Vinton, IA (Wednesday, July 3, 2019) - As I left my home in Monmouth, Illinois to make the almost 3 hour drive up to the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa for the 25th Annual Hogan Memorial, the sun was shining bright and the temperature read 92 in the car with heat indexes close to 100. But as I drove east towards Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and then heading north towards Iowa City, the skies started to get dark.
The closer I got to Iowa City the more it looked like I would run into some heavy rain showers. And that was the case, as just on the south edge of town the skies opened up and it started to down pour. I would run in the heavy rain all the way to Cedar Rapids, as I made the turn onto highway 30 heading west. A quick look at the radar showed I would run in the heavy stuff all the way to Vinton, it even showed Vinton was getting hammered. So I debated on turning around and going back home or continuing my drive to Vinton. I decided I was already 2 hours into the drive, so I might as well continue to finish off the commute.
As I pulled into the fairgrounds the ground looked like they got a brief shower, which helped to settle the dust on the gravel road leading up to the pit shack. After signing in and doing a walk thru the pits, I discovered there was 153 cars signed in for the nights action. For those who believe in angels, I believe there were two angles looking down on the Benton County Fairgrounds tonight. As most of the heavy rains stayed to the south, the west, the east and the north of the grounds, to allow the 25th and final Hogan Memorial to go on as planned.
Just after three Hobby Stock heats and three Stock Car heats were completed, the 8 lap Micro Mod feature came to the track. Only six of the eight cars signed in took to the track for the event, with Shawn Fisher and Chad Dugan drawing the front row. Fisher took advantage of his draw to lead lap 1 over Dugan and Cole McNeal. Fisher then held the top spot until lap 4, when McNeal got under him coming off turn 4 to take over the top spot. McNeal then led the final 4 laps to score another Micro Mod win. Dugan would finish 2nd, Fisher was 3rd, Jason Gorman was 4th, with Matt Post rounding out the top 5.
Following four SportMod heats and six Modified heats the 16 lap Sport Compact feature came to the track next, with Adam Gates and Zeke Wheeler leading the field to green. Gates jumped out into the lead on lap 1 over Barry Taft, who started 6th, and Michael Grossman, who started 7th. Just as Taft got under Gates coming off turn 2 for the lead on lap 3, the caution would appear to give Gates the lead back. Korey Lana would spin in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Gates moved back out front, with Taft and Jamie Wood close behind. Coming off of turn 2 to come around to complete lap 4 Taft went high, as Gates and Taft raced side-by-side into turn 3. Taft would use the momentum off of turn 4 to grab the top spot on lap 4. While Taft started to pull away, Josh Barnes would work himself into the runner up spot on lap 9. And then went to work on trying to chase down Taft for the lead, that was until he pulled off with 2 laps to go with mechanical problems. This would allow Taft to cruise to an easy win. Lana, who spun in turn 3 on lap 2 to bring out the only caution, came back thru the field to finish 2nd, Nathan Chandler started 13th and finished 3rd, Gates held on for 4th, with Travis Losenicky completing the top 5.
Two SportMod B Mains and three Modified B Mains were ran next to complete the rest of the feature starting fields, and then it was time for the 16 lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Justin Ginther and Leah Wroten drew the front row for the event, with Ginther grabbing the lead on lap 1 over Wroten and Daniel Wauters. The action was slowed up front on lap 3, as Jeremiah Andrews spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wauters used the top of the track to take over the top spot, with Justin Wacha and Wroten following. Just after lap 4 was scored complete, Randy LaMar and Andrews got together down the front stretch to bring out the yellow. Wauters once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Wroten and Wacha battling for the runner up spot. After the lap was scored complete the caution light came on, as Quinton Miller spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. Once again Wauters jumped back out front on the restart, with Wroten and Wacha still following. The action up front was slowed for the fourth time of the race on lap 8, when Kaden Reynolds, who was running 7th, went over the track in turn 3 to bring out the yellow.
On the restart Wauters moved back out front, with Wroten and now Nathan Ballard, who started 7th, close behind. The final caution of the event appeared just after the lap was scored complete, as Jacob Floyd spun in turn 3 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Wroten used the bottom to edge out Wauters at the line for the top spot. But Wauters used the momentum off the top to edge Wroten out at the line by inches to lead lap 11. The two continued to race side-by-side around the track, as it was a dead even race at the line on lap 12. Wauters would come out ahead on lap 13 and then held of Wroten over the final lap to score the win and the $1,350 top prize to go with it. Wroten settled for 2nd, Ballard was 3rd, Brett Vanous was 4th, with Erick Knutsen coming from 8th to finish in 5th.
Kyle Brown and Abe Huls drew the front row for the 20 lap IMCA Stock Car feature, with Brown jumping out into the lead on lap 1 over Huls and Damon Murty. The action up front was slowed on lap 2, as Jason Zaruba slowed down the front stretch with mechanical troubles. On the restart Brown moved back out front, with Murty and Huls battling for the runner up spot. Three laps later, lap 6, the action was slowed for the second time of the race, as Dean Kratzer got sideways off turn 4 and collected Kyle Merkes and Dusty Vis to bring out the yellow. Once back to green Brown took the lead, with Huls and Murty continuing their battle for second. Over the next 5 laps Murty tried to get under Brown for the lead, but Brown would hold him off each lap to keep the lead. The battle up front was slowed on lap 12, when Brandon Jacoby spun in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. Brown once again grabbed the lead on the restart, with Murty and Huls still following. Three laps later, lap 16, Jacoby spun in turn 3 to bring out his second solo caution to end his night. Once again Brown jumped out front on the restart, with Murty and Huls close behind. With Murty and Huls battling for second, Brown was able to hold on to claim the win and the $1,000 check. Huls got by Murty on the final lap to finish 2nd, Murty was 3rd, Johnny Spaw came from 10th to finish 4th, with Dan Trimble finishing 5th after starting in 9th.
Up next was the 20 lap IMCA SportMod feature, with Brandon Tharp and Chris Burke leading the field to the drop of the green flag. But just as the green flag waved the yellow light came on, as Logan Anderson got into the tire in turn 2 to spin and bring out the caution. On the restart Kyle Olson, who started third, got under Tharp to lead lap 1. The action up front was slowed for the second and final time on lap 2, as Ron Kibbe spun in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Olson jumped back out front on the restart, with Ben Chapman and Tharp close behind. While most of the field was using the bottom of the track, Tyler Soppe, who started 5th, worked the top of the track to try and get to the front. On lap 5 Soppe over took Tharp for third and then went to work on Chapman for the runner up spot. Soppe used the momentum off the top of turn 4 to go from third to the lead on lap 11. Then going into turn 1 on the next lap Soppe, Chapman and Jake McBirnie, who started 13th, raced three wide for the top spot. Chapman emerged of turn 4 with the lead on lap 13, with Soppe coming off the top of turn 4 to take the lead back on lap 14. McBirnie used the bottom of the track to grab the top spot on lap 15. From there McBirnie pulled away over the final 5 laps to claim the win and the $1,000 check. Soppe was 2nd, Olson was 3rd, Chapman was 4th, with Joe Docekal coming from 12th to come home in 5th.
The final feature to take to the track was the 50 lap IMCA Modified feature, with two youngsters in Cayden Carter and Austin Howes drawing the front row for the event. Just as the green flag waved the yellow light came on, as David Brown, Tyler Droste and Mike Burbridge collided in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. On the original restart Carter would edge Howes by inches at the line to lead lap 1. Howes, who was using the top of the track, used the momentum off turn 4 to grab the lead on lap 3. Carter, who was on the bottom, would come back to grab the lead on lap 5. While these two battle for the lead, Cody Laney went around them both on the top to take the lead on lap 7. Carter would come back on the bottom on lap 8 to get the top spot back. Only to have Laney edge him out at the line to lead lap 9. Laney would enter lapped traffic on lap 13, as Carter went to the top of the track to challenge Laney for the lead. Carter would slip past Laney on lap 14 to get the top spot back. The action up front was slowed for the first time on lap 22, as Scott Hogan slowed in turn 4 to bring out the yellow. On the restart Carter moved back out front, with Joel Rust and Jeff Aikey, who started 13th, now following him. The caution appeared after lap 25 was scored complete, as this was the mid race break. The cars were brought to a stop on the front stretch, and then the crews had 5 minutes to do anything to the cars but change tires.
After 5 minutes it was back to green flag racing, with Carter going back to the lead over Aikey and Rust. While Carter set the pace out front, Aikey and Rust traded slid jobs for the runner up spot. Even though Carter started to enter lapped traffic on lap 36, there was nobody gaining on him. That was until lap 43 when Dennis LaVeine went over the track in turn 2 to bring out the yellow. Carter jumped back out front on the restart, with Rust and Aikey continuing their battle for the runner up spot. Aikey would slid past Rust on lap 45 and then went to work on Carter for the top spot. But Carter was able to hold on over the final laps to score the final checkered flag in the 25th Annual Hogan Memorial. After all the lap money and other awards, Carter took home a check worth $4,908. Aikey settled for 2nd, Rust was 3rd, Tim Ward was 4th, with Hunter Marriott passing 11 cars from his 16th place starting spot to come home in 5th.
Notes from Vinton: 44 Modifieds, 37 SportMods, 26 Stock Cars, 23 Hobby Stocks, 15 Sport Compacts and 8 Micro Mods made up the 153 cars signed in on the night......Luke Benischek started the Sport Compact feature in 11th and came up to finish 6th....Andrew Steepleton finished 7th after starting in 14th......Mike Kimm started the Hobby Stock feature in 19th and then passed 11 cars to come home 8th, and took home the hard charger award....Luke Bird came from 17th to finish in 9th....Quinton Miller recovered from his spin on lap 5 to come back up to finish in 10th....Matt Brown finished 12th after starting in 20th....Scott Sondag had troubles and was a scratch from the feature......Jay Schmidt came from 11th in the Stock Car feature to finish in 6th....Neal Miller finished 8th after starting in 15th....Dallon Murty started 14th and finished 9th....Danny Dvorak started 21st and passed 10 cars to finish in 11th....Shane Ebaugh finished 13th after starting in 25th. Which was good enough to take home the hard charger award....Kevin Rose finished 16th after starting in 23rd......Mitch Mantemach, who won the first B-Main, started 19th and then passed 12 cars to come home in 7th....Gage Neal finished 8th after starting in 15th....Dylan VanWyk started 22nd and then passed 13 cars to come home in 9th. Which earned him the hard charger award....Carter VanDenBerg came from 21st to finish in 12th....Kip Siems started 18th and finished 13th......Spencer Dierks started the Modified feature in 19th and would pass 13 cars to come home in 6th....Richie Gustin finished 8th after starting in 20th....Kyle Brown came from 21st to finish in 9th....Ethan Dodson finished 10th after starting in 24th. Which gave him the hard charger award....Brennen Chipp started 22nd and finished 15th......Ronn Lauritzen, Dennis Betzer, Taylor Musselman, Josh Barta, Steve Johnson, Eric Barnes, Zack VanderBeek, Sam Wieben, Bryce Garnhart, Jerry Dedrick, Leon Wilson, Patrick Flannagan, Matt Short, Greg Kastli, Tommy Belmer, Jeff Sampson, Todd Summers, and Brekken Kleinschmidt were the Modifieds who did not make the final Hogan Memorial feature....Adam Birck, Jason Doyle, Brian Pullman, Brian Sondag, David Hoover, Danny Dvorak, Austen Becerra, Cody Thompson, Kevin Goben, Brett Thomas, Tom Lathrop, Will Forester, Jason Hall, Bradley Ivy, and Robert Patava were the SportMod cars who didn't make the feature event.
I would like to say thank you to the entire Benton County Speedway staff for the great hospitality, which I always get whenever I make the trip up there. I would also like to say thank you to the Hogan family for allowing me to be a small part of the Hogan Memorial for the past three years. As big as this event has turned out to be, it's sad to see it come to an end. But I certainly understand the reasons behind it, and respect the Hogan family for their decisions to bring it to an end. THANK YOU again to all of the Hogan family members for all you have done for the sport in the 25 year history of the Hogan Memorial!!
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