The first feature to take to the track on the night was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Brian Hilbert and Scott Thomas making up the front row for the event. Thomas took advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Kevin Hurst, who started 5th, and Jim Buhlman, who started 6th. Thomas' run out front would only last for 1 lap, as Hurst slid under him to take the top spot on lap 2. The first caution of the race would appear on lap 3, as Ryan King lost a drive shaft in turn 3. By the time the first yellow light came on Austin Kaplan, who started 20th, had worked his way up to 11th. On the restart Hurst moved back out front, with Buhlman working to hold back Kip Siems, who started 8th. Just as Hurst was pulling away, the second caution of the event came out on lap 8. This time Shane Ebaugh slowed to a stop in turn 4 to bring on the yellow light. In five laps Kaplan was able to gain 4 more spots to move up to 7th for the restart. Hurst again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Siems over taking Buhlman for second. But another caution one lap later would slow the field down, as Alex Zwanziger, who started 12th, spun in turn 1 while battling for 4th. On the restart Hurst moved back out front, with Siems working to hold back Lucas Lundry, who started 9th. Just as Hurst came out of turn four to get the white flag, the caution light would come on to set up a green-white-checkered finish. Danny Dvorak spun his machine in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Hurst jumped out front on the restart and then held off a hard charging Kaplan on the final lap to claim his first career SportMod feature win. Kaplan settled for 2nd, Buhlman held on for 3rd, Rod McDonald finished 4th, Lundry crossed the finish line in 5th but was penalized to the last car running after contact with Siems on the final lap and causing Siems to spin in turn 4 while battling for 3rd, this would move Matt McCahen, who started 13th, up to the 5th spot.
Up next was the 12 lap IMCA Sport Compact feature, with Dakota Schroyer and Travis Ross leading the field to the green flag. Ross would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Adam Gates. Gates would slip under Ross on lap 4 to take over the top spot and then pulled away in a caution free race to pick up his seventh win in a row at the track. Merv Chandler came from 5th to finish in 2nd, Ross held on for 3rd, Derek Ihde started 8th and finished in 4th, with Mike Tedesco coming home in 5th.
Kevin Pittman was suppose to start on the pole of the 20 lap IMCA Modified feature, but troubles after his heat forced him to scratch from the event. This would put Adam Johnson and Shawn Ryan on the front row, with Johnson grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Ryan and Racer Hulin. Johnson would hold the top spot until lap 3 when he slowed with troubles, handing the lead over to Ryan. Ryan's run up front only lasted for 1 lap, as Ronn Lauritzen, who started 9th, slipped under him for the lead. The battle up front was slowed for the first time on lap 5, when Justin Buehler spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lauritzen moved back out front, with Vern Jackson and Ryan battling for the second spot. Lauritzen, who was running the bottom, and Jackson, who was up top, ran laps 6-11 side-by-side, with Jackson getting the lead on lap 11. The great battle up front was slowed for the second time on lap 13, as Buck Swanson spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lauritzen used the bottom groove to grab the lead, leaving Jackson to battle J.D. Auringer, who started 10th, for second. As the trio came around to get the white flag, the caution light would come on to set up a green-white-checkered finish. Jason Morehouse, Terry Johnson and Todd Jensen all collided in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Lauritzen grabbed the lead on the restart, with Auringer working to hold back Tyler Droste, who started 11th, and Jackson. Going into turn 3 on the final lap Auringer was able to get to the bottom of Lauritzen and then held on at the line to grab his third win of the season at the track. Lauritzen was 2nd, Droste was 3rd, Jackson was 4th, with Mark Schulte coming from 7th to finish in 5th.
Leah Wroten and Matt Lundry made up the front row for the 15 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. But just as the green flag was the dropped the caution light would come on for debris down the back stretch. On the following restart Lundry grabbed the lead on lap 1 over Vince Buchholz and Justin Stander, who started 8th. Lundry would hold the lead until lap 5, when Chris Luloff, who started 9th, slipped under him for the top spot. Luloff then started to pull away from the field, when the second caution of the event came out on lap 9. Wroten spun her machine in turn 4 to bring on the yellow light. On the restart Luloff moved back out front, with Stander working to hold back Benji Irvine, who started 11th, in the battle for second. But the third and final caution of the race would come out on lap 11 to slow the action. Wroten would spin in turn 4 for her second solo caution to end her night. Luloff jumped out front on the restart and then held off Stander on the final lap to pick up his fifth win of the season at the track. Stander settled for 2nd, Irvine was 3rd, Quinton Miller was 4th, with Shawn Kuennen coming home in 5th.
Up next was the 25 lap IMCA Late Model feature, with Kelly Pestka and Rory Metcalf leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Just as the green was dropped the caution light would come on, as Tyler Bruening slowed to a stop down the back stretch with a right front flat and nose damage. On the restart Rick Dralle, who started 5th, went three wide with Pestka and Greg Hunter to grab the lead on lap 1. Dralle then started to pull away from the field when the second and final caution of the race appeared on lap 5. This time Dale Hackwell Jr. got sideways off turn 2 and collected the car of Joel Brasch to bring out the yellow light. On the restart Dralle moved back out front, with Drew Johnson, who started 6th, holding back Metcalf for second. While Dralle pulled away from second place, Darren Ackerman, who started 14th, was working his way towards the front. Ackerman would slip into second on lap 16 and then went to work on cutting into Dralle's lead. Dralle came up on lapped traffic on lap 19, which allowed Ackerman to quickly close in on him. Ackerman would try to get under Dralle over the final 5 laps, but Dralle would hold him off to claim his second win of the season at the track. Ackerman settled for 2nd, Johnson was 3rd, Curt Martin came from 9th to finish in 4th, with Metcalf holding on for 5th.
The final feature of the night was the 25 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with $1,200 going to the winner of the 300th weekly feature event thanks to Superior Cleaning Service adding $200 to the posted top prize of $1,000. Jesse Brown and Damon Murty drew the front row for the event, with Murty grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Brown and Tony Schimmels. After the completion of lap 1 the first caution would come out, as Austin Evens spun in turn 1 and collected the cars of Jason Hocken and Jerome Jacoby. On the restart John Emerson, who was running 8th, spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Murty move back out front, with Schimmels over taking Brown for second. But the action up front was slowed for the third time, as Evens spun in turn 1 on lap 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart K.C. Ansel spun in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. Murty jumped back out front on the next restart, with Sean Johnson, who started 7th, moving into second. Another caution on lap 4 slowed the action, as Ken Taylor spun in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Murty again grabbed the lead, with Johnson and Scott Pippert battling for the second spot. Just as Murty started to put some distance on the battle for second the final caution of the race would appear on lap 14. Taylor would spin in turn 2 for his second solo caution to end his night. Emerson who brought out the yellow on the lap 1 restart, restarted 18th and had moved up to 5th by the lap 14 caution. On the restart Murty jumped back out front, leaving Johnson and Emerson going at it for second. Emerson was able to clear Johnson for second on lap 22 and then went to work on Murty for the lead. But Murty was able to hold off Emerson's last lap challenge to pick up the win and the $1,200 top prize. Emerson settled for 2nd, Johnson was 3rd, Pippert was 4th, with Norman Chesmore coming from 8th to finish in 5th.
Notes from Independence: 25 Modifieds, 22 SportMods, 21 Stock Cars, 20 Hobby Stocks, 17 Late Models, and 8 Sport Compacts made up the 113 cars signed in on the night....Dakota Sellers started the SportMod feature in 15th and passed 9 cars to finish in 6th....Alex Zwanziger came from 19th after spinning on lap 9 to finish in 8th....Shane Ebuagh, started 17th, and came to a stop in turn 4 on lap 8 to bring out a caution. He recovered from that to come back up to finish in 11th....Joe Harken started 21st and passed 9 cars to take home 12th....Danny Dvorak, who was running 10th, spun on lap 13 to bring out the final caution of the race. He would restart 19th and was able to get back up to 14th in the final 2 laps....Dave Schulze had to much right front damage after the heat to make the call for the feature......Troy Cordes drove Jason Snyder's car after wrecking his car at Farley early in the week. He would start the Modified feature in 8th and finished 6th....Jeff Kriz came from 18th to finish in 10th....Ed Thomas finished 11th after starting in 16th....Keith Pittman passed 10 cars from his 23rd place starting spot to finish in 13th....Buck Swanson recovered from his lap 13 spin to come back up to finish in 14th....Jason Morehouse, who started 21st, was involved in the final caution on lap 18 and went to the back. He would recover over the final two laps to finish in 15th....Justin Buehler, who started 22nd, recovered from his lap 5 spin to come back up to finish in 16th....Kevin Pittman, Jamie Johnson, Dennis Betzer all had troubles after there heat races to force them to scratch from the feature....J.J. Scott's machine never made it to the track all night......Matt Burmeister started the Hobby Stock feature in 13th and took home an 8th place finish....James Sheldon came from 17th to finish in 11th....Jonathan Juett had troubles after the heat race to force him to scratch from the feature....Dru Kueker was disqualified after his heat and was unable to make the repairs to start the feature......Tyler Bruening recovered from his right front flat and nose damage on the drop of the green flag in the Late Model feature to come from 17th to 7th....Dean Wagner passed 8 cars from his 16th place starting spot to finish in 8th....Russell Hesse came from 13th to finish in 9th....Leon Thomsen started 15th and finished in 12th....Wayne Hesse came from 17th to finish in 13th......Jarod Weppie came from 11th in the Stock Car feature to finish in 6th....Scotty Anderson passed 10 cars from his 19th place starting spot to finish in 9th....Jim Lynch made the pull up from Donnellson, IA to finish in 10th....Derek Reimer started 15th and finished in 12th.
I would like to thank Ryan Clark and all the crew at the Independence Motor Speedway for another exciting Saturday night of racing!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment