Vinton, IA (Tuesday, July 3, 2018) - Earlier in the year when the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa released their 2018 racing season schedule, I immediately circled Tuesday July 3rd. As the track would play host to the 24th Annual Hogan Memorial. A race that the Hogan family works hard at throughout the year to get sponsors to put up a lucrative payout for the IMCA Modifieds, as well as the IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA SportMods, and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
The hard work and dedication of the Hogan family would pay off, as 135 cars jammed the pit area and a standing room only crowd turned out to witness some great racing action. After 15 heat races and 2 B-Mains were completed to help set the starting line ups for the features, it was time to go feature racing.
The first feature to take to the track was the 12 lap Micro Mods, with Russ Olson and Dallon Murty drawing the front row for the event. Murty would take advantage of his draw to jump out into the lead on lap 1 over Don Erger and Olson. Erger tried to keep pace with Murty over the next few laps, when the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 4. Debris down the backstretch would bring out the yellow. On the restart Murty jumped back out front, with Erger and Cole McNeal close behind. The fast pace that Murty was sitting allowed him to pull away over the final half of the race to claim his 3rd win of the season at Vinton. Erger was 2nd, McNeal was 3rd, Matt Post was 4th, with Kaden Reynolds coming from 10th to finish in 5th.
Up next was the 15 lap Sport Compact feature, with Barry Taft and Brett Marshall leading the field to the drop of the green flag. Taft used his starting spot to his advantage by grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Josh Barnes and Marshall. Barnes would try to work under Taft over the next 5 laps, as Marshall followed close behind waiting for either driver to make a mistake so he could take advantage of it. But Taft was able to hold them off each lap, that was until lap 7. Coming off turn 2 to complete lap 7, Taft would leave enough room on the top of the track for Barnes to shoot by him for the lead. Taft and Marshall both tried to work under Barnes over the next 5 laps, when the first and only caution of the race appeared on lap 12 to slow the action. Cody Brewster slowed to a stop in turn 1 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Barnes moved back out front, with Marshall over taking Taft for second. Going into turn 3 on the final lap Marshall entered low and then slid up in front of Barnes to briefly take the lead. As Barnes turned back under him coming off turn 4 and then held on to pick up his first win at the Benton County Speedway in his first visit this season. Marshall settled for 2nd, Taft was 3rd, Jake Benischek finished 4th after starting in 9th, with the #1 (sorry didn't catch the name) rounding out the top 5.
Dan Trimble and John Oliver Jr. led the field to green in the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature event, with Oliver Jr. grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Jay Schmidt and Trimble. The action was slowed for the first time of the race on lap 4, when Damon Murty went off the backstretch and came to a stop next to the corn field to bring out the yellow. On the restart Oliver Jr. jumped back out front, with Trimble edging out Schmidt for the runner up spot. One lap later, lap 6, Cody Frerichs and Norman Chesmore got together going down the backstretch, with Frerichs spinning to bring out the yellow. Oliver Jr. once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Jeff Mueller, who started 9th, using the bottom of the track to over take Schmidt for second. Murty's hope for a win would come to an end on lap 8, as after going off the backstretch on lap 4 to bring out a caution and restarting at the tail. Murty, who had worked himself back up to 6th, went over the track in turn 3 to bring out his second yellow to end his night. On the restart Oliver Jr. jumped back out front, with Mueller and Schmidt following close behind. Over the next two laps Oliver Jr. and Mueller raced side-by-side around the track for the lead, with Mueller using the bottom to finally wrestle the top spot away from Oliver Jr. on lap 11. Mueller then pulled away over the final laps to score his first "Hogan Memorial" win in the Stock Cars. Oliver Jr. was 2nd, Schmidt was 3rd, Todd Reitzler finished 4th, with Johnny Spaw coming from 8th to finish in 5th.
The 15 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature was up next, with Justin Wacha and Dylan Nelson, who was making his first ever visit to the track, drawing the front row for the event. Wacha took advantage of his starting spot to grab the lead on lap 1 over Nelson and Leah Wroten. While Wacha worked the bottom of the track, Nelson went to the top to try and get around Wacha for the lead. The battle up front was slowed for the first time of the race on lap 5, when Cody Williams, who made the pull up from Minneapolis, Kansas, went over the track in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wacha jumped back out front, with Nelson and Wroten close behind. Just after the lap was scored complete, Luke Bird would spin in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Once again Wacha grabbed the lead on the restart, with Nelson and Nathan Ballard, who started 9th, following close behind. Nelson, who was using the top of the track, finally used the momentum coming off turn 4 to take the top spot away from Wacha on lap 8. The third caution of the race appeared on lap 11, as Breydon Forbes spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Jacob Floyd spun in turn 4 and collected Williams to bring the yellow light back on. The following restart saw Nelson jump back out front, with Ballard and Brett Vanous glued to his back bumper. Ballard would follow in Nelson's tire tracks on top of the track over the final laps, waiting for Nelson to make a mistake. But Nelson would race the final laps without making that mistake to score his first ever win at the track. Ballard settled for 2nd, Vanous was 3rd, Scott Pippert drove the #17k usually driven by Kyle Parizek to a 4th place finish after starting in 12th, with Wroten holding on for 5th.
Twenty-eight IMCA SportMods took to the track next for their 20 lap feature. Two cautions before a lap was scored complete was the only thing that slowed the race, as after that they raced the 20 laps caution free. The first caution was credited to Tony Olson, who started 3rd and spun in turn 2 on the start to bring out the yellow. On the second attempt of a start Andy Hunter spun in turn 4 to bring the yellow light back on. A third attempt at a start saw Daniel Fellows, who started on the pole, move out into the lead on lap 1 over Austen Becerra, who started next to him, and Joe Docekal. Fellows then held the top spot until lap 5, when Docekal worked under him to edge him out at the line by inches. While Docekal worked the bottom of the track, Becerra would work the top of the track to try and keep pace with Docekal. When Docekal tried to look under the heavy lapped traffic in front of him on lap 15, this would allow Becerra go around him on the topside to take over the top spot. Becerra then held on over the final 5 laps to score his first ever "Hogan Memorial" win in a SportMod. He would celebrate after taking the checkered flag by going off the track down the backstretch and driving thru the corn field. Docekal settled for 2nd, Tyler Soppe was 3rd after stating in 6th, Austin Howes started 9th and finished 4th, with Jake McBirnie coming from 10th to come home in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track on the night was the 50 lap IMCA Modified "Hogan Memorial", with Dennis LaVeine and Jeff Aikey drawing the front row. Aikey used his starting spot to his advantage, as he jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Richie Gustin and Kelly Shryock. Gustin, who was working the bottom of the track, would try to work under Akiey over the next 3 laps, as the two raced around the quarter mile track side-by-side with Aikey holding the lead at the stripe each lap. That was until lap 5, when Gustin edged out front to take over the top spot. But Aikey would use the momentum off the top of the track to grab the lead back on lap 6. Gustin stayed committed to the bottom, as the two entered lapped traffic on lap 16. This would allow Troy Cordes, who started 5th, and Hunter Marriott, who started 8th, to close in on the battle for the lead. On lap 21 Gustin used the lapped traffic to work under Akiey for the lead. Two laps later, Cordes over took Aikey for the runner up spot, with Marriott moving into third on lap 24. Coming to the crossed flags Gustin led the field, with Marriott over taking Cordes for 2nrd, as the yellow waved. The cars were brought to a stop on the front stretch, and then the crews were allowed five minutes to make an adjustments for the final 25 laps to the finish.
On the restart Cordes used the momentum off the top of the track to go around Gustin and Marriott for the top spot. While Kyle Brown, who originally started in the 10th spot and worked his way to 5th by the 25 lap caution, squeezed between Marriott and the wall down the front stretch to take over third. The action up front was slowed on lap 31, when Patrick Flannagan spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Cordes once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Gustin and Brown battling for the runner up spot. On lap 33 Brown would edge out second from Gustin, and then went to work on Cordes for the top spot. With the top of the speedway being the dominating way around the track, all Cordes needed to do was hit his marks over the final 17 laps to keep Brown at bay. But going into turn 3 to complete lap 44 Cordes dropped the right rear off the top of the track, which allowed Brown to go by for the top spot. Brown then held on over the final laps to score his first "Hogan Memorial" win and the $2,683 check to go with it. Marriott got by Cordes late to finish 2nd, Cordes was 3rd, Gustin was 4th, with Chris Simpson rounding out the top 5.
Notes from Vinton: 40 Modifieds, 28 SportMods, 24 Hobby Stocks, 18 Stock Cars, 15 Sport Compacts, and 10 Micro Mods made up the 135 cars from four states and Australia....Since the Micro Mods were not giving hot laps or a heat race, they gave them a few hot laps before going green in there feature. As a result J.C. Floyd would loose an engine and had to scratch from the start of the feature......Luke Benischek started the Sport Compact feature in 12th and then passed 6 cars to finish 6th....Adam Gates finished 8th after starting in 11th....Bill Whalen Jr. started 13th and finished 9th....Dillon Embree came from 15th to finish in 10th......Scooter Dulin started the Stock Car feature in 11th and then finished 7th....Jared Daggertt finished 9th after starting in 14th....Norman Chesmore recovered from his involvement in the lap 6 caution to come back up to finish 10th....Shane Ebaugh started 18th and finished 11th......Mike Kincaid started the Hobby Stock feature in 7th and would finish there. But on the start of the feature a car got sideways in front of him and he hits the brakes to avoid hitting it, as a result he fell to the back. He then worked his way back up to finish 7th....Justin Ginther finished 9th after starting in 15th....David Simpson started 19th and finished 12th....Jacob Floyd recovered from his spin on the lap 12 restart to come back up to finish 13th....Breydon Forbes recovered from his spin on lap 11 to come back up to finish 15th....Scott Siems started 21st and finished 16th....Kenzie Ritter finished 17th after starting in 22nd......Colby Fett started the SportMod feature in 11th and then finished 7th....Kyle Olson finished 8th after starting in 13th....Sam Wieben started 18th and finished 9th....Gage Neal finished 10th after starting in 14th....Ben Chapman started 19th and finished 11th....Tony Olson recovered from his spin on the start to come back up to finish 14th....Dustin Schram passed 11 cars from his 26th place starting spot to come home in 15th....Joey Schaefer came from 25th to finish 16th....Austin Heacock finished 18th after starting in 27th......Cayden Carter passed 13 cars from his 19th place starting spot to come home in 6th in the Modified feature....Todd Shute finished 8th after starting in 17th....Corey Dripps started 16th and finished 10th....Brad Dierks finished 11th after starting in 21st....Jarrett Brown started 18th and finished 13th....J.D. Auringer received a past "Hogan Memorial" winner provisional and started 26th. He then passed 11 cars to come home in 15th....Ronn Lauritzen finished 17th after starting in 23rd.....Darin Duffy went over the track in turn 3 during his heat race and then rolled a couple of times. He would make repairs in time to start 12th in the second B-Main, where they were only taking the top 4. He would manage to race his way up to 6th, and fell two spot shy of making the A-Main....Andy Edwards, Travis Denning, Kip Siems, Austin Emry, Dennis Betzer, Matt Short, Milo Veloz, Carter VanDenBerg, Kurt Kile, Kyle Madden, Creston Williams, Josh Star, Rod Clement were among the drivers who didn't qualify for the Modified feature.
I would like to say THANK YOU to the Hogan family for allowing me to be a supporter of this great event for the second year now. Also a big THANK YOU to the staff at the Benton County Speedway for the hospitality.
With the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa off this Friday night, it looks like I will have a Friday night off. Perhaps if I do decide to go anywhere on Friday, it will be to spectate. Then on Saturday a friend and myself will be adventuring north to the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota. This will be the first ever visit to this track, as they host the "Gopher 50" featuring the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Models. Also in action will be the USRA Modifieds battling for $5,000, with a chance to earn a $5,000 bonus from a sponsor if they start 11th or 12th in the feature an win. I am so looking forward to this trip, as I have been by the track a couple of times when I traveled to Rochester, Minnesota with the family to celebrate my late nephews celebration in finishing up radiation for brain cancer.
Then if I return in time on Sunday, and feel like making the 2 hour drive south to Quincy Raceways in Quincy, Illinois. I will be taking in the Hell Tour for UMP Late Models, the Summit UMP Modifieds and SportMod races. At last check, sponsors have added money into the SportMod purse to make it $2,000 to win.
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