Jensen takes I.M.C.A. modified bounty, Stander earns first career win at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (July 8) - Extra money was on the line in the I.M.C.A. modified division and Todd Jensen was up to the challenge. The veteran driver led early, then made a thrilling late-race pass for the win to pick up an exciting victory at Benton County Speedway.

Following J.D. Auringer's recent domination in the division, promoter Mick Trier placed a $100 bounty on the national points leader should anyone unseat him. He also offered Auringer the bonus money if he could win his fourth straight feature at the speedway. Auringer and his competitors did not disappoint.

At the start of the 20-lap feature, Robbie Schmuecker took the lead from a pole starting position. Schmuecker paced the field and was heavily pressured by Dennis Betzer until a flat tire ended Betzer's run just after the race's first yellow flag slowed the field on lap four.

Schmuecker realigned in the lead with Jensen, who started in the fourth row, right on his bumper. One lap after the the green flag waved, Jensen swept beneath Schmuecker to take the lead. As Jensen mastered the bottom groove of the fast 1/4-mile oval, Jerry Luloff worked through traffic from a fifth row start. At the same time Luloff charged toward the front, Auringer was on his heels after starting the event from the sixth row.

At the midway point of the event, Auringer worked under Luloff to take away the second position and then went to work on cutting into Jensen's straightaway lead. Auringer gained ground as Jensen worked on lapped traffic before the race's only other caution slowed the event on the 13th circuit.

With Jensen in the lead, Auringer in second and Luloff third, the leaders remained unchanged until Auringer shot to the inside of the leader with two laps remaining. The lead pair ran door-to-door with Auringer taking the edge entering the first set of turns.

Auringer came away with the advantage as the field took the white flag, however Jensen returned the favor, diving below Auringer on the race's final lap. With the leaders leaning on each other, Jensen held his line on the bottom of the speedway to come away with the exciting win. Luloff made a strong bid to edge Auringer at the line for second.

In the I.M.C.A. hobby stock division, Justin Stander came away with the first win of his career. Starting from the third row, Stander quickly worked his way into second place after only one lap. Rod Grother led the field through a pair of caution periods until a restart on lap six.

On the restart, Stander shot to the inside of the leader to take the point. Stander led the remainder of the event to score the memorable win. Scotty Pippert and Curt Hilmer made their way around Grother to finish second and third, respectively.

Tony Olson continued his recent hot streak in the I.M.C.A. sportmod division to extend his points lead. Rod McDonald held the early lead in the 15-lap event until Olson, Danny Dvorak and Jim Buhlman made it a four-way battle at the front of the pack.

As laps wound down, McDonald, Olson and Dvorak crossed the flagstand three-wide with Olson in the middle of the trio of cars. Entering the first turn, Olson lifted and shot to the high side of the speedway. He swept around his competitors to drive to the exciting victory. Dvorak ran second followed by Buhlman and McDonald.

Former hobby stock champion Paul Shepherd earned his first career I.M.C.A. stock car victory in his rookie year in the division. After chasing pole-sitter Kevin Rose throughout the first half of the 15-lapper, Shepherd made his way around the leader on lap eight to drive away to the victory. Damon Murty and Brian Irvine chased Shepherd to the checkers.

Points leader Jena Barthelmes also used the high side to score an exciting win in the I.M.C.A. sport compact feature. After a fourth row start, Barthelmes worked the high groove into a three-wide battle for the lead in the event's late stages. She swept around Jeremy Heim and Gary Peiffer to score the win. Heim and Doug Laughridge ran second and third.

In another three-car battle to the finish, the cruiser team of Shane Mazur and Rob Miller held on for victory by half of a car-length to defeat Doug Steggall and Mitch Lewis. Jacob Keiser and Harley Schumacher also came up just short at the line to settle for third.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 5. 22 Chris Moore, Walkerton, Va.; 6. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 7. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.
Second heat - 1. 1RM Jeff Hogan, Vinton; 2. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 3. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 4. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 5. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 6. W12 Don Wharton, Central City; 7. 92 Lance Bistline, Marengo.
Third heat - 1. 14H Tom Hanson, Vinton; 2. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 3. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 4. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 5. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton; 6. 1ST Bret Hamilton, Flat Rock, Va.
Feature - 1. Jensen; 2. Luloff; 3. Auringer; 4. B. Krall; 5. Flannagan; 6. Trefz; 7. Hamilton; 8. Hanson; 9. Schmuecker; 10. Betzer; 11. M. Krall; 12. Bistline; 13. Moore; 14. Sondag; 15. Wharton; 16. Pate; 17. Thomas; 18. Fisher; 19. Hogan (DNS); 20. Erger (DNS).

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 3T Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 2. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 09M Brett Mather, Lamont; 4. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 5. 99LM Mike Galli, Urbana; DNS 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton.
Second heat - 1. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 3. 21 Jason Deshaw, Hopkinton; 4. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; DNS 75 Ron Tharp.
Feature - 1. Shepherd; 2. Murty; 3. Irvine; 4. Roster; 5. Rose; 6. Dulin; 7. Deshaw; 8. Galli; 9. Mather; DNS Tharp; DNS Chesmore.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 5. 4 Russel Damme Jr., Waterloo; 6. 70R Ron Phelps, Vinton.
Second heat - 1. 47 Scotty Pippert, Elberon; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 3. 67 Justin Stander, Vinton; 4. 8 Billy Koepke, Garrison; 5. 115 Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; 6. 20 Wes Stanek, Buckingham.
Third heat - 1. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 3. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 4. 11 Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 5. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo.
Feature - 1. Stander; 2. Pippert; 3. Hilmer; 4. Grother; 5. Ballard; 6. Forbes; 7. Quail; 8. N. Sweerin; 9. Koepke; 10. Damme; 11. Irvine; 12. Wilson; 13. Phelps; 14. Stanek; 15. G. Sweerin; 16. Burmeister; 17. A. Sweerin.

I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD
First heat - 1. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 2. 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton; 3. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton; 6. 7R Michael Roster, Vinton; DNS Gary Squires, Center Point.
Second heat - 1. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana; 2. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 3. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax; 6. 15B Troy Burkhart, Center Point.
Third heat - 1. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 2. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 3. 7T Jim Tompkins, Newhall; 4. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 5. 2C Ryan Coleman, Urbana; 6. 49 Jeff Hempstead, Manchester.
Feature - 1. T. Olson; 2. Dvorak; 3. Buhlman; 4. McDonald; 5. K. Olson; 6. Bentley; 7. Higdon; 8. B. Ebaugh; 9. Coleman; 10. S. Ebaugh; 11. Roster; 12. Hempstead; 13. Berstler; 14. Kuhn; 15. Smith; 16. Tompkins; 17. Van Wechel; 18. Burkhart (DNS); DNS Squires.

I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT
Heat - 1. 03 Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 2. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 3. 25 Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 4. 11 Brian Bries, Norway; 5. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 6. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 7. 3 Mike Mitchell, Fairfax; 8. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison; 9. 03JR Mike Hogencamp, Waterloo.
Feature - 1. Barthelmes; 2. Peiffer; 3. Laughridge; 4. Mitchell; 5. Goodenbaur; 6. Bries; 7. Heim; 8. Nabholz; 9. Hogencamp (DNS).

CRUISER
Heat - 1. 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 2. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 3. 11 Long/Bratton; 4. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schumacher, Marengo; 5. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids; 6. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids.
Feature - 1. Mazur/Miller; 2. Steggall/Lewis; 3. Keiser/Schumacher; 4. McDonald/Lewis; 5. Long/Bratton; 6. Kruse/Kimm.