Murty cashes in during 300th Stock Car feature at Independence Motor Speedway

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 6, 2013) – Damon Murty’s first trip this season to Independence Motor Speedway paid off in a big way Saturday night. Murty pocketed $1,200 for winning the track’s 300th Stock Car feature in weekly racing history.

Already billed as a $1,000-to-win show, Doug Cue of Superior Cleaning Services offered an additional $200 to the winner of the 25-lapper.

Murty started outside of the front row in the draw/redraw event and led the field through a trio of cautions over the first four laps. One of those cautions forced points leader John Emerson to the pits for quick repairs, leaving him at the tail of the field when he returned.

Jesse Brown and Tony Schimmels traded time in the runner-up spot while Murty paced the field. Sean Johnson worked his way from a fourth row start and into second just prior to the lap four caution. By that time, Emerson worked his way back into 12th in the 20-car field.

Johnson pressured Murty on the low side numerous times while Emerson marched through traffic and into the top five on lap 11. They were running in those same positions when the caution flag waved a final time one lap later.

On the restart, Johnson kept pace with Murty while Emerson made his way into the top three. Emerson chased Johnson until making the pass for second with four laps to go while Murty added to his lead. Emerson cut into the deficit in the waning laps, but came up a couple of car-lengths short at the line as Murty made his way to victory lane.

Five different drivers spent time at the front of a classic IMCA Modified feature. Adam Johnson held the point for the first two circuits of the 20-lapper until Shawn Ryan took charge on lap three. Meanwhile, Ronn Lauritzen raced the low groove into contention from a fifth row start.

Lauritzen swept beneath the front-runners to assume command on lap four and quickly pulled away from traffic. Vern Jackson went to work on the top groove and started to cut into Lauritzen’s advantage. Jackson worked the top side by Lauritzen for the lead just past the midway point and held the top spot until the caution flag waved on lap 13.

On the restart, Jackson went back to the top side with Lauritzen close behind and J.D. Auringer in pursuit. Lauritzen regained the lead one lap later while Auringer battled Jackson for second. Auringer slipped past Jackson just before the caution flag waved a final time with two laps to go.

When racing resumed a final time, Jackson quickly returned to the top side with Lauritzen committed to the low groove. Auringer put his #00J in between the leaders to sneak through for the lead. He led the final circuit to take the thrilling win, his third of the season.

From his third row starting spot, Rick Dralle quickly made his way to the front in the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature. Dralle rocketed to the lead on the low groove as the field made its way off turn two on the first lap. He quickly pulled away from the pack until caution slowed action on lap five.

Dralle led Drew Johnson and Rory Metcalf back to the green flag while Darren Ackerman was advancing through the field from his seventh row starting spot. Ackerman restarted sixth following the lap five yellow, then patiently worked his way through the pack.

Dralle’s lead was over half of a straightaway when Ackerman made his way beneath Johnson for second on lap 16. Ackerman quickly cut into the lead and chased Dralle through traffic, however Dralle held on for his second win of the season.

Kevin Hurst took the lead on the second lap, then survived four cautions to earn his first-ever win in the IMCA Northern SportMod division. Hurst held off a hard-charing Austin Kaplan, who started 20th, to earn the milestone victory.

Chris Luloff drove to his fifth win of the season in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Luloff started in row five, but made his way through traffic and past race-long leader Matt Lundry to assume command in just five laps. He beat Justin Stander to the checkers.

Adam Gates earned his seventh straight win in the IMCA Sport Compact division. Gates made his way past Travis Ross at around the midway point of that 12-lapper to score the victory, his eighth of the season.

RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL Feature – 1. 1 Rick Dralle (Waterloo); 2. 53 Darren Ackerman (Readlyn); 3. 88 Drew Johnson (Belle Plaine); 4. 45 Curt Martin (Independence); 5. 2 Rory Metcalf (West Union); 6. 2P Jon Passick (Waterloo); 7. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah); 8. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 9. 83 Russell Hesse (Waterloo); 10. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 11. 7 Greg Hunter (Independence); 12. 4 Leon Thomsen (Waverly); 13. 54 Wayne Hesse (Waterloo); 14. 19 Kelly Pestka (Preston); 15. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr. (Washburn); 16. 21B Joel Brasch (Dunkerton); 17. 99 Luke Pestka (Robins). First heat – 1. L. Pestka; 2. Passick; 3. Hackwell; 4. Bruening; 5. Metcalf; 6. Hamilton; 7. R. Hesse; 8. Thomsen. Second heat – 1. K. Pestka; 2. Johnson; 3. Martin; 4. Hunter; 5. Dralle; 6. Brasch; 7. Ackerman; 8. Wagner; 9. W. Hesse.

IMCA MODIFIED Feature – 1. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 3. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 4. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 5. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 6. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 7. 91 Shawn Ryan (Waterloo); 8. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 9. 505 Racer Hulin (Laurel); 10. 93K Jeff Kriz (Waterloo); 11. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 12. 75 Josh Sherbon (Cedar Falls); 13. 41P Keith Pittman (Waterloo); 14. 171 Buck Swanson (Waterloo); 15. 5 Jason Morehouse (Evansdale); 16. 17 Justin Buehler (Oelwein); 17. 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo); 18. 66 Terry Johnson (Waterloo); 19. 77 Tim McBride (Denver); 20. 24R Adam Johnson (Independence); 21. 8 Tony Snyder (Readlyn); 22. 26P Kevin Pittman (Waterloo); 23. 27 Jamie Johnson (Waterloo); 24. 57B Dennis Betzer (Central City); DNS 23 J.J. Scott (Iowa City). First heat – 1. Droste; 2. Cordes; 3. Hulin; 4. Kevin Pittman; 5. Jensen; 6. Thomas; 7. T. Johnson; 8. Buehler. Second heat – 1. Lauritzen; 2. Ryan; 3. Flannagan; 4. A. Johnson; 5. Snyder; 6. J. Johnson; 7. McBride; 8. Keith Pittman. Third heat – 1. Schulte; 2. Jackson; 3. Auringer; 4. Sherbon; 5. Swanson; 6. Kriz; 7. Morehouse; 8. Betzer; DNS Scott.

IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 99D Damon Murty (Chelsea); 2. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 3. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 4. 47 Scott Pippert (Elberon); 5. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 6. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 7. 00 Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 8. 11 Jesse Brown (Nashua); 9. 6G Scotty Anderson (Mason City); 10. 566 Jim Lynch (Donnellson); 11. 15T Tim Helle (Garnavillo); 12. 17R Derek Reimer (Marshalltown); 13. 83E Thomas Thompson (Hopkinton); 14. 81 K.C. Ansel (Dubuque); 15. 12 Cole Mather (Fairbank); 16. 22K Kevin Rose (Waterloo); 17. K38 Ken Taylor (Strawberry Point); 18. 9 Austin Evens (Independence); 19. 11J Jerome Jacoby (Waterloo); 20. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence); 21/DNS. 7H Phil Holtz (Manchester). First heat – 1. Johnson; 2. Weepie; 3. Brown; 4. Taylor; 5. Thompson; 6. Rose; 7. Anderson. Second heat – 1. Emerson; 2. Chesmore; 3. Pippert; 4. Mather; 5. Ansel; 6. Holtz; 7. Jacoby. Third heat – 1. Murty; 2. Helle; 3. Lynch; 4. Schimmels; 5. Reimer; 6. Evens; 7. Hocken.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. 339 Kevin Hurst (Janesville); 2. 1 Austin Kaplan (Des Moines); 3. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 4. 86U Rod McDonald (Manchester); 5. 63 Matt McCahen (Waterloo); 6. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 7. 20T Scott Thomas (Waterloo); 8. 32Z Alex Zwanziger (Nashua); 9. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 10. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo); 11. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 12. 21J Joe Harken (Waterloo); 13. 50H Steve Wimer (Toddville); 14. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 15. 114 Mike Nielsen (Evansdale); 16. 7 Dave Fangman (Marion); 17. 96 Lucas Lundry (Maynard); 18. S16 Kip Siems (Cedar Falls); 19. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 20. 39 Brian Hilbert (Independence); 21. 57R Ryan King (Montour); 22. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone). First heat – 1. Hurst; 2. Lundry; 3. Hilbert; 4. Zwanziger; 5. McCahen; 6. Wimer; 7. Schulze. Second heat – 1. Dvorak; 2. Buhlman; 3. Thomas; 4. McDonald; 5. Nielsen; 6. Ebaugh; 7. Kaplan. Third heat – 1. Chipp; 2. Maitland; 3. Siems; 4. Hilmer; 5. Sellers; 6. King; 7. Harken; 8. Fangman.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 67 Justin Stander (Shellsburg); 3. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 4. 73 Quinton Miller (Independence); 5. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 6. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 7. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 8. 55 Vince Buchholz (Waterloo); 9. 20B Matt Burmeister (Dunkerton); 10. 95 Matt Lundry (Oelwein); 11. 19B James Sheldon (Marion); 12. T64 Jeremiah Wilson (Waterloo); 13. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 14. 14C Leah Wroten (Independence); 15. 58B Randy Byerly (Tipton); 16. 10MW Mile Wilson (Jesup); 17. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 18. 75D Dale Kite (Keystone); 19. 21J Jonathon Juett (Belle Plaine); DQ 18X Dru Kueker (West Union). First heat – 1. Ballard; 2. Buchholz; 3. Lundry; 4. Kuennen; 5. Burmeister; 6. Harken; 7. Kite. Second heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Wacha; 3. Stander; 4. Wroten; 5. Wilson; 6. Sheldon; 7. Kueker. Third heat – 1. Miller; 2. Luloff; 3. Ball; 4. Wilson; 5. Byerly; 6. Vanous.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT Feature – 1. 007 Adam Gates (Marion); 2. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 3. 83 Travis Ross (Waterloo); 4. 2K Derek Ihde (Fayette); 5. 4 Mike Tedesco (Jesup); 6. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 7. 1D Dakota Schroyer (West Union); 8. 7X Zach Marmann (Elkader). Heat – 1. Ross; 2. Chandler; 3. Gates; 4. Tedesco; 5. Schroyer; 6. Witten; 7. Marmann; 8. Ihde.

Category: Independence, Iowa