Johnson Wins Sunoco Bonus and Suckow Ends Olson Streak in Indee
by Jeremy Fox
Independence, Iowa (August 13th, 2022) – Saturday Night was a cool summer night but the racing action was heated and exciting all night long on the 3/8 mile Independence Motor Speedway. Dunlap Motors IMCA Late Models competed for the Sunoco Race Fuel $250 bonus and the question going in could anybody stop Tony Olson’s streak in the IMCA Sport Mods.
Ninety-eight cars checked in for the next to last race night of the 2022 season. After the heat races, track prep crew went to work to make turns three and four more racy for the features and that turned out to be a fantastic idea as the features were exciting from start to finish. Final checkered flag waived at 9:41pm.
First feature of the night was the 15 lap Burco Sales IMCA Sport Mods feature, the initial start to the race was called back. Robert Patava grab the lead on lap one ahead of Cole Suckow and Josh Fisher but shortly after the caution came out. The caution was for Vern Jackson sitting in turn two after getting spun by Rayce Mullen. Suckow took the race lead on the restart, Tony Olson followed into second after getting by Fisher and Patava. Suckow pulled away only to have Olson get back within a few car lengths. Olson was unable to take the lead away from Suckow allowing Suckow to go on and take his first win of the season to become the third different feature winner in Indee. Olson had his streak end at seven wins in a row, which was the all-time winning streak in Indee, with a runner-up finish. Kip Siems came home in third, Jackson worked his way back to finished fourth and Will Wolf finished fifth.
Just like the previous feature, the Albert Auto IMCA Hobby Stocks 15 lap feature had the initial start called back. On the following restart, the caution came out again when Tyler Ollendieck was spun on the backstretch by Kyler Hefty. Randy LaMar jumped out to the race lead on the third attempt to start the race fending off Shawn Kuennen. Billy Rhoades was able to capitalize when LaMar slipped up on lap four. The caution came out on lap five when Justin Hanson went off the top side of turn two. Rhoades was determined to not let that faze him as he fended off LaMar and Brett Vanous on the restart, Rhoades appeared to be heading on to the the feature win until one more caution on lap 12 forcing a three lap dash. Rhoades held LaMar, Vanous and Kuennen off to go on and take his second win of the season in Indee. LaMar, Vanous, Kuennen and Jordan Miles rounded out the top five.
Jon Passick looked strong in the Dunlap Motors IMCA Late Models 20 lap feature by jumping out to the race lead and pulling away. Track Points Leader Sean Johnson worked his way through the field and into second on lap eight with Dalton Simonsen right behind them. Johnson and Simonsen reeled in Passick as lap traffic started to encounter your leaders but Passick was able to manage them and hang on to the race until two late race cautions. The first caution on lap 15 for Leah Wroten spinning in turn four. Johnson was able to get by Passick for the race lead on the restart and started to get a little separation, only to see the caution come out again on lap 18 when Jerod Ballhagen spun in turn two. Johnson held on to take the feature win on his daughter’s birthday weekend, his fifth win of the season and captured the Sunoco Race Fuels $250 bonus. The win also clinched the track championship in the Late Models. Simonsen came home second, Passick took third, Colton Leal was fourth and Austin Russell was fifth.
Dominator Chassis IMCA Stock Cars 15 lap feature was next on the speedway, Philip Holtz wrestled the early race lead fended off Jason Hocken. Holtz started to pull away meanwhile Kevin Rose, Chris Luloff and Kaden Reynolds got by Hocken went three wide for second on lap two. Holtz continued to lead until the only caution came out on lap eight for Russell Damme Jr in turn four. Reynolds and Holtz battled for the race lead as Cole Mather and Leah Wroten battled for third on lap nine and ten. Reynolds led lap nine, Holtz regained the lead on lap ten but Reynolds refused to go away wrestling it back on lap 11. Mather worked his way into third and then got by Holtz for second on lap 11 and started to challenge Reynolds for the lead. Reynolds hung on to take his fourth win of the season. Mather, Holtz, Wroten and Luloff round out the top five.
Spencer Roggentien led the first four laps of the Waterloo Auto Parts Compacts 12 lap feature event working the bottom side of the speedway. Korey Lana was able to use the top side to grab the top spot away on lap five when Roggentien slipped up. Roggentien was able to capitalize on Lana making the same mistake to regain the lead briefly on lap six. Lana grabbed the lead back on lap seven and pulled away to take his third win of the season. Blake Driscol was able to grab second, Roggentien fell back to third, Matt Miller was fourth and Jaice Tuttle was fifth.
Waterloo Auto Parts Indee Cars (Micro Mods) twelve lap feature saw Owen Rosburg lead the first four laps before Chad Dugan was able to work his way from sixth. Chad Dugan took the race lead on lap five and started to pull away but the caution came out on lap six when Matt Dales spun in turn two. Chad Dugan held on to lead the final six laps to claim his fifth win of the season. Matt Dugan finished second, Carson James was third, Colton Osborn was fourth and Jackson Carey was fifth.
Final feature of the night was the Performance Bodies IMCA Modifieds 20 lap feature event. Josh Barta and Rod McDonald battled for the race lead early even making contact on lap one, Barta led the first lap at the line. McDonald grabbed the race lead on lap two, before caution came out on lap two for Jerry King on the front stretch. McDonald got a great restart and fended off Barta on the restart and pulled away appearing to heading on to the feature win. A caution came out on lap fifteen when Russ Hesse spun on the front stretch. McDonald had to contend with Brennen Chipp, who worked his to second and Barta on the restart. McDonald held them off until just after completed lap 16, when Chipp made contact with McDonald sending him spinning in turn two. That resulted in the caution coming out, McDonald sent to the tail for the caution and Chipp penalized for questionable driving. This resulted in no leader forcing a restart with nobody out front, that allowed Barta to regain the lead. Barta held on to take the feature win, his first win since June 10th, 2017. Troy Cordes, who had an early flat tire worked his back through to finish second. Jerry Dedrick, Dustin Kroening and Jason Morehouse came home third through fifth respectively.
Next Saturday Night August 20th, the Independence Motor Speedway puts a bow on the 2022 season with Season Championships Night. All seven classes will be racing, Dunlap Motors IMCA Late Models, Performance Bodies IMCA Modifieds, Dominator Chassis IMCA Stock Cars, Burco Sales IMCA Sport Mods, Albert Auto IMCA Hobby Stocks, Waterloo Auto Parts Compacts and Waterloo Auto Parts Indee Cars. Pits Open at 4p, Grandstands Open at 4:30p, Hot Laps at 5:30p, Racing at 6p.
Rain Date if needed for Season Championship night is August 27th.
For more information about Independence Motor Speedway check out jjamracing.net or independencemotorspeedway.myracepass.com or like the Facebook page Independence Motor Speedway or contact promoter Mick Trier at (515) 201-5526 or Track manager Justin Temeyer at (563) 920-2867.
Independence Motor Speedway
Weekly Points Night
Saturday August 13th, 2022
IMCA LATE MODELS
presented by Dunlap Motors
Feature (20 laps) : 1. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 2. 60 Dalton Simonsen (Fairfax); 3. 2P Jon Passick (Waterloo); 4. 13JR Colton Leal (Dubuque); 5. 23 Austin Russell (Dunkerton); 6. 192 Chase Jermeland (Decorah); 7. 72 Jerod Ballhagen (Allison); 8. 1425 Leah Wroten (Independence); 9. 1M Mitch Manternach (Dyersville); 10. 62 Brandon Davis (Waterloo).
Heat 1 (8 laps) : 1. Johnson; 2. Passick; 3. Simonsen; 4. Ballhagen; 5. Leal; 6. Russell; 7. Wroten; 8. Jermeland; 9. Davis; 10. Manternach.
IMCA MODIFIEDS
presented by Performance Bodies
Feature (20 laps) : 1. 415 Josh Barta (Cedar Falls); 2. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 3. 80 Jerry Dedrick (Vinton); 4. 56 Dustin Kroening (Hebron, Ill.); 5. 5 Jason Morehouse (Evansdale); 6. 43 Milo Veloz (Colona, Ill.); 7. 0 Dirk Hamilton (Waterloo); 8. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 9. 11B Mike Burbridge (Delhi); 10. 3S Adam Shelman (Traer); 11. 222 Russ Hesse (Waterloo); 12. 70 Jerry King (Waterloo); 13. 49 Rod McDonald (Manchester); 14. 21 Brennen Chipp (Dunkerton); DNS 7 Todd Jensen (Waterloo)
Heat 1 (8 laps) : 1. Barta; 2. Chipp; 3. Hamilton; 4. Cordes; 5. Dedrick; 6. Burbridge; 7. Hesse; 8. Jensen.
Heat 2 (8 laps) : 1. McDonald; 2. Kroening; 3. Morehouse; 4. Veloz; 5. Shelman; 6. King; 7. Maitland.
IMCA STOCK CARS
presented by Dominator Chassis
Feature (20 laps) : 1. 1 Kaden Reynolds (Cedar Rapids); 2. 74C Cole Mather (Oelwein); 3. 7H Philip Holtz (Manchester); 4. 14C Leah Wroten (Independence); 5. 18L Chris Luloff (Independene); 6. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 7. 00T Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 8. 22K Kevin Rose (Waterloo); 9. 4JR Russell Damme Jr (Waterloo); 10. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence); 11. 16 Rob Twaites (Waterloo); 12. 40J Jason Doyle (Marion).
Heat 1 (8 laps) : 1. Reynolds; 2. Luloff; 3. Doyle; 4. Mather; 5. Hocken; 6. Damme.
Heat 2 (8 laps) : 1. Weepie; 2. Holtz; 3. Wroten; 4. Schimmels; 5. Rose; 6. Twaites.
IMCA SPORT MODS
presented by Burco Sales
Feature (15 laps) : 1. 75 Cole Suckow (Cresco); 2. T23 Tony Olson (Cedar Rapids); 3. 16SS Kip Siems (Cedar Falls); 4. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 5. 68 Will Wolf (Evansdale); 6. 105 Taylor Bass (Ackley); 7. 13 Robert Patava (Vinton); 8. 59 Josh Fisher (LaPorte City); 9. B21 Brandon Tharp (Vinton); 10. 77JR Rayce Mullen (Pearl City, Ill.); 11. 17 Ethan Krall (Evansdale); 12. 66 Terry Johnson (Waterloo); 13. 54 Wayne Hesse (Waterloo); 14. 13D Corey Scott (Garrison); 15. 88K Kole Quam (Waterloo); 16. 42 Chris Lewis (Vinton).
Heat 1 (8 laps) : 1. Olson; 2. Suckow; 3. Jackson; 4. Patava; 5. Wolf; 6. Scott; DNS Tharp; DNS Bass.
Heat 2 (8 laps) : 1. Siems; 2. Mullen; 3. Quam; 4. Lewis; 5. Fisher; 6. Hesse; 7. Krall; 8. Johnson.
IMCA HOBBY STOCKS
presented by Albert Auto
Feature (15 laps) : 1. 82 Billy Rhoades (Maynard); 2. 4R Randy LaMar (Buffalo); 3. 357 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 4. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 5. 4 Jordan Miles (Bernard); 6. 146 Leighton Potter (Lake Elmo, Minn.); 7. 06S Adam Streeter (Walker); 8. 3 Dalton Weepie (Dunkerton); 9. 24T Tyler Ollendieck (Tripoli); 10. 55XL Maury VanDerWilt (Lynnville); 11. 18S Gary Ollendieck (Sumner); 12. 72 John Hocking (Darlington, Wis.); 13. 23 Justin Hanson (Hawkeye); 14. 22H Kyler Hefty (Potosi, Wis.); 15. 243 Brycen Wilson (Cuba City, Wis.); 16. M35 Chad Mannion (Waterloo); 17. 03 TJ Harms (Darlington, Wis.).
Heat 1 (8 laps) : 1. LaMar; 2. Kuennen; 3. Hanson; 4. Vanous; 5. Miles; 6. VanDerWilt; 7. Harms; 8. Wilson; 9. Potter.
Heat 2 (8 laps) : 1. Weepie; 2. Rhoades; 3. Hefty; 4. Steeter; 5. Tyler Ollendieck; 6. Mannion; 7. Gary Ollendieck; 8. Hocking.
Heat 3 (8 laps) : 1.
INDEE CARS
presented by Waterloo Auto Parts
Feature (12 laps) : 1. 1 Chad Dugan (Garber); 2. 19 Matt Dugan (Garnavillo); 3. 33 Carson James (Winthrop); 4. 72 Kolton Osborn (Janesville); 5. 392 Jackson Carey (Nashua); 6. 0 Reggie Rema (Clermont); 7. 47 Owen Rosburg (Arlington); 8. 41 Skyler Dugan (Waukon); 9. 79 Matt Dales (Oelwein); 10. 57A David Anderson (Jesup); 11. 25 Dale Schwamman (Fort Atkinson); 12. 8 Brandon Maschman (Stanwood).
Heat 1 (6 laps) : 1. Chad Dugan; 2. Rosburg; 3. Carey; 4. Schwamman; 5. Matt Dugan; 6. Anderson.
Heat 2 (6 laps) : 1. Rema; 2. James; 3. Osborn; 4. Dales; 5. Skyler Dugan; 6. Maschman.
COMPACTS
presented by Waterloo Auto Parts
Feature (12 laps) : 1. 24 Korey Lana (Center Point); 2. 31D Blake Driscol (Dysart); 3. 4R Spencer Roggentien (Amana); 4. 29 Matt Miller (Waterloo); 5. T2 Jaice Tuttle (Vinton); 6. 11H Justin Hempstead (Manchester); 7. 65C Colton Stewart (Vinton); 8. 25 Chris Pittman (Dunkerton); 9. 69M Jeremy Wheeler (Vinton); 10. 04 Aden Knight (Waterloo); 11. 07 Gracie Hempstead (Maquoketa); 12. 58 Aaron Swearingen (Monticello); 13. 13T Noah Beenken (Waterloo); 14. 81 Christopher Mannion (Waterloo); 15. 630C Jaden Massey (North Liberty); DNS 6 Jeff Hess (Dubuque).
Heat 1 (6 laps) : 1. Lana; 2. Driscol; 3. Massey; 4. Beenken; 5. Swearingen; 6. Wheeler; 7. Justin Hempstead; 8. Stewart.
Heat 2 (6 laps) : 1. Roggentien; 2. Miller; 3. Pittman; 4. Knight; 5. Tuttle; 6. Mannion; 7. Hess; 8. Gracie Hempstead.
Category: Iowa