Lauritzen earns emotional IMCA Modified win at Independence Motor Speedway

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 13) – Just one week following the unexpected death of his sister, IMCA Modified driver Ronn Lauritzen won the feature in her honor Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway.

Lauritzen, who started outside of row five, quickly made his way through the pack and settled into fourth by the time the only caution slowed action after four laps. Kevin Pittman led the field back to green and extended his advantage while Lauritzen made his way past Shawn Ryan and Patrick Flannagan for second one lap later.

Lauritzen had his sights set on the leader when Pittman slowed with mechanical problems on the seventh circuit. While Pittman exited to the pits, Lauritzen inherited the lead and showed the way for the remainder of the 20-lapper to seal the emotional victory. The win, Lauritzen’s third of the season, came ahead of Ryan and Scott Hogan.

Quinton Miller earned his first IMCA Hobby Stock win of the year in exciting fashion. Miller quickly assumed command from his second row starting spot while a trio of drivers positioned themselves behind him.

Jamie Whitaker, Chris Luloff and Benji Irvine chased Miller as they battled for second. Luloff worked the low side of Whitaker for second as the flying green waved and Irvine followed him into third a short time later. Luloff quickly reeled in the leader, however Miller held on to lead the 15-lapper in its entirety to take his first win of the season.

Luke Pestka and Joel Brasch shared time at the front of the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature before third row starter Greg Kastli took command on the fourth circuit. Kastli paced the field following a lap five restart with Drew Johnson and Curt Martin in tow.

Martin swept around Johnson on the restart, then settled in behind Kastli as the leaders pulled away to do battle in lapped traffic. A backmarker provided the pick for Martin on the front stretch as the field completed the 22nd circuit. The slower traffic allowed Martin to sweep around the leader while Kastli slowed for the lapped car. Martin led the final four laps to score the win, his first of the season.

Sean Johnson started last in the 10-car IMCA Stock Car field, but wasted little time putting himself into contention in that 18-lapper. Johnson raced into the top five after just one lap, then pulled onto the rear bumper of race-long leader Jason Hocken at the midway point.

Johnson worked both high and low to get around Hocken and eventually made the pass at the 12-lap mark. Johnson led the rest of the event going away to earn his second win of the season.

Kip Siems took control from Dave Schulze following a lap six caution in the 15-lap IMCA Nothern SportMod main. Siems survived a late caution and pressure from Brennen Chipp to take his second win of the year.

Travis Ross held the lead through the first half of the 12-lap IMCA Sport Compact feature while Merv Chandler worked his way into the mix. Chandler made his way around Ross on lap eight, then held off a hard-charging Zach Marmann to take his first win of the year.     Next Saturday is the seventh annual Dick Frye Memorial, held in conjunction with the Buchanan County Fair. The program will feature a regular night of weekly points racing in all six divisions. For the latest speedway news, visit www.independencemotorspeedway.com.

RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL Feature – 1. 45 Curt Martin (Independence); 2. 73 Greg Kastli (Waterloo); 3. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 4. 77A Jeff Aikey (Cedar Falls); 5. 88 Drew Johnson (Belle Plaine); 6. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah); 7. 53 Darren Ackerman (Readlyn); 8. 21M Luke Merfeld (Dubuque); 9. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr. (Washburn); 10. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 11. 35 Curran Beckler (Tiffin); 12. 21B Joel Brasch (Dunkerton); 13. 83 Russell Hesse (Waterloo); 14. 1 Rick Dralle (Waterloo); 15. 54 Wayne Hesse (Waterloo); 16. 4 Leon Thomsen (Waverly); 17. 14 Tracey Rigel (Waterloo); 18. 2P Jon Passick (Waterloo); 19. 99 Luke Pestka (Robins); 20. 38S Dain Sires (Cedar Falls). First heat – 1. Martin; 2. Johnson; 3. Merfeld; 4. Wagner; 5. Hamilton; 6. R. Hesse; 7. W. Hesse. Second heat – 1. Brasch; 2. Passick; 3. Aikey; 4. Hackwell; 5. Dralle; 6. Thomsen; 7. Rigel. Third heat – 1. Pestka; 2. Kastli; 3. Bruening; 4. Ackerman; 5. Beckler; 6. Sires.

IMCA MODIFIED Feature – 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 2. 91 Shawn Ryan (Waterloo); 3. 33D Scott Hogan (Vinton); 4. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 6. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 7. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 8. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 9. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 10. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 11. 24R Adam Johnson (Independence); 12. 75 Josh Sherbon (Cedar Falls); 13. 8 Tony Snyder (Readlyn); 14. 27 Jamie Johnson (Waterloo); 15. 66 Terry Johnson (Waterloo); 16. 5 Jason Morehouse (Evansdale); 17. 57B Dennis Betzer (Central City); 18. 26P Kevin Pittman (Waterloo); 19. 23 J.J. Scott (Iowa City). First heat – 1. Sherbon; 2. Droste; 3. Flannagan; 4. Hogan; 5. Snyder; 6. Thomas. Second heat – 1. Schulte; 2. Pittman; 3. Lauritzen; 4. A. Johnson; 5. Morehouse; 6. J. Johnson. Third heat – 1. Jackson; 2. Ryan; 3. Auringer; 4. Cordes; 5. T. Johnson; 6. Scott; 7. Betzer.

IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 2. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence); 3. 00 Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 4. 15T Tim Helle (Garnavillo); 5. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 6. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 7. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 8. 11 Jesse Brown (Nashua); 9. 22K Kevin Rose (Waterloo); 10. 11J Jerome Jacoby (Waterloo). Heat – 1. Helle; 2. Schimmels; 3. Hocken; 4. Emerson; 5. Chesmore; 6. Brown; 7. Rose; 8. Weepie; 9. Jacoby; 10. Johnson.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. S16 Kip Siems (Cedar Falls); 2. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo); 3. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 4. 96 Lucas Lundry (Maynard); 5. 339 Kevin Hurst (Janesville); 6. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Evansdale); 7. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 8. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 9. 63 Matt McCahen (Waterloo); 10. 49 Brandon Smith (Waterloo); 11. 21J Joe Harken (Waterloo); 12. 7 Dave Fangman (Marion); 13. 114 Mike Nielsen (Evansdale); 14. 7D Dakoda Sellers (Vinton); 15. 39 Brian Hilbert (Independence); 16. 4 Ryan Maitland (Waterloo); 17. 50H Steve Wimer (Toddville); 18. 32Z Alex Zwanziger (Nashua); 19. 45 Jonny Williams (Walker); 20. 22H Curt Hilmer (Dysart). First heat – 1. Hilbert; 2. Hurst; 3. Maitland; 4. Dvorak; 5. McCahen; 6. Nielsen; 7. Fangman. Second heat – 1. Buhlman; 2. Siems; 3. Chipp; 4. Sellers; 5. Smith; 6. Williams; 7. Wimer. Third heat – 1. Ebaugh; 2. Lundry; 3. Zwanziger; 4. Schulze; 5. Harken; 6. Hilmer.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 73 Quinton Miller (Independence); 2. 18 Chris Luloff (Independence); 3. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 4. 25 Jamie Whitaker (Oelwein); 5. 4T3 T.J. Mortenson (Rowley); 6. 29 Nathan Ballard (Marengo); 7. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 8. 95 Matt Lundry (Oelwein); 9. 35 Brett Vanous (Quasqueton); 10. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 11. 10MW Mike Wilson (Jesup); 12. 20B Matt Burmeister (Dunkerton); 13. 90T Chris Moore (Fairfax); 14. 58B Randy Byerly (Tipton); 15. 18X Dru Kueker (West Union); 16. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 17. 67 Justin Stander (Shellsburg); 18. M35X Chad Mannion (Waterloo); DNS 55 Vince Buchholz (Waterloo). First heat – 1. Miller; 2. Ball; 3. Luloff; 4. Irvine; 5. Kueker; 6. Burmeister; 7. Stander; 8. Lundry; 9. Mannion. Second heat – 1. Kuennen; 2. Whitaker; 3. Vanous; 4. Mortenson; 5. Wacha; 6. Byerly; 7. Moore; 8. Wilson; 9. Ballard; DNS Buchholz.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT Feature – 1. 2 Merv Chandler (Urbana); 2. 7X Zach Marmann (Elkader); 3. 83 Travis Ross (Waterloo); 4. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 5. 2K Derek Ihde (Fayette); 6. 26H Jim Hoth (Elkader). Heat – 1. Witten; 2. Chandler; 3. Ross; 4. Marmann; 5. Ihde; 5. Hoth; DQ 007 Adam Gates (Marion); DQ 3 Bryan Klein (Cedar Rapids).

Category: Independence, Iowa