No lead secure as last lap passes highlight action at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (June 16) – It was a night where being in the lead didn’t guarantee victory at Independence Motor Speedway. A pair of winners led only the final lap of their respective features while a flat tire sent another into a barrel roll midway through his event.

In the I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature, first-year driver Quinton Miller appeared to be on his way to his first-ever win in the division. From a third row start, Miller passed leader Travis Michels to take the point on lap two of the 15-lap event.

Miller quickly put distance on the rest of the field and built up a straightaway lead when he suffered a flat tire entering the first turn on lap eight. The right front of his No. 73 dug into the speedway, sending the car into a roll and forcing a premature end to his strong run.

Following the restart, Rod Grother, Jim Ball and Josh Irvine fought for the lead. Grother and Ball ran side-by-side for much of the rest of the event with Irvine looking for racing room. With two laps remaining, Ball slid off the high side of the speedway, allowing Chris Luloff to enter the mix and forcing a three-wide battle up front.

Contact among the front-runners allowed Greg Sweerin to squeeze through the pack into the lead. He led the final two circuits to score the first win of his career. Ball, Luloff and Grother chased Sweerin to the checkers.

The story was much the same in the I.M.C.A. stock car 20-lapper. At the on-set of the event, Brian Irvine looked like the man to beat. In seek of his fourth win of the season, Irvine worked his way into the lead on the second lap with Justin Temeyer, Sean Johnson and Steve Meyer giving chase.

With Irvine running the low groove and Temeyer up high, the lead duo raced side-by-side until a trio of cautions slowed the event just prior to the race’s midway point. Temeyer had taken the advantage until a flat tire forced him to the pits while under a lap seven caution. He later returned to the event, one lap down to the field, ending his chances at a third straight victory.

Irvine resumed the lead with Meyer in second. Johnson, who was forced to the pits following a lap eight caution, was able to rejoin the field at the tail on the lead lap.

As the event entered the last five laps, Irvine continued his stay out front with Meyer glued to his rear bumper. Eric Weber and Jarod Weepie ran behind the leaders while Johnson was working his way through the field and into a challenge with the leaders.

Meyer switched between running the high and low grooves with each passing lap, trying to gain ground on the leaders. While doing so, Weepie settled into third and Johnson to fourth.

On the final lap, Meyer pulled even with Irvine, however contact between the leaders sent both into a spin exiting turn four. This allowed Weepie to sneak by to score the exciting win. Johnson completed his great comeback to finish second. Weber ran third.

Adam Bolin was hoping he wouldn’t fall to the same misfortune in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature. From his pole position start, Bolin immediately took the lead at the drop of the green. He quickly pulled away from his competitors as Scott Hogan and Max Corporon engaged in a door-to-door battle for second.

Although the event was slowed three times for caution late, Bolin maintained his strong run at the front of the pack to lead all 20 laps en route to his first win of the season. Corporon and Brett Ladehoff ran second and third.

Tony Olson earned his second win in three weeks in the B modified division. From a fourth row start, Olson worked his way through traffic and into the lead on the fifth circuit. He pulled away from the field to score the victory. Travis Brown, who started 11th, made a strong run through the field to finish second. Josh Sherbon crossed the line in third.

Jeff Aikey took command on the fifth lap of the I.M.C.A. late model feature to become the first repeat winner in the division this season. Making his first appearance in weekly competition at the speedway this season, Rob Toland made an impressive run through the field from a sixth row start to come home second. Points leader Darren Ackerman came from the fifth row to finish third.

RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL
First heat – 1. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 2. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 3. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 4. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 5. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 6. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence; 7. 99L Luke Pestka, Robins; 8. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah.

Second heat – 1. 77 Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 2. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 4. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 5. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 6. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; DNS 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville.

Third heat – 1. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 2. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 3. 39 Rob Toland, Bettendorf; 4. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 5. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 6. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 7. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg.

Feature – 1. Aikey; 2. Toland; 3. Ackerman; 4. Kastli; 5. Martin; 6. Smock; 7. Bruening; 8. Goedert; 9. Pattee; 10. Passick; 11. Benn; 12. Johnson; 13. Burco; 14. Wheeler; 15. Dedrick; 16. Thomsen; 17. Hackwell; 18. Struve; 19. Watters; 20. Pestka; 21. Lillie; 22. Hamilton.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 4. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 5. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 6. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 7. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 4. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 5. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 6. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 7. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua.

Third heat – 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 3. 007 Dan Arp, Traer; 4. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 6. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 7. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.

Fourth heat – 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 3. 1D Mel Saffran, Farley; 4. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 5. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 6. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 7. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner.

First B feature – 1. Johnson; 2. Jensen; 3. Conrad; 4. Stuber; 5. Lauritzen; 6. Whalen; 7. Glass; 8. Sires.

Second B feature – 1. Betzer; 2. Thomas; 3. Thimmesch; 4. Trefz; 5. Cunha; 6. T. Snyder; 7. Kriz; 8. Haupt.

A feature – 1. Bolin; 2. Corporon; 3. Ladehoff; 4. Hogan; 5. Auringer; 6. Luloff; 7. Jackson; 8. Thimmesch; 9. Conrad; 10. Johnson; 11. Stuber; 12. Trefz; 13. Flannagan; 14. Jensen; 15. Arp; 16. Thomas; 17. J. Snyder; 18. Betzer; 19. Cordes; 20. Saffran.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 58I Eric Weber, Evansdale; 2. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 3. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 5. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 6. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 7. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 8. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 9. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point.

Second heat – 1. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 2. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 3. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 4. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 6. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 7. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 8. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana.

Feature – 1. Weepie; 2. Johnson; 3. Weber; 4. Meyer; 5. Chesmore; 6. Manson; 7. Hocken; 8. Irvine; 9. Temeyer; 10. Schimmels; 11. Niedert; 12. Beauregard; 13. Mercer; 14. Quail; 15. Taylor; 16. Samec; 17. Kohl.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 5. 35T Terry Shaffar, State Center; 6. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 7. 78.1 Dave Brissette, Dike; 8. 12oz Gary Gates, Waterloo; 9. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 2. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 3. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 7. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 8. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington.

Third heat – 1. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 2. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 4. 20 Wes Stanek, Cedar Falls; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 6. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 7. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids; 8. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

First B feature – 1. Buchholz; 2. Shaffar; 3. Luloff; 4. Higham; 5. Jones; 6. Brown; 7. Brissette.

Second B feature – 1. Sweerin; 2. Sprague; 3. Burmeister; 4. Fraser; 5. Gates; 6. Damme.

A feature – 1. Sweerin; 2. Ball; 3. Luloff; 4. Grother; 5. Buchholz; 6. Shaffar; 7. Meyer; 8. Stanek; 9. Sprague; 10. Gebel; 11. Wheeler; 12. Irvine; 13. Fraser; 14. Higham; 15. Burmeister; 16. Michels; 17. Wilson; 18. Hilmer; 19. Miller; 20. Davis.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 3. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 4. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 5. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 6. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 7. 2 Jamie Huff, Center Point; 8. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 4. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 5. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 6. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 7. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 8. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 9. 2C Rob Coleman, Urbana.

Feature – 1. Olson; 2. Brown; 3. Sherbon; 4. Hesse; 5. Snyder; 6. Rouse; 7. Buhlman; 8. Coleman; 9. Krall; 10. Huff; 11. Bentley; 12. Handberg; 13. Docekal; 14. Wessels; 15. McDonald; 16. Cordes; 17. Swope.