Irvine victorious in incredible I.M.C.A. stock car feature at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (May 27) - A season-high 105 cars were on-hand for the first of two straight nights of points racing at Benton County Speedway. Brian Irvine truly made the holiday weekend memorable as he drove to victory in one of the most exciting feature events in the speedway's history.

Two, three and sometimes four-wide racing throughout the 15-lap I.M.C.A. stock car feature highlighted the racing program. At the drop of the green, outside front row starter Richard Quail assumed command. Numerous drivers engaged in wheel-to-wheel battles behind him, trying to work their way into position to catch the race leader.

Jason DeShaw, Jeff Mueller, Kevin Rose and Paul Shepherd were Quail's early pursuers while the rest of the field scrambled for position behind them. Curtis Roster, Brian Irvine, Justin Temeyer and Damon Murty entered the mix as cars repeatedly swapped positions and racing grooves throughout the event as the field never separated.

With Quail out front, Irvine at first went to work on the bottom groove while Mueller and Roster shot to the high side. Quail remained out front as Mueller worked into second with Irvine running wheel-to-wheel below them. Roster stayed glued on Mueller's rear bumper as Temeyer and Murty were looking for racing room behind them.

Numerous times Irvine shot to the inside of the leaders, but was not able to maintain the edge exiting the turns. He then went to work on the high side for a number of laps before trying his luck once more in the bottom groove. He made a strong bid for the lead with only two laps remaining to secure the lead.

Roster followed Irvine to the front while a handful of drivers continued to swap positions right behind the leaders. Roster made a late charge, but was unable to overtake the leader as Irvine drove to the thrilling win in the caution-free event. Roster and Mueller completed the top three.

Nathan Ballard held the early lead in the 15-lap I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature. While Ballard paced the field, Chris Luloff settled into the second position on lap four. Luloff, running the high groove, entered into a side-by-side battle for the lead at the midway point of the event while Scott Pippert worked through traffic and settled into third.

With six laps remaining, Luloff powered around Ballard and drove to the victory, his first of the season. Ballard denied the repeated challenges of the Pippert to hold on for second.

Rob Olson and Jeff Hogan battled for the early lead of the I.M.C.A. modified feature. After Olson led the first circuit, Hogan passed for the lead a lap later as Todd Jensen worked through traffic from a fourth row start. A couple of early cautions allowed Jensen to stay within striking distance of the leaders. He made his way to the front on lap six.

Cautions continued to slow the event throughout its middle stages. On each restart, Jensen went to work on the bottom of the 1/4-mile to fend off his challengers on the slick surface. While Jensen led, Troy Cordes was working through traffic from his fifth row start.

Cordes tried both the high and low grooves in attempt to reel in the race leader. He was unable to gain much ground as Jensen remained glued to the bottom of the speedway. Following a lap 14 restart, however, Jensen pushed in the first set of turns, allowing Cordes to scoot under him for the lead.

Just one lap later, the yellow flag was displayed once more, ending the event after it reached its time limit. Cordes was awarded with the win, his first of the year. Jensen and Shawn Fisher, who made a strong run through the field, ran third.

Jeremy Schaufenbuel held the early advantage in the I.M.C.A. sportmod main event. As Schaufenbuel led, Rod McDonald settled into second. A miscue by Schaufenbuel as the field was exiting turn four on the fourth lap sent his car into a spin, giving the lead to McDonald for the ensuing restart.

As McDonald held down the top spot, Tony Olson worked his way into second place running the high side from a fifth row start. Olson reeled in the leader as the race wore on, however multiple caution periods forced the event's early conclusion when the yellow waved a final time just past the race's midway point. McDonald held on for the victory, the first of his career, with Olson and Bob Ebaugh rounding out the top three.

Gary Peiffer took command on the second lap of the I.M.C.A. sport compact feature to drive to victory. Although challenged early by Jena Barthelmes, Peiffer distanced himself from the field throughout the 10-lapper to take the checkers. Jake Bloomer raced through the field to take second ahead of Barthelmes.

It appeared as though Peiffer would make his second trip to the winner's circle as he and teammate Adam Finger took the lead on the first lap of the cruiser feature. The lead pair remained out front until contact from second-running Jacob Keiser and Harley Schmuecker sent the cars into simultaneous spins exiting turn four on the final lap. Jesse Belez and Steven Keiser slipped around the carnage to take their first win of the year.

Racing resumes on the 1/4-mile oval on Memorial Day in the second straight night of action. It will be a points race for all six weekly divisions in a draw/redraw format. Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps scheduled for 5:30 and racing to follow.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 3. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 4. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 6. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 7. W12 Don Wharton, Central City; 8. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 9. 54 Jeff Sampson, Evansdale.
Second heat - 1. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 1RM Jeff Hogan, Vinton; 3. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 4. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 5. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 6. 3 Dan Kohls, Waterloo; 7. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 8. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton.
Third heat - 1. 6 Don Erger, Brandon; 2. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 3. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 4. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 5. 01 Ed Thomas, Vinton; 6. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 7. 45 Mitch Higdon, Fort Madison; 8. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora.
First B feature - 1. Flannagan; 2. Thomas; 3. Higdon; 4. Sondag; 5. Sampson; 6. Wharton; 7. Kohls (DNS).
Second B feature - 1. S. Hogan; 2. Conrad; 3. Pate; 4. Kriz; 5. Snyder; 6. Thimmesch.
A feature - 1. Cordes; 2. Jensen; 3. Fisher; 4. Luloff; 5. J. Hogan; 6. Thomas; 7. Auringer; 8. Krall; 9. Olson; 10. Kriz; 11. Higdon; 12. Flannagan; 13. Conrad; 14. Schmuecker; 15. Trefz; 16. Pate; 17. S. Hogan; 18. Sondag; 19. Glass; 20. Erger.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. Jeff Mueller, New London; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 21 Jason DeShaw, Hopkinton; 4. 75 Ron Tharp, Vinton; 5. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 6. 3T Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 7. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant.
Second heat - 1. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 2. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 3. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 4. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 5. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 7. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank.
Feature - 1. Irvine; 2. Roster; 3. Mueller; 4. Murty; 5. Quail; 6. Temeyer; 7. Shepherd; 8. DeShaw; 9. Chesmore; 10. Tharp; 11. Dulin; 12. Rose; 13. Niedert; 14. Adams.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 3. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 4. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 5. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 6. 8M Ed Murray, Waterloo; 7. 8 Billy Koepke, Garrison; 8. 7B Jim Ball, Independence.
Second heat - 1. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 5. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 6. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids; 7. 12oz Gary Gates, Waterloo; DNS 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.
Third heat - 1. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 2. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 3. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 28 Jason Stringer, Marshalltown; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 76N Adam Streeter, Walker; 7. 67 Justin Stander, Vinton.
Feature - 1. Luloff; 2. Ballard; 3. Pippert; 4. Forbes; 5. Sweerin; 6. Hilmer; 7. Miller; 8. Wilson; 9. Brown; 10. Irvine; 11. Ball; 12. Quail; 13. Koepke; 14. Sprague; 15. Lichty; 16. Higham; 17. Grother; 18. Damme; 19. Murray; 20. Stringer; 21. Streeter; 22. Gates (DNS); 23. Stander (DNS).

I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD
First heat - 1. 34 Jeremy Schaufenbuel, New Hampton; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 4. 52E Ryan Englekes, Dike; 5. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton; 6. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 7. 19 Gary Squires, Center Point; 8. 49 Justin Hempstead, Manchester.
Second heat - 1. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 2. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 3. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 4. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton; 6. 7T Jim Tompkins, Newhall; 7. 7R Michael Roster, Vinton.
Third heat - 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 3. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 4. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana; 5. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 6. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax; 7. 2 Rob Coleman, Urbana.
Feature - 1. McDonald; 2. T. Olson; 3. B. Ebaugh; 4. S. Ebaugh; 5. Dvorak; 6. Kuhn; 7. Krall; 8. Schaufenbuel; 9. K. Olson; 10. Roster; 11. Berstler; 12. Cox; 13. Squires; 14. Tompkins; 15. Doyle; 16. Higdon; 17. Buhlman; 18. Englekes; 19. Smith; 20. Coleman; 21. Van Wechel; 22. Hempstead (DNS).

I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT
First heat - 1. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 2. 8G Adam Gates, Independence; 3. 48 Shannon Cline, Decorah; 4. 11 Brian Bries, Norway; 5. 25 Doug Laughridge, Vinton; 6. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 7. Neil Nabholz, Waterloo.
Second heat - 1. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 2. 21B Jake Bloomer, Manchester; 3. 6 Randy Van De Vegte, Manchester; 4. 17 Scott Welsh, Cedar Rapids; 5. 166 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo; 6. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison.
Feature - 1. Peiffer; 2. Bloomer; 3. Barthelmes; 4. Cline; 5. Van De Vegte; 6. Laughridge; 7. Welsh; 8. Chipp; 9. Bries; 10. Heim; 11. Nabholz; 12. Goodenbaur; 13. Gates.

CRUISER
Heat - 1. Chad Albert/Adam Happel, Cedar Rapids/Mt. Auburn; 2. 36DD Gary Peiffer/Adam Finger, Troy Mills; 3. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 4. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schmuecker, Marengo; 5. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 6. 81 Jesse Belez/Steven Keiser, Marengo; 7. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids; DNS 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids.
Feature - 1. Belez/Keiser; 2. Steggall/Lewis; 3. Peiffer/Finger; 4. Keiser/Schmuecker; 5. Kruse/Kimm; 6. Mazur/Miller; 7. Albert/Happel; 8. McDonald/Lewis.