Flannagan fastest in IMCA Modifieds
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (May 12) – Patrick Flannagan fought off challenges from a handful of drivers on the way to his first IMCA Modified win in nearly four years at Independence Motor Speedway.
Jeff Kriz held the early lead in the 20-lapper with Jeff Streeter in pursuit. Flannagan, meanwhile, worked from a third row starting spot and made his way past Streeter after two laps. He snuck past Kriz on the following circuit to take the lead before caution slowed action on the fourth lap.
On the restart, Flannagan held the point while receiving heavy pressure from Vern Jackson. As Flannagan led, Ronn Lauritzen made his way through traffic and into the third position on lap five after starting in the sixth row.
While Flannagan held a couple of car-lengths over his pursuers, Troy Cordes and opening night winner Mark Schulte drove into contention from their mid-pack starts. Flannagan’s chasers swapped positions until the only other stoppage on lap 13.
On the restart, Schulte continued his march to the front running the high side while Flannagan remained committed to the low groove. Schulte swept past Jackson, Lauritzen and Cordes and pulled even with the leader a short time later.
Flannagan proved too strong on the bottom as he marched to the victory, his first since June of 2008. Lauritzen edged Schulte at the line for second.
Defending IMCA Stock Car track champion Sean Johnson earned his first win of the season in that 18-lapper. From his fourth row starting spot, Johnson raced through traffic while pole-sitter John Emerson paced the field.
Following a lap two caution, Johnson made his way into second, then followed the leader until making his bid for the top spot on lap eight. Following a restart on that lap, Johnson drove away from the field to take the checkers ahead of a hard-charging Norman Chesmore and Emerson.
Kip Siems topped the 15-lap IMCA SportMod main event to earn his first-ever win at Independence. From his pole position start, Siems had the field covered early and survived a pair of mid-race cautions to take the win ahead of Jim Buhlman. Sam Wieben took the early season points lead by securing a third place finish.
Chris Luloff took the early lead in the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. His time out front, however, was short-lived when he was penalized for back-to-back jackrabbit and quick restarts following a lap one caution.
Jerome Wilson inherited the point for the ensuing restart, but received constant pressure from a handful of drivers who engaged in terrific two and three-wide battles at the front of the pack for much of the event.
As the lead pack battled for position, Scott Pippert started his march to the front from a sixth row starting spot. Pippert swept to the outside of Wilson at the midway point then walked away from the pack to take the win when the event timed out following a lap 10 caution. Justin Stander emerged from the pack to take second ahead of Wilson.
Bryan Klein suffered a fate similar to Luloff’s in the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature. Although he led throughout the first half of the event, Klein was sent to the tail following a mid-race restart after being warned of an uneven start at the beginning of the race.
This left Jeff Aikey on the point for a lap 10 caution, a position he did not relinquish. Aikey held the lead over the final 15 circuits to take the win ahead of Dean Wagner and opening night winner Curt Martin.
FEATURE RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL – 1. 77A Jeff Aikey; 2. 60 Dean Wagner; 3. 45 Curt Martin; 4. 98 Travis Smock; 5. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr.; 6. 68 Tysus Pattee; 7. 2P Jon Passick; 8. 88 Drew Johnson; 9. 4D Rick Dralle; 10. 16 Tyler Bruening; 11. 38S Dain Sires; 12. 73 Greg Kastli; 13. 5W Scott Welsh; 14. 25 Bryan Klein; 15. 3X Chad Lerch; 16. 7 Greg Hunter; 17. 21B Joel Brasch; 18. 4 Leon Thomsen; 19. 14 Tracey Rigel.
IMCA MODIFIED – 1. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 2. 10K Ronn Lauritzen; 3. 27M Mark Schulte; 4. 64 Vern Jackson; 5. 18 Jerry Luloff; 6. 71 Troy Cordes; 7. 1J Jeff Streeter; 8. 24R Adam Johnson; 9. 83C Todd Conrad; 10. 01 Ed Thomas; 11. 93K Jeff Kriz; 12. 1X Stephen Streeter; 13. 98 Jason Snyder; 14. 11 Timm Jensen; 15. 5 Jason Morehouse; 16. 27 Jamie Johnson; 17. 11B Mike Burbridge; 18. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch; 19. 80 Jerry Dedrick.
IMCA STOCK CAR – 1. 8R Sean Johnson; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore; 3. 87 John Emerson; 4. JR3 Jason Hocken; 5. 94 Steven Meyer; 6. 3 Jarod Weepie; 7. G1 Mike Padden; 8. 89B Dave Stricker; 9. 7H Phil Holtz; 10. 83E Thomas Thompson; 11. 9E Austin Evens; 12. 00 Tony Schimmels; 13. 37C Roger Ciesielski; 14. 17 Jason Niedert; 15. 11J Jerome Jacoby; 16. 4JR Russell Damme Jr.; 17. 85 Bryce Carey; 18. 15T Tim Helle; 19. 21 Joe Harken.
IMCA SPORTMOD – 1. S16 Kip Siems; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman; 3. 198 Sam Wieben; 4. 63 Matt McCahen; 5. J2 Dave Schulze; 6. 3R Danny Dvorak; 7. 66E Cory Evans; 8. 28P Rick Paulson; 9. 39 Brian Hilbert; 10. Brandon Smith; 11. 50H Steve Wimer; 12. 11S Al Sweerin; 13. 11M Mike Mitchell; 14. 23W Robert Whalen; DNS 14 Shane Ebaugh; DNS 29 Sean Vogt.
IMCA HOBBY STOCK – 1. 47 Scott Pippert; 2. 67 Justin Stander; 3. 64 Jerome Wilson; 4. 25 Jamie Whitaker; 5. 5 Marcus Wayne; 6. 14G Curt Graham; 7. 7B Jim Ball Jr.; 8. 26 Nathan Christie; 9. 73 Quinton Miller; 10. 45 Justin Wacha; 11. 12J Jeremy Floyd; 12. 55 Vince Buchholz; 13. 18 Chris Luloff; 14. 10MW Mike Wilson; 15. 20W Bruce Fraser; 16. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson; 17. 6JN Justin Ginther; 18. 90 Lowell Potter; 19. 14J Jacob Floyd; 20. 166 Justin Lichty; 21. 20B Matt Burmeister; 22. 82 Billy Rhoades; 23. 77 Rod Grother; 24. 79 Benji Irvine; DNS 99 Erick Knutsen.
