The Late Models were then separated into two groups, Group A and Group B, for time trials to set the line ups for the four 10 lap heats. Shane Clanton would set fast time in Group A with a time of 13.907, while Chad Simpson was fast time in Group B and the overall quick time with a time of 13.865. Following time trials the cars in Group A would be lined up in heats 1 & 2, with Group B in heats 3 & 4. The top four cars in each of the four heats went on to qualify for the 50 lap A Main, with the top two in each heat earning the right to redraw for the first four rows of that A Main.
Late Model heat race number 1 saw Shane Clanton and Darrell Lanigan on the front row, with Clanton jumping out front on the drop of the green flag. Clanton would pull away to lead all 10 laps in a caution free race. Lanigan settled for 2nd, Brandon Sheppard was 3rd, with Josh Richards coming from 7th to take the final transfer spot into the A Main. The rest of the heat finish was Chub Frank, Morgan Bagley, Tim McCreadie, and Matt Furman.
Heat race 2 had Jason Feger and Chris Simpson on the front row, with Feger grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Simpson. The action was slowed for the first and only time on lap 2, as Joel Callahan went over turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Feger moved back out front, with Simpson close behind in second. Feger held off Simpson on the final lap to claim the win. Simpson was 2nd, Bub McCool was 3rd, with Clint Smith coming home in the final transfer spot. Dale McDowell, Eric Wells, Rick Wendling, and Callahan rounded out the finish.
Chad Simpson and Curt Martin made up the front row for heat race number 3, with Simpson grabbing the lead on lap 1. Simpson would cruise to an easy win in the caution free event. Don O'Neal would come home in 2nd, Tim Fuller was 3rd, with Martin holding off Clay Fisher to get the final transfer spot. Fisher, Jason Rauen, Tyler Bruening, and Jay Johnson rounded out the remainder of the heat.
The final heat race, number 4, saw Greg Satterlee and Bobby Pierce on the front row. Satterlee would grab the lead on lap 1 over Pierce and then held it until lap 5, when the first caution of the event appeared. Kyle Bronson, who was running 3rd, spun to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Satterlee jumped back out front, with Pierce working to hold back Rick Eckert in the battle for 2nd. But the action up front was slowed for the second and final time on lap 7. This time Dan Stone, who was running 4th, slowed with a right rear flat to bring out the yellow. Once again Satterlee moved out front on the restart and then held on over the final 3 laps to claim the win. Pierce held on for 2nd, Eckert was 3rd, with Bronson recovering from his lap 5 spin to come back to take the final transfer spot into the A Main. Rounding out the rest of heat 4 was Charlie McKenna, Mike Fryer, Stone, and Dillon Wood.
Up next on the night was the four 8 lap Modified heats, with the top 3 qualifying for the 30 lap A Main. Those 12 cars would then redraw for the first 6 rows of the feature event.
Troy Cordes and Jimmy Gustin drew the front row for heat race 1, with Gustin grabbing the lead on the drop of the green. But Gustin would only hold the top spot until lap 3, when Darin Duffy, who started 4th, slipped under him for the lead. Duffy then pulled away to pick up the win. Gustin settled for 2nd, with Cordes holding off a charging Mark Schulte, who started 7th, to claim the final transfer spot. Schulte, Mark Elliott, Zach Less, Jerry King, and Jason Snyder rounded out the finish of heat 1.
Up next was heat race number 2, with Tyler Droste and Brett Ladehoff making up the front row. Droste jumped out front on lap 1 over Ronn Lauritzen and then held on until lap 5, when the first and only caution of the event appeared. Debris down the backstretch from a blown tire on Ladehoff's machine would bring out the yellow. On the restart Droste moved back out front, with Lauritzen close behind in second. The battle for third, the final transfer spot, heated up on the restart. Mike Van Genderen and Richie Gustin Jr., who started 6th, were putting on a great side-by-side battle over the final 5 laps. All the while Droste pulled away to win the heat. Lauritzen settled for 2nd, with Van Genderen edging out the final transfer spot in 3rd. Gustin Jr., Joe Docekal, Ed Thomas, Vern Jackson, and Ladehoff finished out heat race.
Josh Barta and Justin O'Brien led the field to the drop of the green flag in heat race number 3, with O'Brien grabbing the lead on lap 1 over J.D. Auringer. O'Brien would lead all 8 laps in a caution free race to pick up the win. Auringer was 2nd, with Scott Hogan coming from 5th to take the final transfer spot. Kelly Shryock, Jake Bowman, Chris Snyder, and Barta round out the finish of the heat.
Heat race number 4 had Jeff Waterman and Albert Wolfgram on the front row. Waterman took advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Matt Gansen, who started 4th. While Waterman pulled away, the battle for second heated up coming to the white flag. Shawn Ryan was working the top of the track and went into turn 3 on the high side of Gansen. But Ryan ran out of room and slide off turn 4 and fell back to 6th. Meanwhile Waterman went on to claim the win. Gansen was 2nd, with Mike Burbridge coming from 6th to earn the final transfer spot. Leon Wilson, Steve Stultz, Ryan, Wolfgram and Jerry Dedrick, who was a scratch, finished out hear 4.
Up next was the first of two 12 lap Late Model B Mains, with the top 3 in each moving on into the 50 lap A Main. Leading the field to the green was Chub Frank and Dale McDowell, with McDowell grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Frank. McDowell then went on to lead all 12 laps in a caution free event to claim the win. Frank held on for 2nd, with Morgan Bagley claiming the third and final transfer spot. Eric Wells, Matt Furman, Rick Wendling, Joel Callahan and Tim McCreadie was the remainder of the finish.
The second 12 lap Late Model B Main had Clay Fisher and Charlie McKenna on the front row., with Fisher jumping out front on lap 1. While Fisher continued to lead Dillon Wood, who started 8th, was working his way towards the front. His run was slowed on lap 10, when the first and only caution of the event appeared. Dan Stone, who started 6th and was running 2nd, went off turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Fisher moved back out front, with Wood close behind in second. Fisher would hold off Wood on the final lap to pick up the win. Tyler Bruening won the last two lap battle with McKenna, who spun in turn 4 coming to the checkered while battling for the final transfer spot, to finish in 3rd. Mike Fryer, Jay Johnson, McKenna, Stone and Jason Rauen completed the finish of B Main 2.
Up next was the two 10 lap Modified B Mains, with the top 5 in each moving on into the A Main. Mark Schulte and Kelly Shryock led the field to the green in the first Modified B Main, with Shryock grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Schulte. Shryock then went on to lead all 10 laps of the caution free event to pick up the win. Schulte was 2nd, Jake Bowman was 3rd, Mark Elliott held on to 4th after almost spinning on lap 3 while going for 2nd, with Jerry King coming from 7th to round out the top 5. Zach Less, Chris Snyder, Jerry Dedrick, Josh Barta, and Jason Snyder was the remaining finish of B Main number 1.
Richie Gustin Jr. and Leon Wilson made up the front row for the second 12 lap Modified B Main, with Gustin Jr. grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Joe Docekal. Gustin Jr. then held off several challenges from Docekal in the 12 lap caution free event to claim the win. Docekal settled for 2nd, Steve Stultz was 3rd, Ed Thomas was 4th, with Vern Jackson edging out Wilson at the line on the final lap to claim the 5th and final transfer spot. Wilson, Brett Ladenhoff, Albert Wolfgram, and Shawn Ryan, who was running 5th when he pulled off on lap 4 with a right rear flat, rounded out the finish of B Main number 2.
Now that all the qualifying events were in the books, it was now time for the two feature events. The 50 lap Late Model feature was the first to take to the track, with Chad Simpson and Don O'Neal drawing the front row for the event. Simpson would take advantage of his front row start to gab the lead on lap 1 over O'Neal and Greg Satterlee. But just as the action got started the first caution of the event appeared after the completion of lap 1. Curt Martin would spin in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Simpson jumped back out front, with O'Neal and Satterlee close behind in 2nd and 3rd. Just as the action was staring to get going, another caution on lap 4 slowed the field. This time Clay Fisher went off the top of turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Simpson once again grabbed the lead on the restart, but now had Shane Clanton close behind in second. O'Neal's run up front came to a halt on lap 7, as he slowed to a stop down the backstretch on lap 7 to bring the caution light on. Once again Simpson moved out front on the restart, with Clanton, and Darrell Lanigan, who started 7th, battling for the second spot. Clanton would use the bottom of the speedway to slip under Simpson on lap 14 to take over the top spot. Then one lap later, lap 15, Lanigan used the same groove to slip into the second spot. Just as the action up front was heating up another caution slowed the action on lap 20. This time Chris Simpson went over the track in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Clanton jumped back out front, with Lanigan and Chad Simpson battling for the second spot. But once again just as the action for the lead started to heat up, another caution appeared on lap 22. Josh Richards, who started 13th and had worked his way up to 7th, got together with Bub McCool while going for 6th and ended up spinning his machine in turn 1 to bring out the yellow.
While the first half of the 50 lap feature was caution plagued, the final half of the event was only slowed two times. The restart on lap 22 saw Clanton grab the lead over Lanigan and Simpson. Clanton, who was running the top of the track, would work the next 15 laps to hold back Lanigan, who was using the bottom of the track. But Lanigan would slip under Clanton coming to lap 37 to grab the top spot away. Then after the completion of the lap, Richards would slow to a stop in turn 3 with troubles to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lanigan moved back out front, with Simpson over taking Clanton for the second spot. Simpson would use the same groove as Clanton, the top side, to put pressure on Lanigan for the top spot over the next 6 laps. But the final caution of the event on lap 43 would slow Simpson's momentum. This time Chub Frank went off turn 3 on alp 43 to bring out the yellow. Lanigan would grabbed the lead on the restart and then held off Clanton over the final 7 laps to pick up his second win in three visits at the Independence Motor Speedway, along with the $10,000 check to go with it. Clanton settled for 2nd, Simpson had a career best finish with the Outlaws in 3rd, Satterlee was 4th, with O'Neal charging from the back of the pack after slowing to a stop on lap 7 to round out the top 5.
Justin O'Brien and Troy Cordes drew the front row for the 30 lap Modified feature, with O'Brien leading lap 1 on the bottom by inches over Cordes. But Cordes would come back on the top side to grab the lead away on lap 2, leaving O'Brien to fend off Mike Van Genderen, who started 6th, for the second spot. Just as Cordes started to stretch out his lead over the battle for second, the first caution of the event appeared on lap 7. Mike Burbridge got into the back of Schulte going into turn 3, which caused Schulte to go for a spin and bring out the yellow. On the restart Cordes moved back out front, with Van Genderen and Darin Duffy, who started 9th, close behind. But just as the action up front started to heat up, the second caution of the event came out on lap 8. This time Mark Elliott, who started 19th and was going for 9th, went off the track in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Cordes once again moved out into the lead on the restart, with Duffy over taking Van Genderen for second. One lap later the final caution of the event came out on lap 9, as Scott Hogan spun to a stop in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Cordes jumped back out front, with Duffy, Van Genderen and Ronn Lauritzen, who started 10th, all close behind. Cordes, who was working the top of the track, worked the next 12 laps to hold back Duffy, who was working the bottom. But Duffy would use his line to slip under Cordes on lap 23 to grab the top spot away. While Duffy pulled away from the battle for second, Cordes, Van Genderen and Lauritzen would battle the final 5 laps two and even three wide for that spot. In the meantime Duffy pulled away to claim the win and the $1,000 top prize. Cordes held on to edge out a 2nd place finish, Van Genderen finished a close 3rd, Lauritzen was 4th, with Tyler Droste coming home in 5th.
Notes from Independence: The 32 Late Models signed in on the night representing the states of Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Arkansas. While the 31 Modifieds came from the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Arizona.......Dale McDowell started the 50 lap Late Model feature in 17th and passed 11 cars to take home a 6th place finish....Tim Fuller came from 11th to finish in 8th....Chub Frank passed 7 cars from his 19th place starting spot to finish in 12th....Eric Wells, who was awarded a series provisional, started 24th and passed 11 cars en route to a 13th place finish....Curt Martin recovered from his lap 1 spin to come back up to finish in 14th....Tyler Bruening came from 22nd to finish in 16th......Kelly Shryock started the 30 lap Modified feature in 13th and passed 7 cars to finish in 6th....Joe Docekal came from 16th to finish in 10th.... Mark Schulte started in 15th an placed 12th....Steve Stultz drove from Peoria, Arizona and started 18th in the feature. He would pass 5 cars to take home a 13th place finish....Jerry King drove Tyler Droste's back up car from a 21st starting spot to a 14th place finish....Vern Jackson came from 22nd to finish in 15th....J.D. Auringer was running 7th when he pulled out with troubles on lap 16 to end his night in 17th....Zach Less was awarded a series provisional, but motor troubles would force him to scratch from the event.
I would like to thank fellow Positively Racing blogger Ryan Clark, In Staging, and the entire staff at the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence, IA on the great hospitality each and every time I make a visit to the track. Their hard work after the early morning rains paid off with some great racing action all night long!
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