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Blum bests Neal in one point race for national IMCA Late
Model title
VINTON, Iowa (Sept. 1) – A single point made Kevin Blum the national
champion in IMCA’s Late Model division.
Blum edged Terry Neal for the title by an 814-813 margin to earn a $5,500
share of the $21,500 point fund to be paid out to drivers in top 20
standings.
Ray Guss Jr. repeated his third place finish from last season, just three
points off the championship pace. Todd Cooney got the tie-breaking edge over
Mark Burgtorf for fourth.
Blum led all drivers in the division with 16 feature wins, one more than
Neal. Both drivers got 18 bonus points for track championships, Blum at Quad
City Raceway and Neal at Jackson County Speedway.
Also runner-up in 2007 when the tie-breaker tipped the title to Darrel
DeFrance, Neal collected a second title for leading the combined Dubuque
Speedway and Farley Speedway point race.
Guss won six features and raked in 25 bonus points along with the Davenport
Speedway title.
Cooney and Burgtorf both won 11 times. Cooney paced the points at Hamilton
County Speedway and at Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway and now leads all
drivers in division history with 14 local track championships.
Burgtorf reigned at Lee County Speedway, winning his 11th career track title
and 100th career feature in the class this season.
Lonnie Bailey was track champion at 34 Raceway and at Quincy Raceway. Darren
Ackerman was first in points at Independence Motor Speedway and Josh Most
topped Shelby County Speedway standings.
Blum and Matt Ryan both won the first Smiley’s Racing Products State
championships of their careers, in Illinois and Iowa, respectively.
Rookie of the year is Ryan Giles, tied for 32nd overall in the national
standings.
IMCA’s weekly point season for Late Models began April 24 and ran through
Aug. 30. Track officials have until Sept. 28 to notify the home office of
corrections affecting their top 15 before standings become official.
National standings are based on drivers’ best 20 finishes out of their first
55 starts. Bonus points, equal to the average weekly car count at tracks
holding a minimum of eight sanctioned events, are awarded to track
champions.
The higher average is used to award bonuses when drivers won more than one
track title; pro-rated bonuses are given at tracks where fewer than eight
weekly events were held.
Final point races for the other eight divisions sanctioned by IMCA will be
Sept. 27.
National Top 20 Point Standings –
1. Kevin Blum, Colona, Ill., 814;
2. Terry Neal, Ely, 813;
3. Ray Guss Jr., Milan, Ill., 811;
4. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, 802;
5. Mark Burgtorf, Quincy, Ill., 802;
6. Lonnie Bailey, Quincy, Ill., 776;
7. Matt Ryan, Davenport, 760;
8. Ryan Griffith, Webster City, 753;
9. Jason Frankel, Quincy, Ill., 751;
10. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, 751;
11. Nate Beuseling, Silvis, Ill., 746;
12. Justin Reed, Quincy, Ill., 743;
13. Al Johnson, Story City, 739;
14. Joe Zrostlik, Long Grove, 721;
15. Josh Most, Red Oak, 719;
16. Keith Pratt, Mendon, Ill., 719;
17. Tom Goble, Burlington, 713;
18. Tom Darbyshire, Morning Sun, 685;
19. Mike Garland, Morrison, Ill., 684;
20. Cory Goldbeck, Camanche, 684.
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