Independence, IA (Saturday, July 5, 2014) - With all the tracks in Southeast Iowa rained out or not racing, I decided to make the trip north to the Independence Motor Speedway in Independence, Iowa to get my Saturday night feel of racing. The night featured make-up features in the IMCA Modifieds and Stock Cars, as well as regular racing in the IMCA Late Models, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
Up first on the night was the 18 lap make-up IMCA Stock Car feature, with Jason Niedert and Justin Hanson on the front row. Hanson took advantage of his front row starting spot to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Niedert and Justin Stander. Hanson then held the top spot until lap 7, when Brian Irvine, who started 9th, quickly worked his way to the front to grab the lead. Irvine then started to pull away from the field until the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 13. Phil Holtz spun off turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Irvine moved back out front, with Justin Temeyer, who started 10th, glued to his back bumper. Despite several attempts by Temeyer to get under Irvine over the final 5 laps, Irvine was able to hold on to pick up his third win in his third start of the season at the track. Temeyer settled for 2nd, Jarod Weepie came from 8th to finish in 3rd, Hanson was 4th, with Scott Pippert coming from 12th to round out the top 5.
Up next was the 20 lap make-up feature for the IMCA Modifieds, with Ed Thomas and Jeff Kriz leading the field to the green flag. Kriz jumped out front from his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Thomas and Adam Johnson. Kriz then started to pull away from the field, when the first caution appeared on lap 13. Patrick Flannagan, who was running 5th, spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Kriz jumped back out front, but now had Vern Jackson, who started 6th, and J.D. Auringer, who started 8th, glued to his back bumper. Both Jackson and Auringer tried to get under Kriz for the top spot, when the second caution of the event slowed the action up front on lap 17. This time Zach Less spun off turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Kriz once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Auringer over taking Jackson for the runner up spot. Auringer's run up front came to an end on lap 19, when he spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow and set up a two lap overtime dash to the finish. On the restart Kriz moved out front, with Jackson and Flannagan, who came from the rear after his spin on lap 13, close behind. Jackson tried to work under Kriz on the final lap, but Kriz was able to hold him off to claim his first ever feature win at the Independence Motor Speedway. Jackson held on for 2nd, Flannagan was 3rd, Tyler Droste came from 7th to finish in 4th, with Troy Cordes coming from 10th to finish in 5th.
The first regular feature to take to the track was the 15 lap IMCA SportMods, with Jacob Salisbury and Brian Hilbert making up the front row for the event. But just as the green flag waved the caution would come out, as Dave Burrell spun off the track in turns 1 and 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Lucas Lundry, Creston Williams, Tracy Wassenberg, Jason Doyle, Mark Maas, and Jim Aschenbrenner all collided in turn 2 to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Salisbury grab the lead on lap 1 over Hilbert and Jim Buhlman, who started 7th. Just as Salisbury started to pull away from the field, the third caution of the race appeared on lap 7. This time Tony Olson, who started 11th and had worked his way to 6th, spun in turn 2 from contact from Lundry, who worked his way back up front after the crash on lap 1, to bring out the yellow. On the restart Kyle Bentley, Dave Schulze, Doyle and Maas collided down the front stretch to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Salisbury moved back out front, with Jenae Gustin, who started 9th, and Kevin Hurst, who started 8th, close behind. Gustin used the bottom of the track to grab the top spot away from Salisbury on lap 9 and then pulled away to pick up the win. With the win Gustin made history at the Independence Motor Speedway by becoming the first driver to win three SportMod features in a row, it was also her fifth win in the last six weeks and sixth overall of the season at the track. Salisbury settled for 2nd, Hurst was 3rd, Buhlman was 4th, with K.C. Ansel passing 15 cars from his 20th place starting spot to come home in 5th.
Up next was the 15 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature, with Matt Burmeister and Matt Lundry on the front row for the event. Burmeister would take advantage of his front row start to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Lundry and Marcus Wayne. Matt White, who started 7th, used the bottom of the track to slip past Burmeister on lap 6 and then held off Jamie Whitaker, who started 5th, on the final lap to claim his second win of the season at the track in a caution free race. Whitaker settled for 2nd, Wayne was 3rd, Lundry was 4th, with Brian Happel came from 14th to finish in 5th.
Joel Brasch and Chris Snyder led the field to green in the 25 lap IMCA Late Model feature. But just as the green was waved the caution would come out, as Scott Welsh spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Jon Passick, who started 7th, used the bottom of the track to quickly charge to the front to lead lap 1 over Brasch and Snyder. Just after the completion of lap 1 Snyder spun in turn 4 and collects Greg Kastli, Jon Poll, and Rory Metcalf to bring the caution out. On the restart Brasch, who was running 2nd, spun in front of the field in turn 2 and collects Jason Rauen, Tyler Droste, Tyler Bruening, Jerry King, and Brian Hunter to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Passick jump back out front, with Curt Martin, who started 8th, and Dean Wagner, who started 6th, close behind. While Passick set a fast pace out front, another driver was working his way towards the front just as fast. John Emerson, a rookie Late Model driver this season after moving up from the Stock Car class, started 23rd and had worked his way up to 3rd by lap 10. Emerson then over took Martin on lap 23 for second and then went to work on chasing down Passick for the lead. Thanks to lapped traffic Emerson was able to close on Passick coming to the white flag, but Passick was able to hold him off at the line to pick up his first win of the season the the track. Emerson settled for 2nd, Martin was 3rd, Wagner was 4th, with Darren Ackerman passing 11 cars from his 16th place starting spot to come home in 5th.
Up next was the regular IMCA Stock Car feature, with Cody Frerichs and Cole Mather leading the field to the green. Frerichs would take advantage of his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Mather and Jason Hocken. Just after the completion of lap 1 the first caution came out, as Jeremy Pundt spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hocken over took Frerichs and Mather to take over the top spot. But another lap scored, lap 2, produced another caution, as Ken Taylor spun in turn 2 and collects Pundt and Mitchell Evens to bring out the yellow. Hocken jumped back out front on the restart, with Brian Irvine, who started 12th, and Justin Stander, who started 6th, following close behind. Irvine's run up front came to a halt on lap 3, as he and Frerichs went over the track down the backstretch to bring out the caution. Once again Hocken moved out front on the restart, with Stander working to hold back Justin Temeyer, who started 11th, in the battle for second. The action up front was slowed for the fourth time, as Justin Hanson spun in turn 2 on lap 8 to bring out the caution. Hocken again jumped out front on the restart, with Temeyer and Jarod Weepie, who started 10th, close behind. Just as Temeyer looked like he had Hocken cleared for the lead on lap 10, the caution would come out to erase his move. This time Matt Brown spun in turn 2 and collects Russell Damme Jr. to bring out the yellow. On the restart Hocken moved back out front, with Temeyer working to hold back Irvine, who came from the rear after changing a left rear flat on the lap 3 caution. Irvine jumped to the bottom of the track to slip under Hocken for the top spot, and then was slow one lap later, lap 14, for the final caution of the event. Taylor would spin in turn 2 to bring out the caution. On the restart Irvine moved back out front, with Temeyer and Weepie close behind. Irvine would lead the final 4 laps to claim his 4th win in four starts at the track, and his second on the night. Temeyer settled for his second 2nd on the night, Weepie picked up his second 3rd place finish on the night, Hocken was 4th, with Stander holding on for 5th.
The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 20 lap regular IMCA Modified feature, with Jake Strayer and Mike Burbridge making up the front row for the event. Burbridge used his front row start to grab the lead on lap 1 over Strayer and Ed Thomas. Just as Burbridge started to pull away from the battle behind him, the first and only caution of the event appeared on lap 10. Mike Manson would spin in turn 2 and collected Josh Barta to bring out the yellow. On the restart Burbridge jumped back out front, with Strayer and Thomas following. With Burbridge out front, Troy Cordes, who started 13th, was working his way to the front. Burbridge, who was running the bottom, and Cordes, who was up top, raced lap 15 side-by-side, with Cordes edging out Burbridge at the line by inches to grab the top spot away on lap 16. Cordes, fresh of his $10,000 win the the "After Market Nationals" at the Farley Speedway in Farley, IA on Thursday night, pulled away over the final 4 laps to claim his second win of the season at the track. Vern Jackson claimed his second 2nd place finish on the night, after starting in 8th, Burbridge was 3rd, Strayer held on for 4th, with Thomas rounding out the top 5.
Notes from Indy: 28 SportMods, 26 Modifieds, 24 Late Models, 24 Stock Cars, and 15 Hobby Stocks made up the 117 cars signed in on the night......Russell Damme Jr. started the make-up Stock Car feature in 14th and passed 6 cars to finish in 8th....Just Stander recovered from his flat on the lap 13 caution to come back up to finish 9th....Phil Holtz recovered from his spin on lap 13 to come back up to finish in 10th....Matt Brown came from 15th to finish in 11th....Paul Shepherd didn't return to run the make-up feature......Scott Hogan started the make-up Modified feature in 11th and passed 5 cars to finish in 6th....Adam Johnson, who was running 3rd, spun in turn 4 on lap 14, but kept going. He fell to the rear, but recovered to bring home a 8th place finish....J.D. Auringer recovered from his lap 19 spin to come back up to finish in 9th....Josh Barta came from 15th to finish in 12th....Jason Morehouse came from 17th to finish in 13th....Scott Drake, Terry Johnson and Dennis Betzer all never returned to run the make-up feature......Alex Zwanziger started the SportMod feature in 15th and passed 8 cars to finish in 7th....Tony Olson recovered from his spin on lap 7 to come back up to finish in 8th....Tyler Soppe started 12th and finished 9th....Danny Dvorak came from 16th to finish in 10th....Jason Doyle recovered from his involvement in the crash on lap 7 restart to come back up to finish in 11th....Dave Schulze also recovered from the crash on the lap 7 restart to come back up to finish in 13th....Kyle Bentley recovered from the crash on the lap 7 restart to come back up to finish in 14th....Kevin Robinson started 23rd and passed 7 cars to come home in 15th....Ryan Maitland who suffered front end damage in the lap 1 crash, returned to the track on lap 7 and finished 16th....Sean Vogt, Synjun Bauer, Steve Wimer and Joe Harken all didn't qualify out of the B Main......Jeremiah Wilson started the Hobby Stock feature in 12th and passed 6 cars to finish in 6th......Joel Callahan started the Late Model feature in 12th and passed 6 cars to finish in 6th....Jason Rauen, who started 11th, recovered from the lap 1 crash to come back up to finish in 7th....Jerry King, who started 15th, also recovered from the lap 1 crash to come back up to finish in 8th....Dale Hackwell Jr. passed 9 cars from his 19th place starting spot to finish in 10th....Dirk Hamilton passed 9 cars from his 20th place starting spot to come home in 11th....Tyler Droste recovered from the lap 1 crash to come back up to finish in 13th....Rory Metcalf also recovered from the lap 1 crash to come back up to finish in 14th....Drew Johnson came from 24th to finish in 15th....Joel Brasch recovered from his spin on lap 1 to come back up to finish in 16th....Leon Thomsen came from 22nd to finish in 17th......Jim Lynch made the pull up from Kahoka, Missouri and started the Stock Car feature in 15th. He then passed 6 cars to finish in 9th....Kevin Rose came from 22nd to finish in 11th....Wayne Landheer made the pull up from Gladstone, Illinois and started 18th. He then passed 5 cars to come home in 13th....Justin Hanson recovered from his lap 8 spin to come back up to finish in 14th....Jason Niedert passed 6 cars from his 21st place starting spot to come home in 15th....Russell Damme Jr. who started 24th, recovered from his involvement in the lap 10 caution to come back up to finish in 16th......Ron Lauritzen started the Modified feature in 11th and finished in 6th....Scott Hogan passed 8 cars from his 17th place starting spot to come home in 9th....Josh Sherbon passed 10 cars from his 21st place starting spot to come home in 11th....Jason Bahrs suffered to much front end damage in the heat that forced him to scratch from the feature....Jason Morehouse suffered to much troubles in his heat to force him to scratch from the feature.
I would like to thank Ryan Clark and the entire staff from the Independence Motor Speedway for the great hospitality and some great racing. I look forward to another trip up there coming up on Thursday, July 24th as the World of Outlaw Late Models and Hawkeye Dirt Tour for the IMCA Modifieds invade the speedway!
No comments:
Post a Comment