Emerson, Sherbon, Brown continue trend of first-time winners in Independence

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (May 10) – For the third straight week, three drivers became first-time winners at Independence Motor Speedway. For two of them, the victories were the first of their careers in their respective divisions.

John Emerson had won numerous IMCA Stock Car features in recent years in Independence, but it took just the third night of the season for the first-year IMCA Late Model driver to find victory lane.

From his second row starting spot, Emerson quickly worked past front row starters Joel Brasch and Rick Wendling to assume command. He paced the field through a handful of cautions over the first six laps before the race went non-stop over the final 19 circuits of the 25-lap feature.

Emerson held the point while Wendling and Dean Wagner tussled for second following the final restart. He pulled away from the pack until Wendling broke free from Wagner. Wendling chased down the leader and pulled to within a car-length as Emerson worked lapped traffic late in the event.

Emerson held on to lead the event in its entirety on his way to the first Late Model win of his career. Wendling finished a close second ahead of Wagner.

Josh Sherbon experienced success of his own in the IMCA Northern SportMods, however the third year IMCA Modified driver was still in search of his first win in that division entering Saturday night.

Sherbon picked up his first career Modified win in dominant fashion by leading all 20 laps and taking the checkers by a sizable margin ahead of Ronn Lauritzen. Patrick Flannagan finished third.

Jesse Brown had one IMCA Stock Car win to his credit entering Saturday night, however he was in search of his first win on the Independence oval. By night’s end, Brown was the third first-time winner to visit victory lane.

Justin Stander held the early lead in that 18-lapper while Brown pursued. Brown took command just prior to a lap four caution and then held off a hard-charging Jarod Weepie to earn his first win at the speedway. Paul Shepherd finished third.

Rod McDonald led all 15 laps of the IMCA Northern SportMod feature to take his first win of the season and the second of his career in Independence. Danny Dvorak made an impressive run from the 19th starting spot to take runner-up honors. Kevin Hurst crossed the line in third.

Benji Irvine became the speedway’s first repeat winner of the season as he topped the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Irvine, also the winner on opening night, worked around race-long leader Jamie Whitaker with five laps to go to sail to victory. Whitaker and Jacob Keiser completed the top three.

RESULTS
IMCA LATE MODEL
Feature – 1. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 2. 78 Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 3. 60 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 4. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 5. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 6. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 7. 99 Luke Pestka, Robins; 8. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 9. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 10. 2 Rory Metcalf, West Union; 11. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 12. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 13. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 14. 12 Ron Klein, Sherrill; 15. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 16. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 17. 32 Chris Snyder, Raymond; 18. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 19. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 20. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 21. 5W Scott Welsh, Cedar Rapids; 22. 54 Wayne Hesse, Waterloo; 23. 11 Lyle Klein, Sherrill; 24. 53 Darren Ackerman, Readlyn.
First heat – 1. Pestka; 2. Passick; 3. King; 4. Brasch; 5. Metcalf; 6. R. Hesse; 7. Thomsen; 8. W. Hesse.
Second heat – 1. Wendling; 2. Wagner; 3. Ackerman; 4. Hamilton; 5. Droste; 6. Hansen; 7. Snyder; DNS Welsh.
Third heat – 1. Emerson; 2. Martin; 3. L. Klein; 4. D. Johnson; 5. Kastli; 6. R. Klein; 7. Hackwell; 8. S. Johnson.

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature – 1. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 5. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 6. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 7. 92 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 8. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 9. 26J Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 10. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 11. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 12. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 13. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 14. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 15. 17R Derek Reimer, St. Anthony; 16. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 17. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 18. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 19. 10 Kaleb Bentley, Fairbank; 20. 5 Jason Morehouse, Evansdale; 21. 14 Tom Hanson, Vinton.
First heat – 1. Sherbon; 2. Lauritzen; 3. Droste; 4. Auringer; 5. Bentley; 6. Flannagan; 7. Hanson; 8. Hogan; 9. Betzer; 10. Pittman.
Second heat – 1. Thomas; 2. Johnson; 3. Jackson; 4. Kriz; 5. Docekal; 6. Reimer; 7. Rust; 8. Cordes; 9. Schulte; DNS Morehouse, DNS Dedrick.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature – 1. 11 Jesse Brown, Nashua; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 4. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 5. 15T Tim Helle, Garnavillo; 6. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 7. 37C Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 8. 74C Cole Mather, Dundee; 9. 17 Jason Niedert, Evansdale; 10. K38 Ken Taylor, Strawberry Point; 11. 6X Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 12. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 13. 7C Blake Cole, Nashua; 14. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 15. 11J Jerome Jacoby, Waterloo; 16. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; DNS 38 Matt Brown, Marion.
First heat – 1. J. Brown; 2. Weepie; 3. Ciesielski; 4. Ahrendsen; 5. Helle; 6. Mather; 7. Jacoby; 8. Hocken; DNS M. Brown.
Second heat – 1. Stander; 2. Rose; 3. Chesmore; 4. Cole; 5. Shepherd; 6. Reimer; 7. Taylor; 8. Damme.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD
Feature – 1. 86U Rod McDonald, Manchester; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 3. 339 Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 4. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 5. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo; 6. 32Z Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 7. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 8. 19G Gatlin Leytham, Garwin; 9. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 10. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 11. 29 Sean Vogt, Watkins; 12. 64 Zach McKinnon, Hatley, Wis.; 13. 50H Steve Wimer, Toddville; 14. 35 Kyle Bentley, Independence; 15. 96 Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 16. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 17. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 18. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 19. 36 Jake Salisbury, Dunkerton; 20. 49 Brandon Smith, Quasqueton; 21. 39 Brian Hilbert, Independence.
First heat – 1. McDonald; 2. Lundry; 3. Bentley; 4. Buhlman; 5. Hilbert; 6. Vogt; 7. Dvorak.
Second heat – 1. McCahen; 2. Zwanziger; 3. Hurst; 4. Smith; 5. Leytham; 6. Burrell; 7. Wimer.
Third heat – 1. Sellers; 2. Siems; 3. McKinnon; 4. Schulze; 5. Robinson; 6. Salisbury; 7. Heishman.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature – 1. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 2. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein; 3. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 4. 5 Marcus Wayne, Independence; 5. T64 Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 6. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 7. 83W Matt White, Nashua; 8. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 9. 35B Shawn Kuennen, Hazleton; 10. 14C Leah Wroten, Independence; 11. 58B Randy Byerly, Tipton; 12. 95 Matt Lundry, Oelwein; 13. 23 Chad Albert, Cedar Rapids; 14. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 15. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 16. 20B Matt Burmeister, Dunkerton.
First heat – 1. Whitaker; 2. Irvine; 3. Wayne; 4. Wroten; 5. Wacha; 6. Byerly; 7. Vanous; 8. Albert.
Second heat – 1. White; 2. Ball; 3. Lundry; 4. Burmeister; 5. Wilson; 6. Happel; 7. Keiser; 8. Kuennen.

Category: Independence, Iowa