Ackerman earns emotional IMCA Late Model win at Independence Motor Speedway

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (June 22, 2013) – “I didn’t know if I’d ever make it back here. I just can’t describe it.”

Those were the words spoken by Darren Ackerman as he fought back tears in victory lane after winning the IMCA Late Model feature Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway.

Ackerman, who was diagnosed with colon cancer in late 2011, sat out the 2012 season to fight and beat the disease. In just his seventh night back behind the wheel, Ackerman scored the 17th Late Model win of his career Saturday night on the Independence oval.

Pole-sitter Greg Hunter held the early advantage while Ackerman raced the low groove to the front from a fourth row starting spot. A trio of cautions over the first five laps kept the field close and allowed Ackerman to make his charge to the front by the time the third and final caution flag waved.

On the lap five restart, Ackerman pulled away from the field while Luke Merfeld battled Hunter for second. Merfeld made his way around Hunter on lap nine while points leader Tyler Bruening was charging through the pack from a sixth row starting spot.

Ackerman, meanwhile, pulled away to a straightaway advantage before encountering lapped traffic on the 18th circuit. By that time, Bruening fought his way into third and reeled in Merfeld to battle for second. Ackerman made his way through the backmarkers with ease to score the emotional victory. Merfeld held off Bruening to take second.

John Emerson won a thriller in the IMCA Stock Car division. Emerson followed Sean Johnson to the front on the high side of the speedway before they entered a terrific three-wide battle for the lead with Norman Chesmore.

Emerson made his way to the front just past the midway point, then led the field back to green with Johnson on his rear bumper following a lap 12 restart. Johnson worked around the outside of Emerson to steal the lead before Emerson powered back to the inside to take charge as the white flag waved. Emerson led the final circuit to take his fifth win of the year ahead of Johnson and Chesmore.

Ronn Lauritzen earned his first win of the season in the IMCA Modified division. From his second row start, Lauritzen chased front row starter Vern Jackson and Mark Schulte at the front of the 25-car field.

Lauritzen settled into second on lap six, then worked around Jackson just prior to a lap 10 caution. Lauritzen led the final half of the event going away to earn the victory ahead of Schulte and a hard-charging J.D. Auringer.

A trio of divisions were competing for increased purse money due to the rainout of a special event for those classes earlier this month.

Earning a $500 payday in the IMCA Northern SportMods was Joel Rust, who put on a clinic in that 15-lapper. Rust shot into the lead at the drop of the green, then built a straightaway advantage before the caution flag waved on lap 10.

Austin Kaplan, who started 12th, made his way into second prior to the stoppage and pressured Rust on the restart. Running the top side of turns one and two and the low groove in turns three and four, Kaplan attempted to mount a challenge, however Rust was dialed in and sailed to the win, his first in two appearances at the speedway this season.

Benji Irvine made his way to the front on the third lap in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock main. Irvine paced the field while Nathan Ballard worked the low side and Jamie Whitaker ran the top groove into contention. The front-runners ran in that order when the second and final caution slowed action with three laps to go.

On the restart, Whitaker pulled along the top side of Irvine while Irvine was protecting the low groove from Ballard. The leaders ran in side-by-side formation until Whitaker pulled ahead at the stripe to take the exciting victory and earn the $300 winner’s share.

Adam Gates earned his sixth win in seven nights in the IMCA Sport Compact division. After battling Dakota Schroyer early, Gates made his way to the front just prior to a lap three caution. He pulled away over the final nine laps to take the victory in the $200-to-win event.

Next Saturday is the Budweiser Mid-Season Championships program. Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6 and racing to follow. Then, on Tuesday, July 2, the Deery Brothers Summer Series for IMCA Late Models makes its first of two visits this season to Independence. SportMods and Hobby Stocks will join the Late Models on July 2.

For more the latest speedway news, visit www.independencemotorspeedway.com.

RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL Feature – 1. 53 Darren Ackerman (Readlyn); 2. 21M Luyke Merfeld (Dubuque); 3. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah); 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr. (Washburn); 5. 99 Luke Pestka (Robins); 6. 77S Stephan Kammerer (Blue Grass); 7. 88 Drew Johnson (Belle Plaine); 8. 7 Greg Hunter (Independence); 9. 1 Rick Dralle (Waterloo); 10. 2P Jon Passick (Waterloo); 11. 73 Greg Kastli (Waterloo); 12. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 13. 2 Rory Metcalf (West Union); 14. 12 Don Pataska (Miles); 15. 83 Russell Hesse (Waterloo); 16. 35 Curran Beckler (Tiffin); 17. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 18. 19 Kelly Pestka (Preston); 19. 4 Leon Thomsen (Waverly); 20. C41 Jim Aschenbrenner (Aplington); 21. 23 Keith Kiernan (Dubuque); DNS 21B Joel Brasch (Dunkerton).

First heat – 1. Bruening; 2. L. Merfeld; 3. Wagner; 4. Dralle; 5. Hesse; 6. Pataska; 7. Beckler; 8. Kiernan.

Second heat – 1. L. Pestka; 2. Hackwell; 3. Johnson; 4. Kastli; 5. Thomsen; 6. Aschenbrenner; DNS Brasch.

Third heat – 1. Ackerman; 2. Passick; 3. Hunter; 4. Kammerer; 5. K. Pestka; 6. Metcalf; 7. Hamilton.

 

IMCA MODIFIED Feature – 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 2. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 3. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 4. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 5. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 6. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 7. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 8. 93K Jeff Kriz (Waterloo); 9. 92X Jerry King (Waterloo); 10. 23 J.J. Scott (Iowa City); 11. 505 Racer Hulin (Laurel); 12. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 13. 11 Timm Jensen (Dunkerton); 14. 27 Jamie Johnson (Waterloo); 15. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 16. 3X Ryan DeShaw (Dyersville); 17. 5 Jason Morehouse (Evansdale); 18. 98 Jason Snyder (Dunkerton); 19. 17 Justin Buehler (Oelwein); 20. 9M Ben Metcalf (Evansdale); 21. 91 Shawn Ryan (Waterloo); 22. 26P Kevin Pittman (Waterloo); 23. 24R Adam Johnson (Independence); 25. 171 Buck Swanson (Waterloo); DNS/26. 32 Chris Snyder (Raymond).

First heat – 1. Jackson; 2. Cordes; 3. Flannagan; 4. Droste; 5. J. Johnson; 6. Swanson; 7. Snyder; 8. Thomas.

Second heat – 1. Schulte; 2. Hogan; 3. Pittman; 4. Scott; 5. Kriz; 6. Hulin; 7. Buehler; 8. Metcalf. Third heat – 1. Lauritzen; 2. Auringer; 3. DeShaw; 4. King; 5. Ryan; 6. Morehouse; 7. J. Snyder; 8. Johnson; 9. Jensen.

 

IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 2. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 3. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 4. 56T Justin Temeyer (Independence); 5. 15T Tim Helle (Garnavillo); 6. 7H Phil Holtz (Manchester); 7. 11 Jesse Brown (Nashua); 8. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 9. 7 Reggie Rema (Clermont); 10. 11J Jerome Jacoby (Waterloo); 11. 00 Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 12. 17R Derek Reimer (Marshalltown); 13. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence); DNS/14. 17 Jason Niedert (Winthrop).

First heat – 1. Temeyer; 2. Holtz; 3. Helle; 4. Weepie; 5. Jacoby; 6. Niedert; 7. Johnson.

Second heat – 1. Schimmels; 2. Brown; 3. Chesmore; 4. Hocken; 5. Emerson; 6. Reimers; 7. Rema.

 

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. 26J Joel Rust (Grundy Center); 2. 1 Austin Kaplan (Des Moines); 3. S16 Kip Siems (Cedar Falls); 4. 32Z Alex Zwanziger (Nashua); 5. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo); 6. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 7. 9K Troy Bauer (Dubuque); 8. 339 Kevin Hurst (Janesville); 9. 63 Matt McCahen (Waterloo); 10. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 11. 29 Sean Vogt (Watkins); 12. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 13. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 14. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 15. 20T Scott Thomas (Waterloo); 16. 23 Synjun Bauer (Prairie due Chien, Wis.); 17. 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond); 18. 15B Troy Burkhart (Urbana); 19. 114 Mike Nielsen (Evansdale); 20. 39 Brian Hilbert (Independence); 21. 96 Lucas Lundry (Maynard); 22. 35C Casey Heil (Cedar Rapids); 23. 21J Joe Harken (Waterloo); 24. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone). B Feature – 1. Buhlman; 2. Maitland; 3. Vogt; 4. T. Bauer; 5. Burkhart; 6. S. Bauer; 7. McCahen; 8. Thomas; 9. B. Ebaugh; 10. Heil; 11. Nielsen; 12. Harken; 13. 7 Dave Fangman (Marion); 14/DNS 40J Jason Doyle (Cedar Rapids); 15/DNS 50H Steve Wimer (Toddville); DNS 49 Brandon Smith (Waterloo).

First heat – 1. Rust; 2. Hurst; 3. Siems; 4. Sellers; 5. Buhlman; 6. Burkhart; 7. Harken; 8. Heil; 9. B. Ebaugh; DNS Smith.

Second heat – 1. Chipp; 2. Kaplan; 3. Lundry; 4. Schulze; 5. Maitland; 6. Vogt; 7. Thomas; 8. Fangman; 9. Nielsen.

Third heat – 1. Hilmer; 2. Zwanziger; 3. Hilbert; 4. S. Ebaugh; 5. S. Bauer; 6. T. Bauer; 7. McCahen; 8. Doyle; 9. Wimer.

 

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 25 Jamie Whitaker (Oelwein); 2. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 3. 73 Quinton Miller (Independence); 4. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 5. 67 Justin Stander (Shellsburg); 6. 55 Vince Buchholz (Waterloo); 7. 23 Justin Hanson (Hawkeye); 8. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 9. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 10. 46 Brian Happel (Vinton); 11. 09 Brad Forbes (Waterloo); 12. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 13. 14C Leah Wroten (Independence); 14. 12J Jeremy Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 15. 10MW Mike Wilson (Jesup); 16. 14J Jacob Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 17. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 18. 88 Jeremy Peterson (Ridgeway); 19. 57 Malena Betzer (Cedar Rapids); 20. 20B Matt Burmeister (Dunkerton); 21. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 22. 95 Matt Lundry (Oelwein); 23. 21 Jason Williams (Belle Plaine); 24. 126 Nathan Christie (Waterloo); DNS 47 Brayton Boyer (St. Lucas); DQ 166 Justin Lichty (Waterloo).

First heat – 1. Irvine 2. Whitaker; 3. Lichty; 4. Wacha; 5. Burmeister; 6. Peterson; 7. Wilson; 8. Jeremy Floyd; DQ Boyer.

Second heat – 1. Lundry; 2. Vanous; 3. Stander; 4. Forbes; 5. Jacob Floyd; 6. Williams; 7. Kuennen; 8. Ballard; DQ Hanson.

Third heat – 1. Luloff; 2. Ball; 3. Buchholz; 4. Happel; 5. Wroten; 6. Betzer; 7. Miller; 8. Christie.

 

IMCA SPORT COMPACT Feature – 1. 007 Adam Gates (Marion); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 86 Mitchell Balik (Fort Atkinson); 4. 8R Jeff Dvorak (Des Moines); 5. 7X Zach Marmann (Elkader); 6. 22T Travis Losenicky (Garrison); 7. 2K Derek Ihde (Fayette); 8. 4 Mike Tedesco (Jesup); 9. 1418X Arthur Schott (Clermont); 10. 83 Travis Ross (Waterloo); 11. 1D Dakota Schroyer (West Union); 12. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 13. 30 Justin Vargason (Waukon).

First heat – 1. Balik; 2. Marmann; 3. Schroyer; 4. Dvorak; 5. Vargason; 6. Ihde.

Second heat – 1. Gates; 2. Chandler; 3. Witten; 4. Losenicky; 5. Tedesco; 6. Ross; 7. Schott.

Category: Independence, Iowa