 25-lap feature to finish 23rd.
* Jay Noteboom's ninth place run was not what he bargained for at the start of the night, but he worked his tail off to get there. After dropping out of his heat early, Noteboom started the Modified feature 24th on the grid. Despite only one caution, he made a nice run through the pack to earn the top-10 finish.
* Likewise, in the SportMod division, defending track champion Joel Rust failed to make the redraw for that 16-lapper, however he came from near the back of that 24-car pack to finish ninth. If you haven't seen Rust pilot a race car, he's worth the price of admission alone and is always a threat to contend regardless where he is on the starting grid.
* Thursday's HDT event was the first-ever for first-year IMCA Modified driver Jesse Sobbing. The former IMCA Northern SportMod champ, Sobbing was impressive in his first go-round against the top Modified drivers in the region, racing to an eighth place finish after starting 12th.
* Track promoter Mike Van Genderen wore two hats Thursday night. In addition to running the show and keeping a close eye on track conditions, Van Genderen signed in his #57V Modified to take part in the Hawkeye Dirt Tour portion of the program. Van Genderen raced the high groove to a 10th place finish.
* Speaking of Van Genderen, rescheduled events are always a crap shoot when it comes to car count and attendance. It makes things even tougher when you are forced to consider available make-up dates to accommodate not just one, but two traveling series and the schedule is already loaded with special events. That level of uncertainty is even greater when an event is rescheduled for two days following the original date. While the two-day turnaround didn't provide a lot of time for drivers and fans to make adjustments around their work and family schedules, a quality field of cars and good number of fans turned out for the make-up event. On top of that, Mike and his crew did a fantastic job preparing the track for the program. As I told him following the show, if anyone walked away from Thursday night's show at all disappointed, they aren't true race fans. My hat is off to Mike and his crew for a well-run show on a near-perfect race track.
* It's rare when I spend any race sitting in the grandstands. After working at area tracks for many years, I've found it difficult to sit still and take in a show without walking around or keeping myself busy. I was able to do that Thursday night in Webster City in the company of fellow Positively Racing bloggers Dick and Joyce Eisele. We shared a number of great stories and even more laughs throughout the night and I thank them for letting me spend the evening with them. Be sure to read their report from Thursday's show in the 4dfan Report.
Originally, I was planning to attend the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event at 34 Raceway tonight, however last night's trip to Webster City and other obligations today have forced me to change those plans. Although I won't be there tonight, I'm certain a number of Positively Racing representatives will be on-hand to report the action. Be sure to visit the site over the weekend to check out the stories from Burlington and other area tracks. If you're a Sprint fan and are able to make it to Burlington tonight, do it! Not only are they the best Sprint Car drivers in the country, but 34 has some of the greatest facilities in the Midwest. The 305 Sprints will be joining the 410s tonight, so it will be a quality show that should have you on the road home by a reasonable hour.
Tomorrow, I'll be back at Independence Motor Speedway for Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night at the Races. All Scouts in uniform will be admitted free and offered a concession special. In addition, Jarod Weepie, Curt Martin and Darin Duffy will have their race cars on display behind the grandstands prior to race time for the kids to get a close-up look at some of the competitors. Also, Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating & Cooling will sponsor a candy dash for the kids during intermission. Saturday promises to be another great night of Fast Family Fun at the Buchanan County Fairgrounds!
Have a great weekend!
HAMILTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS
DEERY BROTHERS SUMMER SERIES FOR IMCA LATE MODELS
1. 15R Brian Harris; 2. 58 Ray Guss Jr.; 3. 50 Denny Eckrich; 4. 56 Andy Eckrich; 5. 77 Jeff Aikey; 6. 16 Tyler Bruening; 7. 40 Joel Callahan; 8. 26JR Corey Zeitner; 9. 15K Justin Kay; 10. 1M Rob Moss; 11. 15C Curt Schroeder; 12. 99D Darrel DeFrance; 13. 76 Jason Hahne; 14. 29X Nick Pedersen; 15. 12 Ron Klein; 16. 15X Ryan Griffith; 17. 74 Ron Boyse; 18. 46 Nate Bueseling; 19. 16S Dan Shelliam; 20. 33 Nick Marolf; 21. 38 Colby Springsteen; 22. 29 Spencer Diercks; 23. 2 Jeremiah Hurst; 24. 98 Travis Smock; 25. 95 Craig Jacobs.
KARL PERFORMANCE HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR FOR IMCA MODIFIEDS
1. 555 Ryan Ruter; 2. 19G Richie Gustin; 3. 8X Scott Olson; 4. 15 Mark Elliott; 5. 69X Jon Snyder; 6. 19 Jimmy Gustin; 7. 2L Adam Larson; 8. 99 Jesse Sobbing; 9. 7N Jay Noteboom; 10. 57V Mike Van Genderen; 11. 27M Mark Schulte; 12. 5 Todd Shute; 13. 47 Greg Elliott; 14. 21CZ Tim Czarneski; 15. 22T Tyler Prochaska; 16. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 17. 13H Travis Hatcher; 18. 21 David Brown; 19. 71W Jeff Waterman; 20. 1BC Tony Cox; 21. 64 Casey Greubel; 22. 21K Kyle Brown; 23. 10C Cayden Carter; 24. 20L Zach Less; 25. 99M Tim Murty.
IMCA SPORTMODS
1. 12 Doug Smith; 2. 21 Matt Lettow; 3. 7 Carter VanDenBerg; 4. 23JR Nick Roberts; 5. 24 Aaron Benson; 6. 14E Chase Ellingson; 7. 69 Kyle Germandson; 8. 85T Brandon Toftee; 9. 26J Joel Rust; 10. 46 Matt Northrop; 11. 4ORD Bob Sutherland; 12. 63R Rick Fasse; 13. 51X Matthew Webb; 14. 66 Levi Chipp; 15. 99 Rocky Caudle; 16. 49X Cody Knecht; 17. 2 Jerid Ratzke; 18. 02A Coty Albers; 19. 22A Shawn Albers; 20. 64 Brandon Leeman; 21. 20 Gerald Curry; 22. 11H Mike Hay; 23. 23K Ben Kates; 24. 10H Jack Housely. DNQ: 1R Brad Ratcliff, 10L Levi Laymon, 26B Bryan Johnson, 138 Jon Peed.
IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
1. 81 Devin Smith; 2. 40 Randy Embrey; 3. 56 Ty Griffith; 4. 8R Cory Rose; 5. 2013 Bill Bonnett; 6. 29N Cody Nielsen; 7. 13G Craig Graham; 8. 4D Daniel Ayers; 9. 20B Ben Bruck; 10. 21 Myles Michehl.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Hilmer by a nose in IMCA SportMods at Benton County Speedway
"Ain't nobody gonna catch her."
Those were the words I uttered to RACEceiver official Tysus Pattee Sunday night at Benton County Speedway despite the fact that the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature had just been slowed for caution with 11 laps scored complete. Jenae Gustin had checked out.
A few minutes later, I ate those words as Curt Hilmer proved me, and probably many others, wrong. Very wrong.
Gustin, who started the event inside of row two, charged to the front at the drop of the green and was nearly half of a track ahead of her nearest pursuers by the time the yellow flag bunched the field. Hilmer restarted on her tail and kept pace with the leader until one more stoppage slowed action a lap later.
On the final restart, Hilmer remained committed to the low groove while Gustin ran the top side. Hilmer slowly pulled alongside the leader as the two ran side-by-side over much of the final circuit. Hilmer inched ahead as the checkers waved to score the thrilling win, his first of the season. (stats and complete results follow at the end of this entry)
Richie Gustin also won in dramatic fashion in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, but had to regroup late to get the job done.
Brandon Banks led the 18-car field to green with Scott Hogan in pursuit. After trying numerous times to sneak beneath Banks, Hogan opted for a run on the top side of the speedway and made his way past Banks just shy of the midway point.
While Hogan led, Gustin and Troy Cordes were battling for third, then continued to fight for position after making their way around Banks on lap 11. Gustin worked the low side past Hogan for the lead on lap 15 and was followed to the front one lap later by Cordes.
Cordes quickly cut into the deficit and pulled onto the rear bumper of Gustin in the final two laps. Looking to repeat his thrilling win from last night in Independence, Cordes shot to the inside of Gustin in turns one and two to steal the lead on the white flag lap, only to see Gustin return the favor when they entered three and four.
Cordes tried the same maneuver in the first set of turns on the final lap, however Gustin held the advantage down the back straightaway. Gustin raced the low line through the final set of turns to secure the win, his second straight.
Brian Happel led the field to green in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. He was challenged by Chris Luloff, who made his way into second on lap three after a third row start.
Luloff repeatedly challenged to the low side of the leader, but was unable to get a run on Happel until lap 11 when he made the pass for the lead. Luloff led the remainder of the event to earn his second win of the season.
It was anyone's guess who would come out on top of the IMCA Stock Car feature as five different drivers led the first five laps of that 15-lapper. After Mike Galli, Curtis Roster, Scott Pippert and Jay Schmidt led at the stripe the first four times around the quarter-mile, John Emerson took charge on lap five.
Emerson continued to show the way while Damon Murty worked through the pack from a fourth row starting spot. Murty settled into second just prior to the midway point, then chased down Emerson.
Running the low groove, Murty pulled even with Emerson as he powered into turns three and four on the white flag lap. The two came together before Murty emerged with the lead at the stripe. He led the final circuit to score his third win of the season.
A busy week is awaiting. I plan to head to Hamilton County Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models/Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour twinbill Tuesday night.
On Thursday, our second midweek special of the season is scheduled at Independence Motor Speedway. The Entry Level Extravaganza will feature IMCA sanctioned SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Gates will open at 5, with hot laps at 6:45 and racing to follow. Details of that event are available by clicking here.
Friday, it's off to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I plan to enjoy my first WoO Sprint race since the 2002 Knoxville Nationals, then return home Saturday for Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night at Independence Motor Speedway and Cassill Motors Emergency Services Appreciation Night at Benton County Speedway on Sunday.
Hopefully, we can leave the wet weather behind with the month of May and enjoy our summer months at the race track! Support racing in your area and have a great week!
Below are the latest stats and how Sunday's winners compare historically at Benton County Speedway. Complete results from Sunday night follow below.
By the Numbers
* Curt Hilmer - His first win of 2013, Hilmer has now won at least one feature in each of the last four seasons, second only to Danny Dvorak in that category. With seven career IMCA SportMod wins in Vinton, Hilmer now ranks alone in fifth on the all-time list. He sits one win behind Drew Fish for fourth and two victories behind Tony Olson for third on the all-time wins list .
This is the earliest in any season that Hilmer has made it to victory lane in a SportMod in Vinton. Of his other six SportMod wins at the speedway, three came in the month of July and the other three in August. In fact, of his six career Hobby Stock wins in Vinton, only one came prior to the month of June (May 28, 2006). I guess you can call Hilmer a late bloomer...
* Richie Gustin - The streak is over. With his win Sunday night, Gustin became the first repeat winner in weekly racing in the IMCA Modified division this season. Six different drivers won the first six points events prior to Gustin's return trip to the winner's circle. His two wins have come in back-to-back events, a feat he also accomplished in Vinton last season. Gustin has never won three straight points races at the speedway.
His six career Modified wins in weekly points racing in Vinton place Gustin in a tie for 24th on the all-time list with Dave Venenga, Garry Stuber, Jim Schmuecker, Mike Krall, Ronn Lauritzen and Tony Olson.
Unlike Hilmer, Sunday's win was the latest in any season that Gustin has won a Modified feature in Vinton. All five of his other wins came in the months of April and May. I guess that makes Gustin an early peaker...
* Chris Luloff - His second win of the season guaranteed back-to-back seasons with multiple wins for Luloff. Luloff has now won multiple features in six different calendar years in the division in Vinton. With 19 career Hobby Stock wins to his credit in Vinton, Luloff ranks third all-time behind Vince Buchholz and Scott Pippert.
Unlike Hilmer and Gustin, Luloff's wins have been spread out evenly throughout the calendar. Sunday's win was his third all-time in the month of June, adding to five wins in April, four in May, three in July and four in August.
* Damon Murty - Murty, the all-time Stock Car feature wins leader in track history, chalked up victory number 58 Sunday night. He has now won at least three features each season over the past 10 years.
Murty seems to have a thing for early June. Sunday night was the sixth time in the last nine years that Murty has won the first Stock Car feature during the month of June in Vinton. He also opened June with wins in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
There have been 235 IMCA Stock Car features held in weekly racing history in Vinton. Murty has won 24.68% of them. If he can win next Sunday, he will have 59 wins in 236 all-time events in Vinton... 25%... 1 in every 4. Keep in mind, he hasn't even competed in every Stock Car event, but has still nearly won a quarter of all of them. Incredible.
* Nathan Chandler - Another Sunday, another win for Nathan Chandler. His third straight win in Vinton, it was Chandler's fourth in weekly racing on the quarter-mile this season. The all-time leader in Sport Compact wins at the speedway, Chandler now has 39 victories to his credit.
Sunday night marked the third time in his career that Chandler has strung together a minimum of three straight wins. He can match his own track record of four straight Sport Compact wins next Sunday night.
Much like Murty, Chandler has been dominant in his division. His 39 Sport Compact wins have come in 148 weekly events - a winning percentage of 26.35%. I don't believe Chandler was even competing in the division during its first two seasons in Vinton. Those two seasons account for (ironically) 39 of the 148 all-time events. That means he has won 35.77% of all Sport Compact features in Vinton since he joined the division in 2008.
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 19G Richie Gustin (Marshalltown); 2. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 3. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 4. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 5. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 6. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 7. 22 Brandon Banks (Washington); 8. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 9. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 10. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 11. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 12. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 13. 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo); 14. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 15. 20L Zach Less (Hopkinton); 16. 17 Mike Krall (Waterloo); 17. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 18/DNS. 171 Buck Swanson (Waterloo).
Heat one: 1. Flannagan; 2. Gustin; 3. Docekal; 4. Dedrick; 5. Olson; 6. Krall.
Heat two: 1. Cordes; 2. Luloff; 3. Less; 4. Burbridge; 5. Jensen; 6. Swanson.
Heat three: 1. Hogan; 2. Banks; 3. Lauritzen; 4. Auringer; 5. Brown; 6. McBride.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. 19J Jay Schmidt (Tama); 4. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 5. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 6. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 7. 8675309 Justin Temeyer (Independence); 8. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 9. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 10. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 11. 77 Andy Bryant (State Center).
Heat one: 1. Roster; 2. Murty; 3. Temeyer; 4. Emerson; 5. Beauregard; 6. Ahrendsen.
Heat two: 1. Schmidt; 2. Chesmore; 3. Galli; 4. Pippert; 5. Bryant.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 2. 19J Jenae Gustin (Marshalltown); 3. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 4. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 5. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 6. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 7. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 8. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 9. 72 Mike Hogencamp (Waterloo); 10. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 11. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 12. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 13. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 14. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 15. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 16. T17 Tom Rawlins (Kellogg); 17. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 18/DNS 8B Brad Iverson (Grinnell); 19/DNS CH19 Colby Heishman (Brooklyn); DNS 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond).
Heat one: 1. McDonald; 2. Hilmer; 3. Sellers; 4. King; 5. Buhlman; 6. Iverson; DNS Ebaugh.
Heat two: 1. Gustin; 2. Roberts; 3. Olson; 4. Schulze; 5. Kitner; 6. Anderson; 7. Burrell.
Heat three: 1. Rust; 2. Hogencamp; 3. Schaefer; 4. Dvorak; 5. Rawlins; 6. Heishman.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 3. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 4. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 5. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 6. 64 Jerome Wilson (Waterloo); 7. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 8. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 9. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 10. 25 Doug Laughridge (Vinton); 11. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 12. 10J Gabe Phelps (Vinton); 13. 2 Nick Welch (Cedar Falls).
Heat one: 1. Brown; 2. Keiser; 3. Luloff; 4. Laughridge; 5. Wilson; 6. Welch; 7. Parizek.
Heat two: 1. Happel; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Vanous; 5. Phelps; 6. Ballard.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 4. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 5. 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn); 6. 2ND Brad Chandler (Cedar Rapids).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. Lerch; 5. B. Chandler; 6. Denning.
Those were the words I uttered to RACEceiver official Tysus Pattee Sunday night at Benton County Speedway despite the fact that the 15-lap IMCA SportMod feature had just been slowed for caution with 11 laps scored complete. Jenae Gustin had checked out.
A few minutes later, I ate those words as Curt Hilmer proved me, and probably many others, wrong. Very wrong.
Gustin, who started the event inside of row two, charged to the front at the drop of the green and was nearly half of a track ahead of her nearest pursuers by the time the yellow flag bunched the field. Hilmer restarted on her tail and kept pace with the leader until one more stoppage slowed action a lap later.
On the final restart, Hilmer remained committed to the low groove while Gustin ran the top side. Hilmer slowly pulled alongside the leader as the two ran side-by-side over much of the final circuit. Hilmer inched ahead as the checkers waved to score the thrilling win, his first of the season. (stats and complete results follow at the end of this entry)
Richie Gustin also won in dramatic fashion in the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, but had to regroup late to get the job done.
Brandon Banks led the 18-car field to green with Scott Hogan in pursuit. After trying numerous times to sneak beneath Banks, Hogan opted for a run on the top side of the speedway and made his way past Banks just shy of the midway point.
While Hogan led, Gustin and Troy Cordes were battling for third, then continued to fight for position after making their way around Banks on lap 11. Gustin worked the low side past Hogan for the lead on lap 15 and was followed to the front one lap later by Cordes.
Cordes quickly cut into the deficit and pulled onto the rear bumper of Gustin in the final two laps. Looking to repeat his thrilling win from last night in Independence, Cordes shot to the inside of Gustin in turns one and two to steal the lead on the white flag lap, only to see Gustin return the favor when they entered three and four.
Cordes tried the same maneuver in the first set of turns on the final lap, however Gustin held the advantage down the back straightaway. Gustin raced the low line through the final set of turns to secure the win, his second straight.
Brian Happel led the field to green in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. He was challenged by Chris Luloff, who made his way into second on lap three after a third row start.
Luloff repeatedly challenged to the low side of the leader, but was unable to get a run on Happel until lap 11 when he made the pass for the lead. Luloff led the remainder of the event to earn his second win of the season.
It was anyone's guess who would come out on top of the IMCA Stock Car feature as five different drivers led the first five laps of that 15-lapper. After Mike Galli, Curtis Roster, Scott Pippert and Jay Schmidt led at the stripe the first four times around the quarter-mile, John Emerson took charge on lap five.
Emerson continued to show the way while Damon Murty worked through the pack from a fourth row starting spot. Murty settled into second just prior to the midway point, then chased down Emerson.
Running the low groove, Murty pulled even with Emerson as he powered into turns three and four on the white flag lap. The two came together before Murty emerged with the lead at the stripe. He led the final circuit to score his third win of the season.
A busy week is awaiting. I plan to head to Hamilton County Speedway for the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models/Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour twinbill Tuesday night.
On Thursday, our second midweek special of the season is scheduled at Independence Motor Speedway. The Entry Level Extravaganza will feature IMCA sanctioned SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Gates will open at 5, with hot laps at 6:45 and racing to follow. Details of that event are available by clicking here.
Friday, it's off to 34 Raceway in Burlington for the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars. I plan to enjoy my first WoO Sprint race since the 2002 Knoxville Nationals, then return home Saturday for Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night at Independence Motor Speedway and Cassill Motors Emergency Services Appreciation Night at Benton County Speedway on Sunday.
Hopefully, we can leave the wet weather behind with the month of May and enjoy our summer months at the race track! Support racing in your area and have a great week!
Below are the latest stats and how Sunday's winners compare historically at Benton County Speedway. Complete results from Sunday night follow below.
By the Numbers
* Curt Hilmer - His first win of 2013, Hilmer has now won at least one feature in each of the last four seasons, second only to Danny Dvorak in that category. With seven career IMCA SportMod wins in Vinton, Hilmer now ranks alone in fifth on the all-time list. He sits one win behind Drew Fish for fourth and two victories behind Tony Olson for third on the all-time wins list .
This is the earliest in any season that Hilmer has made it to victory lane in a SportMod in Vinton. Of his other six SportMod wins at the speedway, three came in the month of July and the other three in August. In fact, of his six career Hobby Stock wins in Vinton, only one came prior to the month of June (May 28, 2006). I guess you can call Hilmer a late bloomer...
* Richie Gustin - The streak is over. With his win Sunday night, Gustin became the first repeat winner in weekly racing in the IMCA Modified division this season. Six different drivers won the first six points events prior to Gustin's return trip to the winner's circle. His two wins have come in back-to-back events, a feat he also accomplished in Vinton last season. Gustin has never won three straight points races at the speedway.
His six career Modified wins in weekly points racing in Vinton place Gustin in a tie for 24th on the all-time list with Dave Venenga, Garry Stuber, Jim Schmuecker, Mike Krall, Ronn Lauritzen and Tony Olson.
Unlike Hilmer, Sunday's win was the latest in any season that Gustin has won a Modified feature in Vinton. All five of his other wins came in the months of April and May. I guess that makes Gustin an early peaker...
* Chris Luloff - His second win of the season guaranteed back-to-back seasons with multiple wins for Luloff. Luloff has now won multiple features in six different calendar years in the division in Vinton. With 19 career Hobby Stock wins to his credit in Vinton, Luloff ranks third all-time behind Vince Buchholz and Scott Pippert.
Unlike Hilmer and Gustin, Luloff's wins have been spread out evenly throughout the calendar. Sunday's win was his third all-time in the month of June, adding to five wins in April, four in May, three in July and four in August.
* Damon Murty - Murty, the all-time Stock Car feature wins leader in track history, chalked up victory number 58 Sunday night. He has now won at least three features each season over the past 10 years.
Murty seems to have a thing for early June. Sunday night was the sixth time in the last nine years that Murty has won the first Stock Car feature during the month of June in Vinton. He also opened June with wins in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011.
There have been 235 IMCA Stock Car features held in weekly racing history in Vinton. Murty has won 24.68% of them. If he can win next Sunday, he will have 59 wins in 236 all-time events in Vinton... 25%... 1 in every 4. Keep in mind, he hasn't even competed in every Stock Car event, but has still nearly won a quarter of all of them. Incredible.
* Nathan Chandler - Another Sunday, another win for Nathan Chandler. His third straight win in Vinton, it was Chandler's fourth in weekly racing on the quarter-mile this season. The all-time leader in Sport Compact wins at the speedway, Chandler now has 39 victories to his credit.
Sunday night marked the third time in his career that Chandler has strung together a minimum of three straight wins. He can match his own track record of four straight Sport Compact wins next Sunday night.
Much like Murty, Chandler has been dominant in his division. His 39 Sport Compact wins have come in 148 weekly events - a winning percentage of 26.35%. I don't believe Chandler was even competing in the division during its first two seasons in Vinton. Those two seasons account for (ironically) 39 of the 148 all-time events. That means he has won 35.77% of all Sport Compact features in Vinton since he joined the division in 2008.
RESULTS
IMCA MODIFIED
Feature: 1. 19G Richie Gustin (Marshalltown); 2. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 3. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 4. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 5. 12D Joe Docekal (Dysart); 6. 00 J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 7. 22 Brandon Banks (Washington); 8. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 9. 21K Kyle Brown (Kellogg); 10. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 11. 18 Jerry Luloff (Independence); 12. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 13. 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo); 14. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 15. 20L Zach Less (Hopkinton); 16. 17 Mike Krall (Waterloo); 17. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 18/DNS. 171 Buck Swanson (Waterloo).
Heat one: 1. Flannagan; 2. Gustin; 3. Docekal; 4. Dedrick; 5. Olson; 6. Krall.
Heat two: 1. Cordes; 2. Luloff; 3. Less; 4. Burbridge; 5. Jensen; 6. Swanson.
Heat three: 1. Hogan; 2. Banks; 3. Lauritzen; 4. Auringer; 5. Brown; 6. McBride.
IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature: 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. 19J Jay Schmidt (Tama); 4. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 5. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 6. 8 Curtis Roster (Vinton); 7. 8675309 Justin Temeyer (Independence); 8. 6X Bob Ahrendsen (Cedar Rapids); 9. 76 Mike Galli (Urbana); 10. 8B Scott Beauregard (Center Point); 11. 77 Andy Bryant (State Center).
Heat one: 1. Roster; 2. Murty; 3. Temeyer; 4. Emerson; 5. Beauregard; 6. Ahrendsen.
Heat two: 1. Schmidt; 2. Chesmore; 3. Galli; 4. Pippert; 5. Bryant.
IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature: 1. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 2. 19J Jenae Gustin (Marshalltown); 3. K3 Kyle Olson (Cedar Rapids); 4. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 5. 95 Mike McDonald (Cedar Rapids); 6. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 7. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 8. 57R Ryan King (Marshalltown); 9. 72 Mike Hogencamp (Waterloo); 10. 93 Josh Burrell (Dysart); 11. 3B Brian Anderson (Garrison); 12. 57K Ross Kitner (Dysart); 13. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 14. 10S John Schaefer (La Porte City); 15. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 16. T17 Tom Rawlins (Kellogg); 17. 23JR Nick Roberts (Des Moines); 18/DNS 8B Brad Iverson (Grinnell); 19/DNS CH19 Colby Heishman (Brooklyn); DNS 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond).
Heat one: 1. McDonald; 2. Hilmer; 3. Sellers; 4. King; 5. Buhlman; 6. Iverson; DNS Ebaugh.
Heat two: 1. Gustin; 2. Roberts; 3. Olson; 4. Schulze; 5. Kitner; 6. Anderson; 7. Burrell.
Heat three: 1. Rust; 2. Hogencamp; 3. Schaefer; 4. Dvorak; 5. Rawlins; 6. Heishman.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature: 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 3. 17K Kyle Parizek (Belle Plaine); 4. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 5. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 6. 64 Jerome Wilson (Waterloo); 7. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 8. 78 Matt Brown (Dysart); 9. 07 Jacob Keiser (Marengo); 10. 25 Doug Laughridge (Vinton); 11. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 12. 10J Gabe Phelps (Vinton); 13. 2 Nick Welch (Cedar Falls).
Heat one: 1. Brown; 2. Keiser; 3. Luloff; 4. Laughridge; 5. Wilson; 6. Welch; 7. Parizek.
Heat two: 1. Happel; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Vanous; 5. Phelps; 6. Ballard.
IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature: 1. 22 Nathan Chandler (Norway); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 00W Bill Whalen Jr. (Riverside); 4. 99J Jeremy Lerch (Vinton); 5. 9 Toby Denning (Mt. Auburn); 6. 2ND Brad Chandler (Cedar Rapids).
Heat: 1. M. Chandler; 2. N. Chandler; 3. Whalen; 4. Lerch; 5. B. Chandler; 6. Denning.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Cordes, Stander score exciting wins at Independence
A pair of lead changes in the final laps of two features, plus a third at the checkers, made for an exciting night of racing at Independence Motor Speedway.
The most talked about finish came in the IMCA Modified main event. Troy Cordes started in the fifth row and worked his way into contention late in that 20-lapper. He reeled in Mark Schulte and pulled to the outside of the leader as they made their way off turn four on the final lap. Cordes surged ahead at the stripe to take the thrilling win by just a couple of feet. The finish was so exciting that Cordes was left speechless in victory lane.
The win was the second of the year for Cordes, his ninth season with multiple wins in the division at Independence. It was the second time he has won two of the first four features at the speedway. He also won twice in the first four weeks during the 2000 season.
The victory was the 30th of his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. Cordes ranks third on the all-time Modified list behind Darin Duffy and Vern Jackson. It was also his third career win in Independence during the first weekend in June. Nine of his 30 wins have come during the month of June.
All-time, when adding a Hobby Stock victory from the early 1990s, Cordes has 31 wins in weekly points racing at the speedway. That places him 11th on the career list, one shy of Jim Burbridge in 10th.
The Modified points continue to remain tight. Cordes launched into the points lead after sitting fourth to start the night. Seven other drivers remain within 10 points of Cordes and 10 drivers are within 16.
Justin Stander also used a late-race pass to drive to his first win of the season in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Like Cordes, Stander started in the fifth row and drove into contention late in that 15-lapper.
Stander reeled in Buchholz in the waning laps, then pulled to the inside of the leader with one lap to go. Stander slipped past Buchholz at the flag stand as the white flag waved and led the final lap to secure the victory.
It was Stander's first win of the season and the fourth of his career in Independence. He now sits tied for 27th on the division's all-time list with August Bach, Benji Irvine, J.R. Kahler, Jamie Whitaker, Jarod Weepie, Paul Shepherd, Scooter Dulin and Tim Meeker. Two of Stander's four wins have come in the month of June.
Luke Pestka led most of the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature. That was until a late caution bunched the field and put Tyler Bruening on the leader's rear bumper for the restart. Bruening ran the low groove to make his way past Pestka following the restart to drive to his third win of the season.
It was Bruening's 15th career Late Model win in Independence, moving him into a tie with Denny Osborn for 12th on the all-time list. He has now won six times during the month of June, at least twice as many as any other month.
Sean Johnson earned his first win of the season in the IMCA Stock Car division. After starting in the fourth row, Johnson made his way around leader Austin Evens for the lead following a lap three caution.
It was Johnson's 26th career Stock Car win in Independence, pulling him to within five of Brian Irvine for second on the all-time list. His 26 wins place Johnson in a tie for 13th on the track's all-time wins list. He shares that spot with Chris Luloff, Jack Mitchell and Jerry Luloff. It was Johnson's seventh career win during the month of June.
Brennen Chipp continued his recent hot streak in the IMCA Northern SportMods. Chipp worked past Kevin Hurst on a lap three restart to drive to his second win this season in weekly racing and third win overall in the last three weeks. His two weekly points wins place him ninth on the division's all-time list at the speedway.
Adam Gates led all 10 laps to earn his third win of the season in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Also the third win in his career in Independence, Gates finished the night tied with Merv Chandler atop the division's all-time wins list at the speedway.
Saturday night's program was Relay for Life Pink Night. Money was raised throughout the course of the program to help the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer. The money raised exceeded $1,400. Thank you to everyone for their support of a great cause Saturday night!
It was nice to see Milo Matthias come out of retirement. Matthias, who piloted a Hobby Stock and Stock Car at the speedway in the 1980s and 1990s, returned to racing Saturday night behind the wheel of a new IMCA Hobby Stock. Matthias, who now calls Cocoa, Fla., home, turned some laps last night, along with his son, Aaron, who is sporting a new IMCA Stock Car. For those who don't remember Matthias, he used to drive the familiar purple #87 back in the day. In fact, the last time he raced at the speedway was season championship night in 1993, nearly 20 years ago.
A big thank you to track prep guru Don Burkey on putting together an incredible racing surface once again Saturday night. Despite the heavy rains and area flooding over the past week, Don provided a smooth, multi-groove surface that gave fans their money's worth.
Two nights of racing are on tap at the speedway during the upcoming week. On Thursday, June 6, is the Entry Level Extravaganza, featuring IMCA sanctioned SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Each of those divisions will be competing for increased purse money. Grandstand admission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and students. Kids 11 and under will be admitted free if accompanying a paid adult. Pit passes are $25.
Weekly racing will resume Saturday, June 8, during Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night. All Boy, Girl and Cub Scouts who wear their uniforms to the races will be admitted for free. They will also receive a free hot dog and juice box. A candy dash, sponsored by Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, will be held during intermission. In addition, a handful of drivers will have their cars on display near the grandstands so the kids can get a close look at them before racing gets underway.
A press release detailing both of those events will be posted on the track web site, www.independencemotorspeedway.com, sometime Monday.
Tonight, it's a return to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for another night of weekly racing. With track announcer Bucky Doren in the middle of the busy season coaching his son's baseball team, I'll call the action and provide a recap later tonight. Have a great Sunday!
The most talked about finish came in the IMCA Modified main event. Troy Cordes started in the fifth row and worked his way into contention late in that 20-lapper. He reeled in Mark Schulte and pulled to the outside of the leader as they made their way off turn four on the final lap. Cordes surged ahead at the stripe to take the thrilling win by just a couple of feet. The finish was so exciting that Cordes was left speechless in victory lane.
The win was the second of the year for Cordes, his ninth season with multiple wins in the division at Independence. It was the second time he has won two of the first four features at the speedway. He also won twice in the first four weeks during the 2000 season.
The victory was the 30th of his career in weekly racing history at the speedway. Cordes ranks third on the all-time Modified list behind Darin Duffy and Vern Jackson. It was also his third career win in Independence during the first weekend in June. Nine of his 30 wins have come during the month of June.
All-time, when adding a Hobby Stock victory from the early 1990s, Cordes has 31 wins in weekly points racing at the speedway. That places him 11th on the career list, one shy of Jim Burbridge in 10th.
The Modified points continue to remain tight. Cordes launched into the points lead after sitting fourth to start the night. Seven other drivers remain within 10 points of Cordes and 10 drivers are within 16.
Justin Stander also used a late-race pass to drive to his first win of the season in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Like Cordes, Stander started in the fifth row and drove into contention late in that 15-lapper.
Stander reeled in Buchholz in the waning laps, then pulled to the inside of the leader with one lap to go. Stander slipped past Buchholz at the flag stand as the white flag waved and led the final lap to secure the victory.
It was Stander's first win of the season and the fourth of his career in Independence. He now sits tied for 27th on the division's all-time list with August Bach, Benji Irvine, J.R. Kahler, Jamie Whitaker, Jarod Weepie, Paul Shepherd, Scooter Dulin and Tim Meeker. Two of Stander's four wins have come in the month of June.
Luke Pestka led most of the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature. That was until a late caution bunched the field and put Tyler Bruening on the leader's rear bumper for the restart. Bruening ran the low groove to make his way past Pestka following the restart to drive to his third win of the season.
It was Bruening's 15th career Late Model win in Independence, moving him into a tie with Denny Osborn for 12th on the all-time list. He has now won six times during the month of June, at least twice as many as any other month.
Sean Johnson earned his first win of the season in the IMCA Stock Car division. After starting in the fourth row, Johnson made his way around leader Austin Evens for the lead following a lap three caution.
It was Johnson's 26th career Stock Car win in Independence, pulling him to within five of Brian Irvine for second on the all-time list. His 26 wins place Johnson in a tie for 13th on the track's all-time wins list. He shares that spot with Chris Luloff, Jack Mitchell and Jerry Luloff. It was Johnson's seventh career win during the month of June.
Brennen Chipp continued his recent hot streak in the IMCA Northern SportMods. Chipp worked past Kevin Hurst on a lap three restart to drive to his second win this season in weekly racing and third win overall in the last three weeks. His two weekly points wins place him ninth on the division's all-time list at the speedway.
Adam Gates led all 10 laps to earn his third win of the season in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Also the third win in his career in Independence, Gates finished the night tied with Merv Chandler atop the division's all-time wins list at the speedway.
Saturday night's program was Relay for Life Pink Night. Money was raised throughout the course of the program to help the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer. The money raised exceeded $1,400. Thank you to everyone for their support of a great cause Saturday night!
It was nice to see Milo Matthias come out of retirement. Matthias, who piloted a Hobby Stock and Stock Car at the speedway in the 1980s and 1990s, returned to racing Saturday night behind the wheel of a new IMCA Hobby Stock. Matthias, who now calls Cocoa, Fla., home, turned some laps last night, along with his son, Aaron, who is sporting a new IMCA Stock Car. For those who don't remember Matthias, he used to drive the familiar purple #87 back in the day. In fact, the last time he raced at the speedway was season championship night in 1993, nearly 20 years ago.
A big thank you to track prep guru Don Burkey on putting together an incredible racing surface once again Saturday night. Despite the heavy rains and area flooding over the past week, Don provided a smooth, multi-groove surface that gave fans their money's worth.
Two nights of racing are on tap at the speedway during the upcoming week. On Thursday, June 6, is the Entry Level Extravaganza, featuring IMCA sanctioned SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts. Each of those divisions will be competing for increased purse money. Grandstand admission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and students. Kids 11 and under will be admitted free if accompanying a paid adult. Pit passes are $25.
Weekly racing will resume Saturday, June 8, during Ferguson Enterprises Scout Night. All Boy, Girl and Cub Scouts who wear their uniforms to the races will be admitted for free. They will also receive a free hot dog and juice box. A candy dash, sponsored by Superior Cleaning Services and Independence Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, will be held during intermission. In addition, a handful of drivers will have their cars on display near the grandstands so the kids can get a close look at them before racing gets underway.
A press release detailing both of those events will be posted on the track web site, www.independencemotorspeedway.com, sometime Monday.
Tonight, it's a return to Benton County Speedway in Vinton for another night of weekly racing. With track announcer Bucky Doren in the middle of the busy season coaching his son's baseball team, I'll call the action and provide a recap later tonight. Have a great Sunday!
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