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Harris plays spoiler in classic Indee Open Series Finale at
Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug, 28) - Brian Harris said he was unaware of the
progressive purse that was being offered in the 2007 Climate Seal Insulation
Indee Open Series. Instead, he made a rare appearance at the speedway pay off as
he played the role of spoiler with a surprising win in the series finale at
Independence Motor Speedway.
Additional prize money was being offered to competitors based on their
attendance in the six-race series. Normally a $2,000-to-win event for late
models, drivers were shooting for step-ladder bonuses based on their number of
appearances, topping out at a possible $6,000 winner's share.
Of the 14 drivers eligible for the $6,000 payday, 10 made the 24-car starting
field. Of the remaining 14 drivers in the feature, only five were looking to
cash in on the standard $2,000-to-win. Harris, in only his second series
appearance of the season, was in that group of five.
At the start of the 40-lap headliner, veteran Jeff Bair rocketed into the lead
from his outside front row starting position on the smooth, fast 3/8-mile oval.
Series points leader Chad Simpson settled into second and his brother, Chris
Simpson, followed suit into third.
With Bair running the high groove and Chad Simpson working low, the leaders
engaged in a nose-to-tail battle until they encountered lapped traffic on lap
nine. At that time, Simpson shot inside of the leader as they weaved through the
slower cars.
Swapping the lead as they navigated the backmarkers, Simpson came out in front
on the 13th circuit. As Simpson led, Ace Ihm was working the low groove of the
speedway from a fourth row start. On lap 15, Ihm made his way under Chris
Simpson and Bair to settle into second.
Simpson continued his run up top with Ihm on the bottom until they entered heavy
lapped traffic a short time later. The pair then swapped racing grooves multiple
times as they negotiated the slower cars.
The lead pair remained unchanged until the race's first caution flag waved on
lap 26. On the restart, Simpson again assumed command with Ihm in tow until the
field entered the first set of turns. At that time, Simpson jumped the cushion
and was attempting to straighten his machine when it veered sideways in front of
the pack.
Driving low, Ihm's right rear tire clipped Simpson, sending Ihm sideways and
into a barrel roll in front of the field. Although neither driver was injured,
the night was over for both of them.
While under red, Chris Simpson and Bair, who would have restarted in first and
second, were both sent to the back of the pack for exiting their cars to work on
them on the front straightaway. This allowed Curt Martin and Terry Neal to
restart on the front row when racing resumed.
On the restart, Martin took the advantage and began to pull away from the field
until the event's final caution flag waved on lap 37.
Martin held the point on the restart with Neal in second and Harris, who started
in the eighth row, in the third position. When the green flag waved, Martin
pushed to the high side entering the first set of turns when his motor expired.
This allowed Harris to sneak by for the lead.
Harris led the final three circuits to score the thrilling victory ahead of
Neal. Justin Mitchell, in his first-ever appearance at the speedway, made an
impressive run from a fifth row start to finish third.
By simply taking the green flag in his qualifier, Chad Simpson clinched the
series' points title.
Regularly $700-to-win, six drivers were eligible for the maximum prize of $2,100
in the modified division. All six of those drivers found themselves among the
first four rows of the 25-car, 20-lap main event.
At the drop of the green flag, J.D. Auringer took advantage of his outside front
row starting spot to take the early lead. Running the high side, Auringer paced
the field while Ron Barker and Kevin Pittman went to work on the low side.
Auringer extended his lead early as Barker and Pittman engaged in an exciting
wheel-to-wheel battle for second. Barker held the edge and the top three
remained unchanged until the race's first caution flag was displayed on lap 14.
On the restart, Auringer again charged ahead of the field as his competitors
battled for position behind him. As laps wound down, Mark Schulte pulled into a
fight with Barker and Pittman for second as all four leaders were shooting for
the $2,100 payday.
Continuing his dominating performance on the high side, Auringer led the field
to the checkers, scoring the monster payday in the process. Barker ran second
and clinched the series' points title. Schulte made a late race pass to secure
third ahead of Pittman.
In other action, Tony Olson took command on the third lap to drive to victory in
the B modified division. Olson held off the late surge of Jr. Boyer to take top
honors. Chris Snyder finished third.
In the stock car division, Tom Schmitt took advantage of his pole position start
to drive to victory. Damon Murty and Ken Even completed the top three.
RESULTS
LATE MODEL
First heat - 1. 11 Ace Ihm, Hazel Green, Wis.; 2. 0 Jeff Bair, Solon; 3. 32
Chris Simpson, Marion; 4. M2 Scott Megonigle, Cedar Rapids; 5. 22C Charlie
McKenna, Clear Lake; 6. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 7. 80 Jerry Dedrick,
Vinton; 8. 78K Bryan Klein, Cedar Rapids; 9. 19 Jill George, Cedar Falls.
Second heat - 1. 25 Chad Simpson, Mt, Vernon; 2. 53W Gary Webb, Blue Grass; 3.
45 Curt Martin, Independence; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 78 Dale
Stolte, Springville; 6. 77C Mitch Current, Maquoketa; 7. 98 Jason Rauen, Farley;
8. 58 Hershel Roberts, East Moline, Ill.; 9. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.
Third heat - 1. 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown; 2. 77X Kurt Kile, Nichols; 3.
88 Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 4. 21H Brian Harris, Davenport; 5. C10 Darin Burco,
Independence; 6. 77K Stephan Kammerer, Blue Grass; 7. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo;
8. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 9. 85 Kelly Tapper, Boone.
Fourth heat - 1. 28X Justin Mitchell, Cedar Rapids; 2. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 3.
22 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 4. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 5. 61R Jon Rogers,
German Valley, Ill.; 6. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 7. 37 Roger Ciesielski,
Waterloo; 8. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville.
First B feature - 1. Stolte; 2. Rauen; 3. McKenna; 4. Roberts; 5. Dedrick; 6.
Klein; 7. George; 8. Grady; 9. Thomsen; 10. Current.
Second B feature - 1. Burco; 2. Kammerer; 3. Smock; 4. Benn; 5. Tapper; 6.
Ciesielski; 7. Aikey; 8. Dralle; 9. Rogers.
A feature - 1. Harris; 2. Neal; 3. Mitchell; 4. Kevin Kile; 5. Duffy; 6.
DeFrance; 7. Webb; 8. Kurt Kile; 9. Benn; 10. Burco; 11. Rauen; 12. Stolte; 13.
Hackwell; 14. Martin; 15. Kammerer; 16. Bair; 17. McKenna; 18. Megonigle; 19.
Ihm; 20. Chris Simpson; 21. Chad Simpson; 22. Smock; 23. Roberts; 24. Hansen.
MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 2. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 3. 14B
John Burbridge, Delhi; 4. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 5. 7J Jacob Seegmiller,
Dubuque; 6. 10 Jim Gillenwater, Keokuk; 7. 81 K.C. Ansel, Dubuque; 8. 93 Craig
Haupt, Sumner; 9. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City.
Second heat - 1. 26P Kevin Pittman, Waterloo; 2. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 3. 00
J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 37B Ron Barker, Dubuque; 5. 86 Jeff Morris, Long
Grove; 6. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo; 7. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 8. 18L Jerry
Luloff, Independence.
Third heat - 1. 2 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 2. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 3. 21B
Keith Blum, Bettendorf; 4. 4D Brett Diercks, Davenport; 5. 33 Steve Wetter,
Platteville, Wis.; 6. 9 Leon Wilson, Hopkinton; 7. 9M Scott Moffitt,
Mechanicsville; 8. 87 Terry Folkers, Central City.
Feature - 1. Auringer; 2. Barker; 3. Schulte; 4. Kevin Pittman; 5. Morris; 6.
Luloff; 7. Wetter; 8. King; 9. Haupt; 10. Betzer; 11. Gillenwater; 12. Kriz; 13.
Joey Schaefer; 14. Moffitt; 15. Seegmiller; 16. Blum; 17. Jim Schaefer; 18.
Ansel; 19. Snyder; 20. Folkers; 21. Keith Pittman; 22. J. Burbridge; 23. Wilson;
24. M. Burbridge; 25. Diercks.
STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 18 Tom Schmitt, Independence; 2. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 3. 30
Ken Even, Waterloo; 4. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 5. 14M Brian Mahlstedt,
Ionia; 6. 6X Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids.
Second heat - 1. 57V Mike Van Genderen, Newton; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3.
15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 4. 22 Cory Bauer, Monticello; 5. 91 Rick Suckow,
Oelwein; 6. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion.
Feature - 1. Schmitt; 2. Murty; 3. Even; 4. Weepie; 5. Mahlstedt; 6. Bauer; 7.
Van Genderen; 8. Ahrendsen; 9. Kohl; 10. Samec; 11. Chesmore; 12. Suckow.
B MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 42 Jr. Boyer, Calmar; 2. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 3. 26 Joel
Cox, Evansdale; 4. Z19 Wayne Hora, Anamosa; 5. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids.
Second heat - 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point;
3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 20T Scott Thomas, Waterloo; 5. 19 Gary
Squires, Center Point.
Feature - 1. Olson; 2. Boyer; 3. Snyder; 4. Docekal; 5. Hora; 6. Squires; 7.
Thomas; 8. Cox; 9. Doyle; 10. Wessels.