Don O'Neal, driving the Moring Motorsports #1 machine on the night, got things started off by setting fast time with a lap of 14.337 seconds around the 3/8th mile track. Darrell Lanigan, Jason Rauen and Chris Simpson were 2nd - 4th to earn the right to start the four 10 lap heat races on the pole. The four heat races would take the top 4 out of each to the 50 lap A Main, with the top 2 redrawing for the top 8 starting spots, the remainder would move to the two B Mains in which the top 3 would transfer into the A Main.
WoO Late Model heat 1 notes: O'Neal jumped out front on the drop of the green flag from the pole and cruised to an easy win. He was followed by Vic Coffey in 2nd, Duane Treadwell came from 5th to finish in 3rd, with Billy Moyer holding on to finish in 4th to take the final transfer spot into the 50 lap A Main. Kent Robinson wasn't able to make the pass on Moyer for 4th over the final few laps and had to settle for 5th, Tim Fuller came from 8th to finish in 6th, Jerrl Lierly was 7th, Curt Martin was 8th, with Jill George coming home in 9th.
WoO Late Model heat 2 notes: Darrell Lanigan used his pole position to grab the lead on lap 1 of the heat and then pulled away to claim the win. Shane Clanton was able to clear Brian Birkhofer to take the 2nd spot, Birkhofer settled for 3rd, with Mike Spatola taking the final transfer spot in 4th. Billy Moyer Jr. tried several attempts to get under Spatola over the 10 lap race, but was unsuccessful and had to settle for 5th, Jack Sullivan was 6th, Rick Wendling took home 7th, with Ross Camponovo finishing in 8th.
WoO Late Model heat 3 notes: Rick Eckert took advantage of his outside front row starting spot to battle Jason Rauen for the lead. But Clint Smith, who started 5th, quickly moved up to challenge the duo for the top spot. Eckert was able to hold on to pick up the win. While Smith settled for 2nd, Rauen was 3rd, with Bub McCool holding on to finish in 4th. Tim McCreadie came from 6th and was working over McCool for the final transfer spot over the final few laps, but fell short in finishing 5th. Chub Frank finished in 6th, Rich Bell was 7th, with Matt Furman coming home in 8th.
WoO Late Model heat 4 notes: Chris Simpson used his pole position to grab the lead on lap 1 of heat 4 and then pulled away to pick up the win. Dennis Erb Jr. drove Jerry Lierly's back up car to a 2nd place finish. Jason Feger held on for 3rd, with Chad Simpson coming from 7th to take the final transfer spot in 4th. Russ Adams came from 8th to finish in 5th. Pat Doar, Tyler Bruening and Brian Shirley piled up in turn 2 on lap 1 of the heat to bring out the caution. All three cars were unable to continue, with Doar getting credited with 6th, Bruening 7th and Shirley 8th.
WoO Late Model B Main 1 notes: Tim Fuller came from 3rd to take the lead on the start of the 12 lap race and then pulled away to pick up the win. Kent Robinson would finish in 2nd, while Jerry Lierly came from 5th to take the final transfer spot in 3rd. Billy Moyer Jr. tried to work under Lierly over the first 6 laps, before faded at the end to finish in 4th. Sullivan was 5th, Camponovo came from 8th to finish in 6th, Wendling was 7th, Martin 8th and George 9th.
WoO Late Model B Main 2 notes: McCreadie took advantage of his front row starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 and then pull away over the 12 lap race to pick up the win. Pat Doar, who was involved in the lap 1 crash in his heat, was able to make repairs and came from 4th to finish 2nd. Matt Furman came from 7th to take the final transfer spot into the A Main. Frank would work under Furman several times over the final laps, but was unable to make the pass and settled for 4th. Bell was 5th, Adams 6th, with Bruening and Shirley scratching from the event after being involved in the wreck on lap 1 of heat 4.
After the 4 heat races the top 2 in heat of those races would be brought over in front of the huge crowd for the redraw. Lanigan's 2012 luck would continue, as he drew the pole for the A Main. Chris Simpson would draw the number 2 to start outside the front row. O'Neal and Coffey drew the second row. Eckert and Erb Jr. would make up row 3. While Smith and Clanton will start in the fourth row. Add 3rd thru 4th in each of the heats and the top 3 from the 2 B Mains, with Sullivan and Frank added as series provisionals and Martin getting the track provisional and the 25 car field was set for there 50 lap A Main.
Lanigan jumped out into the lead on the drop of the green flag over Chris Simpson and O'Neal and was starting to pull away. But as he entered lapped traffic on lap 9, the first caution of the race would come out on lap 9. Rauen and Treadwell would tangle in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lanigan once again moved out into the lead, with Simpson working to hold back Clint Smith, who started 7th. Lanigan once again started to pull away from the field, when the second caution of the event came out on lap 18 to bring the field back to his back bumper. This time Rauen spun off the high side of turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Once again Lanigan grabbed the lead, but now had Smith following him close behind in second, with O'Neal moving into third. Lanigan worked to hold back Smith and O'Neal, when they started to enter lapped traffic on lap 29. But Tim McCreadie would slow to a stop in turn 2 on lap 29 to bring out the caution. Lanigan again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Smith and O'Neal battling for second. The three car battle up front was slowed for another caution on lap 36, as Vic Coffey, who was running 11th, came to a stop down the back stretch with left front problems. Coffey would show his displeasure with the hard battle between himself and Chub Frank, as he pushed Frank into the tire in turn 3. Both drivers would stop in turn 4 and waved friendly hand guestures, before Coffey was towed off the track.
On the restart Rauen would spin his machine in turn 1 to bring out his solo caution of the event to end his night. The following restart saw Lanigan jumped back out front, with Smith and O'Neal still close behind in second and third. Lanigan, who was working the bottom of the track, had to work to hold back Smith, who found something on the top side. Smith was able to edge ahead of Lanigan at the line to lead lap 42, with Lanigan coming back to lead lap 43 by inches. As the two went into turn 1, Lanigan slipped up the track and got into Smith, who almost slipped of turn 2. Lanigan would then hold back Smith over the final laps to claim the win and the $10,000 top prize. Smith settled for 2nd, O'Neal was 3rd, Rick Eckert was 4th, with Billy Moyer coming from 13th to round out the top 5.
Thirty-four IMCA Modifieds signed in on the night, with hopes of taking home the $1,000 top prize. They would be divided into four 8 lap heats, with the top 4 transfering into the 25 lap A Main. The remainder would be put into one of the two 10 lap B Mains, with the top 4 out of each moving into the A Main.
Modified heat 1 notes: Shawn Ryan jumped out into the lead on lap 1, with Jerry King close behind in second. Ryan, who was running up top, and King, who was on the bottom, ran the final 2 laps side-by-side, with Ryan edging King at the line for the win. Mike Burbridge came home in 3rd, with Shane Burbridge claiming the final transfer spot in 4th. Patrick Flannagan was 5th, Dawn Krall was 6th, Kyle Brown settled for 8th, as he was running 4th when Flannagan got into the back of him with 2 laps to go and got him sideways. Brown fell from 4th to 7th, while Shane Burbridge was able to clear both cars to take 4th. Scott Strauss took home 8th, while Brandon Wilson had motor troubles in hot laps and was a scratch from the event.
Modified heat 2 notes: Ronn Lauritzen took advantage of his pole position to cruise to the easy win. Joe Docekal came home in 2nd, Vern Jackson came from 5th to finish in 3rd, with Adam Johnson holding on for 4th, the final transfer spot. Jerry Luloff started 7th and was challenging for 4th on the final lap, but had to settle for 5th. Tony Snyder was 6th, Chris Snyder was 7th, Tom Hanson was 8th, with Leon Wilson coming home in 9th.
Modified heat 3 notes: Troy Cordes jumped out front from his front row starting spot and led all 8 laps to pick up the win. Johnathan Thimmesch held off a last lap charge from Darin Duffy, who started 8th, to finish in 2nd, with Duffy 3rd. Justin O'Brien came from 7th to slip under Kevin Pittman off turn four on the last lap to edge out the 4th and final transfer spot. Pittman settled for 5th, Jeff Kriz was 6th, Jeff Streeter was 7th, with Tye Haslip in 8th.
Modified heat 4 notes: Mark Schulte jumped out front from his pole position to grab the lead on lap 1 over J.D. Auringer and Richie Gustin. Schulte then held them off to claim the win. Auringer held off Gustin at the line to finish in 2nd, with Gustin 3rd, while Jason Snyder came from 6th to take the final transfer spot in 4th. Josh Sherbon was 5th, Jerry Dedrick was 6th, Dennis Betzer was 7th, with Ed Thomas 8th.
Modified B Main 1 notes: Luloff grabbed the lead on lap 1 of the 10 lap race and then held on to claim the win. Kyle Brown came from 5th to challenge Luloff over the final laps to settle for 2nd, Flannagan was 3rd, with Chris Snyder coming from 6th to take the final transfer spot into the A Main. Strauss finished 5th, Krall was 6th, Hanson was 7th, Tony Snyder, Brandon Wilson and Leon Wilson had troubles in there heats to force them to scratch from the event.
Modified B Main 2 notes: Kevin Pittman jumped out front on lap 1 and then pulled away to lead all 10 laps to pick up the win. Sherbon was 2nd, Kriz was 3rd, with Streeter taking the final transfer spot in 4th. Betzer, Haslip and Dedrick all battled for 4th early before falling out with mechanical troubles. Ed Thomas was a scratch after he lost a motor in his heat.
After the 4 heat races were completed the top 3 in each heat would be brought over in front of the crowd to redraw for the top 12 starting spots in the 25 lap A Main. Rayn would pull the lucky #1, with Docekal drawing the #2. King and Auringer would make up row 2. Schulte and Thimmesch made up row 3. Cordes and Lauritzen was row 4. Mike Burbridge and Jackson made up row 5. While Duffy and Gustin drew row 6. The fourth place finishers in each of the heats, and the top 4 in each of the B Mains made up the 24 car field for the A Main.
Ryan took advantage of his pole position to move out front on lap 1 of the feature over Docekal and King. Ryan would work to hold back Docekal over the next 3 laps, when Docekal got into the back of Ryan in turn 4 and causing him to spin. Ryan was giving the lead back, while Docekal was sent to the rear for the restart. On the restart Duffy, who started 11th and was running 8th, spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. King would slip under Ryan on the next restart to grab the top spot away, as Ryan worked to hold back Schult and Cordes, who came from 7th. While King worked the bottom of the track, Ryan would work the top to edge ahead at the line to lead lap 5. Ryan then had to fight off Cordes, when he excited the track with rear end troubles on lap 10 to hand the lead over to Cordes. The battle up front was slowed on lap 19, as Jeff Kriz spun off turn 4 to bring out the caution. Cordes jumped back out front on the restart, with Schulte, King and Gustin, who started 12th, battling for 2nd. King's great run up front would come to an end on lap 21, as he spun in turn 4 to bring out the final caution of the event. On the restart Cordes again jumped out front over Schulte, with Gustin and Auringer battling for 3rd. Cordes was able to hold back Schulte on the final lap to pick up the win and the $1,000 check. Schulte settled for 2nd, Gustin was 3rd, Auringer was 4th, with Brown charging from 19th to edge out a 5th place finish.
Mores notes from Indy: Brian Birkhofer started 10th in the Late Model feature and finished 6th....Chad Simpson came from 16th to finish in 7th....Chub Frank passed 16 cars from his 24th place starting spot, a series provisional, to take home 8th....Pat Doar came from 20th to finish in 11th....Tim Fuller started 17th and finished 13th....Matt Furman came from 22nd to finish in 14th......Joe Docekal recovered from his lap 3 involvement of the caution to come back to finish a close 6th in the Modified feature....Justin O'Brien came from 15th to finish in 7th....Jerrl Luloff started 17th and finished in 8th....Kevin Pittman came from 18th to finish 9th....Adam Johnson started 14th and took home 10th....Jeff Kriz, who started 22nd, recovered from his lap 19 spin to finish in 11th....Jason Snyder was 12th after starting in 16th....Chris Snyder came from 23rd to finish in 13th....Jeff Streeter took home 14th after starting in 24th....Ronn Lauritzen, came from 8th to 5th, when he pulled off on lap 20 with a right front flat to end his night in 17th....Johnathan Thimmesch was running 6th when he pulled off on lap 11 with troubles to end his night in 20th....Vern Jackson was running 7th when he pulled off on lap 12 with a left rear flat to end his run in 21st......The crew would sprinkle the top side of the track before the Late Model heats, Modified heats, Late Model B Mains and Modified B Mains in an effort to make it a multi grove track. There efforts paid off, as both the Late Model and Modified features provided the fans with some great two and even three wide racing through-out there events.
I would like to thank Ryan Clark and the entire crew at the Independence Motor Speedway for the great hospitality. I hope to make it back up to Independence one more time before the 2012 season comes to a close.
Also I would like to send out condolences to the familys of Billy Haffer and the others who where involved in a fatal car accident early this morning. Billy and two others were on there way back home from the Sprint show at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, IA when there car was struck from behind by a semi at about 1:30 this morning on Highway 63 near Ottumwa, IA. Billy and another passenger in the car was killed in the accident. I only met Billy back in April at the season opener at Quincy Raceways in Quincy, IL and then ran into him again in July at the UMP Summernationals event at the same track. Both times Billy brought a color of water and soda and offered it to me to help keep hydrated on those hot nights. Billy was a photographer from the S.t Louis area and traveled all over the US to take pictures at many events. He will be missed by many in the racing community!
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