Auringer sweeps the weekend with I.M.C.A. modified win at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (July 1) – Simply put, J.D. Auringer is on fire. The I.M.C.A. modified driver capped a perfect weekend at Benton County Speedway with his third victory in three days.

Prior to his win on the ¼-mile oval Sunday night, Auringer edged Vern Jackson in a thrilling finish at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday, then added another win the following night during mid-season championships at Independence Motor Speedway.

Robbie Schmuecker assumed the early command of the 20-lapper. He paced the field for the first lap before Shawn Fisher powered into the lead on lap two after an early caution.

Fisher continued to lead the pack and began distancing himself from his competitors while Auringer was slicing through traffic from a fifth row starting position. Auringer made quick work of the field and settled into fourth place after just three laps.

One lap later, Auringer shot to the inside of Randy Trefz to secure second place and then went to work on chasing down Fisher. In only two laps, Auringer reeled in the leader and passed for the lead.

Despite a mid-race caution, Auringer remained strong out front to drive to the victory, his third straight in Vinton and his ninth overall this season. Trefz and Brian Krall ran second and third.

Due to his recent domination in the division, speedway promoter Mick Trier announced a $100 bounty would be placed on Auringer next week. If any driver can un-seat the hotshoe next Sunday, that driver will earn an additional $100.

During the victory lane interview, Trier informed Auringer he could take the extra $100 should he continue his winning streak, essentially making next weekend’s modified feature $450-to-win.

Curtis Roster started a streak of his own in the I.M.C.A. stock car division. After a fourth row start, Roster made quick work of his competitors to score his second straight trip to victory lane.

Pole-sitter Richard Quail took the early lead of the 15-lap event and was quickly pursued by Kevin Rose. Roster masterfully worked his way through traffic to settle into third after just one lap. He made his way around Rose on the following circuit and then set his sights on Quail.

Roster made his bid for the lead just five laps into the event and cruised to the impressive victory. Brian Irvine, who started alongside Roster, raced through the field to earn runner-up honors. Rose finished third.

In only his second appearance at the speedway this season, Nick Murty came away victorious in the I.M.C.A. hobby stock division. From his pole position start, Murty powered into the lead and never looked back en route to the wire-to-wire win.

Josh Irvine raced from a fifth row start to take runner-up honors ahead of points leader Brad Forbes.

Troy Burkhart survived numerous caution flags while leading the I.M.C.A. sportmod feature and appeared to be on the way to his first win of the season. Burkhart was declared the winner when the race’s time limit expired, however he was disqualified for failing to make weight during post-race inspection.

Kyle Bentley, who crossed the line in second, was awarded the victory after an impressive run through the field from a fifth row start. Points leader Tony Olson and Jim Buhlman finished second and third, respectively.

Gary Peiffer was victorious in the I.M.C.A. sport compact main event. Peiffer passed Jeremy Heim on lap three and motored to the win ahead of points leader Jena Barthelmes and Heim.

The team of Jacob Keiser and Harley Schumacher was awarded the victory in the cruiser feature when the first team across the line, Doug Steggall and Mitch Lewis, failed to appear in post-race inspection.


RESULTS

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 3. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 4. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 5. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 6. 22 Chris Moore, Walkerton, Va.; 7. W12 Don Wharton, Central City.

Second heat – 1. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 2. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 3. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 4. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 5. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 6. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton; 7. 1RM Jeff Hogan, Vinton.

Third heat – 1. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 6. 007 Dan Arp, Traer; DNS 6E Don Erger, Brandon.

Feature – 1. Auringer; 2. Trefz; 3. B. Krall; 4. Fisher; 5. Cordes; 6. Flannagan; 7. S. Hogan; 8. Betzer; 9. Schmuecker; 10. Thimmesch; 11. Erger; 12. Pate; 13. Glass; 14. M. Krall; 15. Luloff; 16. Sondag; 17. Wharton; 18. Moore; 19. Jensen; 20. Arp; 21. J. Hogan (DNS).



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat – 1. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 2. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 3. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 4. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 5. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 6. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 7. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank.

Second heat – 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 3. 75 Ron Tharp, Vinton; 4. 5X Brian Bruechert, Kewaunee, Wis.; 5. 09M Brett Mather, Lamont; 6. 99 Erick Knutsen, Center Point; 7. 21 Jason Deshaw, Hopkinton; 8. 99LM Mike Galli, Urbana.

Feature – 1. Roster; 2. Irvine; 3. Rose; 4. Quail; 5. Chesmore; 6. Mather; 7. Shepherd; 8. Bruechert; 9. Murty; 10. Knutsen; 11. Niedert; 12. Adams; 13. Deshaw; 14. Tharp; 15. Galli.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 99JR Nick Murty, Tama; 2. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 3. 67 Justin Stander, Vinton; 4. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 5. 115 Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; DQ 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo.

Second heat – 1. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 3. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 4. 11 Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 5. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 6. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 47 Scotty Pippert, Elberon; 4. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 5. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 6. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 7. 8 Billy Koepke, Garrison.

Feature – 1. Murty; 2. Irvine; 3. Forbes; 4. G. Sweerin; 5. Pippert; 6. Gebel; 7. Wilson; 8. Luloff; 9. N. Sweerin; 10. Stander; 11. Ballard; 12. Burmeister; 13. Grother; 14. Koepke; 15. Hilmer; 16. Damme; 17. A. Sweerin; 18. Quail; 19. Lichty (DNS).



I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD

First heat – 1. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 2. 15B Troy Burkhart, Center Point; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 5. 7T Jim Tompkins, Newhall; DNS 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale.

Second heat – 1. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 2. 2C Ryan Coleman, Urbana; 3. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. 7R Michael Roster, Vinton; 5. 49 Justin Hempstead, Manchester; 6. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana.

Third heat – 1. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 2. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 3. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 4. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton; 5. 32X Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 6. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax.

Feature – 1. Bentley; 2. T. Olson; 3. Buhlman; 4. Coleman; 5. K. Olson; 6. Roster; 7. Snyder; 8. Smith; 9. Berstler; 10. Hempstead; 11. B. Ebaugh; 12. McDonald; 13. Dvorak; 14. S. Ebaugh; 15. Higdon; 16. Tompkins (DNS); 17. Kuhn (DNS).



I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT

Heat – 1. 6 Randy Van De Vegte, Manchester; 2. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 3. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 4. 3 Mike Mitchell, Fairfax; 5. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 6. 25 Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 7. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison; 8. 03 Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 9. 166 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Peiffer; 2. Barthelmes; 3. Heim; 4. Laughridge; 5. Mitchell; 6. Chipp; 7. Goodenbaur; 8. Nabholz; 9. Van De Vegte.



CRUISER

Heat – 1. 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 2. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 3. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schumacher, Marengo; 4. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 5. 36DD Gary Peiffer/Adam Finger, Troy Mills; 6. 11 Long/Bratton; 7. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids.

Feature – 1. Keiser/Schumacher; 2. McDonald/Lewis; 3. Long/Bratton; 4. Mazur/Miller; 5. Kruse/Kimm; 6. Peiffer/Finger (DNS); DQ Steggall/Lewis.