Hurst, Shepherd, Irvine, Luhmann get Buchanan County Fair wins in Independence

 

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 16) – Kevin Hurst took the lead early and then survived a late caution to win the IMCA Northern SportMod feature Wednesday night at Independence Motor Speedway. The special event was held to kick off the 2014 Buchanan County Fair.

Paul Shepherd won in the IMCA Stock Car division, Benji Irvine topped the IMCA Hobby Stocks and Curt Luhmann won in the first-ever appearance of the Micro Mod division in Independence.

Second row starter Hurst took the lead from pole-sitter Kyle Bentley on the fourth lap of the 15-lap SportMod main.

Hurst extended his advantage before Jim Buhlman settled into second a short time later. Buhlman reeled in the leader and attempted to work the low groove around Hurst.

Hurst had successfully fought off all challenges and made his way through slower traffic when caution slowed action shortly after the white flag waved. The stoppage set up a green, white, checkered dash to the finish.

When racing resumed, Hurst fought off more pressure from Buhlman to drive to victory. Shawn Ritter took advantage of the late restart to come home third.

Jarod Weepie held the early lead in the 18-lap Stock Car feature. He paced the field while Shepherd made his way into second on lap three.

Shepherd chased Weepie until he inched ahead at the stripe with seven laps complete and just before the caution flag waved.

Shepherd led the field back to green while Phil Holtz worked through traffic from a fifth row starting spot and into second with five laps to go.

Holtz cut into the lead, however Shepherd held on to score the victory. Tim Helle ran third.

A five-car battle at the front of the pack highlighted the 15-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Jamie Whitaker held the early lead until a trio of his pursuers went three-wide and made contact exiting turn two with six laps scored complete.

After the dust cleared, Irvine restarted in second and chased Whitaker for one lap before making his way into the lead. Irvine pulled away to score the win, his fifth of the season at the speedway and his 10th of the year. Whitaker ran second ahead of Brian Happel.

The Micro Mod division made an appearance for the Buchanan County Fair special and a great field of 15 entries signed in to compete.

From his outside front row starting spot, Curt Luhmann took command early and pulled away from the pack. A multi-car battle for second was decided late in the 15-lap feature when Jacob Steere secured the position with four laps to go.

Luhmann cruised to the win ahead of Steere and John Hershberger.

The regular racing program will have this Saturday off as country music star Chris Cagle will be performing live Saturday night.

The next racing event at the speedway is Thursday, July 24, when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and XSAN Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds share top-billing. Weekly racing will resume Saturday, July 26.

For a detailed schedule of events for the Buchanan County Fair, log on to www.buchanancountyfair.org. The latest speedway news may be found at www.independencemotorspeedway.com.

RESULTS IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 2. 7H Phil Holtz, Manchester; 3. 15T Tim Helle, Garnavillo; 4. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 5. 87A Aaron Matthias, Fairbank; 6. 8 Sean Johnson, Independence; 7. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 8. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 9. 3C Ryan Coleman, Vinton; 10. 62G Adam Gebel, Cedar Falls; 11. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 12. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 13. 17 Jason Niedert, Evansdale; 14. 11 Jesse Brown, Nashua; 15. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 16. 38 Matt Brown, Marion. First heat – 1. Gebel; 2. Weepie; 3. Johnson; 4. Damme; 5. J. Brown; 6. Helle; 7. Chesmore; 8. M. Brown. Second heat – 1. Shepherd; 2. Matthias; 3. Holtz; 4. Rose; 5. Coleman; 6. Ebaugh; 7. Hocken; DNS Niedert.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. 339 Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 7SR Shawn Ritter, Keystone; 4. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 5. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo; 6. 35 Kyle Bentley, Independence; 7. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 8. 32Z Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 9. 86U Rod McDonald, Manchester; 10. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 11. 39 Brian Hilbert, Independence; 12. 29 Sean Vogt, Watkins; 13. 96 Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 14. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 15. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 16. 19J Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 17. 17 Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 18. 21J Joe Harken, Waterloo; 19. 6M Mike McNeal, Van Horne; 20. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana. First heat – 1. Bentley; 2. Siems; 3. Zwanziger; 4. Hilbert; 5. Schulze; 6. Harken; 7. McNeal. Second heat – 1. Hurst; 2. McCahen; 3. Buhlman; 4. Ritter; 5. Vogt; 6. Burrell. Third heat – 1. Gustin; 2. Krall; 3. Sellers; 4. Burkhart; 5. Lundry; 6. Robinson; 7. McDonald.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 2. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein; 3. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; 4. 23 Chad Albert, Cedar Rapids; 5. 35B Shawn Kuennen, Hazleton; 6. 87M Milo Matthias, Cocoa, Fla.; 7. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 8. 95 Matt Lundry, Oelwein; 9. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 10. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 11. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 12. 20B Matt Burmeister, Dunkerton; 13. 14C Leah Wroten, Independence; 14. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; DNS 82 Billy Rhoades, Maynard. First heat – 1. Kuennen; 2. Matthias; 3. Vanous; 4. Burmeister; 5. Rhoades; 6. Wroten; 7. Lundry; 8. Keiser. Second heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Miller; 3. Whitaker; 4. Happel; 5. Brown; 6. Albert; 7. Ball.

MICRO MOD Feature – 1. 8 Curt Luhmann, Rushford, Minn.; 2. 49 Jacob Steere, Tripoli; 3. 9F John Hershberger, Rochester, Minn.; 4. 5 Eli Hershberger, Mabel, Minn.; 5. 7 Adam Rogich, Decorah; 6. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 7. 00 Brody Willett, Alburnett; 8. 1 Chuck Ihde, Decorah; 9. 21 Joel Luhmann, Rushford, Minn.; 10. 111A A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 11. 71 Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 12. 21D Dorsey Steere, Tripoli; 13. 18 Jeff Davis, La Porte City; 14. 26 Mason Schwake, Sumner; DNS 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha. First heat – 1. J. Steere; 2. E. Hershberger; 3. Cordes; 4. J. Luhmann; 5. Ihde; 6. Willett; 7. Davis; 8. D. Steere. Second heat – 1. C. Luhmann; 2. Witten; 3. J. Hershberger; 4. Erger; 5. Rogich; 6. Schwake; DNS Pate.

Category: Independence, Iowa