Droste delivers IMCA Modified win on Dan Snyder Night at Independence

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 27) – A huge crowd and a strong field of 109 cars were on-hand Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway to pay tribute to longtime race fan and engine builder Dan Snyder.

Snyder, who was diagnosed earlier this year with Metastatic Esophageal cancer, was recognized by family and friends during a night held in his honor to show their support in his fight against the disease. Fellow racers and friends offered bonus money surpassing $1,500 in the Performance Bodies IMCA Modified and Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod divisions.

Points leader Tyler Droste earned his second win of the year in the Modified 20-lapper and took home $250 in bonus money for his efforts.

Tony Snyder and Mike Burbridge split time at the front of the 27-car field before Shawn Ryan worked the top side into contention from his fourth row starting spot. Following a lap four caution, Ryan swept around Burbridge to assume command while Droste was making his way through traffic from a sixth row start.

Droste found himself in second by the time caution slowed action again on lap eight. He then took two laps following the restart to work the low groove into the lead while Troy Cordes was making his way through the pack from a fifth row starting spot.

Cordes settled into second on the 13th circuit, then chased Droste through lapped traffic as laps wound down. As the leaders were working through turns three and four on the 20th and final lap, a backmarker slowed Cordes’ progress and forced him into a sudden stop, stalling his car. The caution set up a green, white, checker dash with Droste leading Ryan back to green.

Droste maintained the point over the final two laps to take the win ahead of Ryan and a hard-charging Ronn Lauritzen, who advanced 23 positions from his 26th starting spot. Darin Duffy came from 20th to finish fourth and Chris Snyder completed the top five.

Curt Hilmer earned $125 in bonus money by making his first-ever trip to the Independence winner’s circle in the Northern SportMod feature. Hilmer held off Kevin Hurst in lapped traffic to lead the 15-lapper in its entirety on his way to victory.

Another first-time winner, IMCA Late Model driver Rory Metcalf made his first career trip to the winner’s circle in that 25-lap event. Metcalf held off Greg Kastli in lapped traffic to earn the milestone victory.

Jarod Weepie passed race-long leader Jesse Brown on the 14th of 18 laps to take his second win of the year in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division. Brown held on for a career-best second place finish.

Vince Buchholz led throughout most of the 15-lap IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature, but was under constant pressure from Justin Stander, Benji Irvine and Chris Luloff. Luloff powered to the low side of his competitors to take command as the white flag waved on the way to his sixth win of the year. Stander came home a close second ahead of Irvine.

Adam Gates scored his second straight win and his 10th of the year in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact feature. From his second row start, Gates took the lead by the completion of lap one to drive to victory ahead of Steve Miedke.

Andy, Chris, Jason and Tony Snyder took part in a five-lap all-Snyder Shootout to honor their father during intermission. Jason scored the win in that special Modified event.

Next Saturday, August 3 is Veridian Credit Union Night at the Races. That will be followed by the Monday, August 5 special featuring the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and Karl Performance Hawkeye Dirt Tour presented by XSAN. Complete event details are available at www.independencemotorspeedway.com.

RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL Feature – 1. 2 Rory Metcalf (West Union); 2. 73 Greg Kastli (Waterloo); 3. 2P Jon Passick (Waterloo); 4. 53 Darren Ackerman (Readlyn); 5. 45 Curt Martin (Independence); 6. 1 Rick Dralle (Waterloo); 7. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah); 8. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr. (Washburn); 9. 88 Drew Johnson (Belle Plaine); 10. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 11. 98 Travis Smock (Independence); 12. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 13. 9 Bobby Hansen (Center Point); 14. 83 Russell Hesse (Waterloo); 15. 21B Joel Brasch (Dunkerton); 16. 54 Wayne Hesse (Waterloo); 17. 4 Leon Thomsen (Waverly); 18. C41 Jim Aschenbrenner (Aplington); 19. 38S Dain Sires (Cedar Falls); 20. 99 Luke Pestka (Robins); 21. 81 Jon Merfeld (Dubuque); 22. 35 Curran Beckler (Tiffin).

First heat – 1. Passick; 2. Peskta; 3. Hackwell; 4. Bruening; 5. Merfeld; 6. R. Hesse; 7. W. Hesse; 8. Sires.

Second heat – 1. Kastli; 2. Hamilton; 3. Metcalf; 4. Ackerman; 5. Brasch; 6. Hansen; 7. Thomsen.

Third heat – 1. Smock; 2. Beckler; 3. Johnson; 4. Martin; 5. Dralle; 6. Wagner; 7. Aschenbrenner.

 

IMCA MODIFIED Feature – 1. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 2. 91 Shawn Ryan (Waterloo); 3. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 4. 19D Darin Duffy (Urbana); 5. 32 Chris Snyder (Raymond); 6. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 7. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 8. 98 Jason Snyder (Dunkerton); 9. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 10. 41P Keith Pittman (Waterloo); 11. 12J Justin O’Brien (West Union); 12. 24R Adam Johnson (Independence); 13. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 14. 8 Tony Snyder (Readlyn); 15. 66 Terry Johnson (Waterloo); 16. 27 Jamie Johnson (Waterloo); 17. 57B Dennis Betzer (Central City); 18. 11 Timm Jensen (Dunkerton); 19. 415 Josh Barta (Cedar Falls); 20. 5 Jason Morehouse (Evansdale); 21. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 22. 26P Kevin Pittman (Waterloo); 23. 17 Justin Buehler (Oelwein); 24. 75 Josh Sherbon (Cedar Falls); 25. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 26. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 27. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo).

First heat – 1. T. Snyder; 2. Thomas; 3. Auringer; 4. Kevin Pittman; 5. Schulte; 6. O’Brien; 7. Barta; 8. Morehouse; 9. Jackson.

Second heat – 1. Sherbon; 2. Cordes; 3. C. Snyder; 4. Keith Pittman; 5. T. Johnson; 6. A. Johnson; 7. Duffy; 8. Jensen; 9. Lauritzen.

Third heat – 1. Burbridge; 2. Hogan; 3. Droste; 4. Ryan; 5. J. Johnson; 6. Flannagan; 7. Betzer; 8. J. Snyder; 9. Buehler.

 

IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 2. 11 Jesse Brown (Nashua); 3. 15T Tim Helle (Garnavillo); 4. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 5. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 6. 00 Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 7. 6G Scotty Anderson (Mason City); 8. 87A Aaron Matthias (Fairbank); 9. 4JR Russell Damme Jr. (Waterloo); 10. 11J Jerome Jacoby (Waterloo); 11. 85C Bryce Carey (Nashua); 12. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 13. 22K Kevin Rose (Waterloo); 14. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence).

First heat – 1. Anderson; 2. Damme; 3. Schimmels; 4. Matthias; 5. Johnson; 6. Rose; 7. Chesmore.

Second heat – 1. Hocken; 2. Brown; 3. Helle; 4. Weepie; 5. Emerson; 6. Jacoby; 7. Carey.

 

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart); 2. 339 Kevin Hurst (Janesville); 3. 96 Lucas Lundry (Maynard); 4. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo); 5. 32Z Alex Zwanziger (Nashua); 6. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 7. 63 Matt McCahen (Waterloo); 8. 86U Rod McDonald (Manchester); 9. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 10. 29 Sean Vogt (Watkins); 11. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 12. 39 Brian Hilbert (Independence); 13. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 14. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 15. 21J Joe Harken (Waterloo); 16. 80 Steve Miller (Bellevue); 17. 20T Scott Thomas (Waterloo); 18. 114 Mike Nielsen (Evansdale); 19. 50H Steve Wimer (Toddville); 20. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 21. 49 Brandon Smith (Waterloo); DNS 115 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond).

First heat – 1. Schulze; 2. Buhlman; 3. Dvorak; 4. McDonald; 5. Miller; 6. Harken; 7. Wimer; 8. Smith.

Second heat – 1. Hurst; 2. Chipp; 3. Lundry; 4. Maitland; 5. Vogt; 6. Thomas; 7. Nielsen.

Third heat – 1. Hilbert; 2. Hilmer; 3. Zwanziger; 4. McCahen; 5. S. Ebaugh; 6. Sellers; DNS B. Ebaugh.

 

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 2. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 3. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 4. 55 Vince Buchholz (Waterloo); 5. 25 Jamie Whitaker (Oelwein); 6. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 7. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 8. 4T3 T.J. Mortenson (Rowley); 9. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 10. 62 Ryan Bochmann (Waverly); 11. 64 Jerome Wilson (Waterloo); 12. 95 Matt Lundry (Oelwein); 13. 20B Matt Burmeister (Dunkerton); 14. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 15. 18X Dru Kueker (West Union); 16. 87M Milo Matthias (Cocoa, Fla.).

First heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Kueker; 3. Buchholz; 4. Whitaker; 5. Stander; 6. Lundry; 7. Burmeister; 8. Ball.

Second heat – 1. Luloff; 2. Mortenson; 3. Bochmann; 4. Wacha; 5. Vanous; 6. Wilson; 7. Kuennen; 8. Matthias.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT Feature – 1. 007 Adam Gates (Cedar Rapids); 2. 11 Steve Miedke (Shellsburg); 3. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 4. 13 Brannon Bechen (Farley); 5. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 6. 37 Ryan Bryant (Mason City); 7. 83 Travis Ross (Waterloo); DNS 7X Zach Marmann (Elkader).

Heat – 1. Witten; 2. Miedke; 3. Bechen; 4. Ross; 5. Gates; 6. Chandler; 7. Bryant; DNS Marmann.

Category: Independence, Iowa