McDonald, Rose, Balik earn first wins at Independence Motor Speedway

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 10) – Two drivers earned their first-ever trips to Independence Motor Speedway victory lane Saturday night and a third earned the first win of his career.

After getting upside down May 11, Rod McDonald ran a very limited schedule the past three months. McDonald  put that early season misfortune behind him as he drove to his first Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod win at Independence Motor Speedway.

Front row starter Ryan Maitland took command at the drop of the green of the 15-lapper and paced the field through a trio of early cautions while McDonald pursued. McDonald worked the top groove past Maitland following a lap five restart to take control.

McDonald survived three more stoppages to score the victory ahead of Maitland and Matt McCahen. With the win, McDonald became the seventh first-time SportMod winner in 14 weeks this season and the 24th division winner in track history.

Jesse Brown worked past pole-sitter Kevin Rose for the lead on the third lap of the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature. Brown set the pace while John Emerson and Sean Johnson worked through traffic and into the top three.

His pursuers swapped positions and racing grooves while Brown paced the field as the trio pulled away in a terrific battle for the lead. A flat tire for Johnson and mechanical problems for Emerson nixed their chances at victory, leaving Rose on Brown’s rear bumper for a restart with two laps to go.

Brown pushed into turns one and two when racing resumed and allowed Rose to sneak by on the inside to take command. Rose led the remainder of the event to make his first trip to victory lane at the speedway. Phil Holtz and Brown completed the top three.

Rose became the first newcomer to Stock Car victory lane this season and the 44th winner in division history at the speedway.

Mitchell Balik earned his first career win in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact feature. From a second row start, Balik settled into the fourth spot before charging to the front by the completion of lap two.

While Balik pulled away, points leader Merv Chandler worked his way into second by lap three. Chandler reeled in the leader midway through the 12-lapper, but was unable to get around him as Balik sailed to the milestone win in the caution-free event. A.J. Witten rounded out the top three.

Rory Metcalf earned his first career IMCA Late Model win two weeks ago and quickly made a return visit to victory lane Saturday night. Metcalf worked his way around Curran Beckler on the fifth of 25 circuits, then drove away to the win. Darren Ackerman raced from a fifth row start to take second ahead of Jon Passick.

Milo Matthias paced the first seven laps of the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature while Quinton Miller made his way into contention from a third row start. Miller snuck beneath Matthias exiting turn four on lap eight to drive to his second win of the year ahead of charging Benji Irvine and Chris Luloff.

Ronn Laurtizen earned his fourth win of the season in the Performance Bodies IMCA Modified division. Laurtizen took control from Mike Burbridge on the eighth of 20 laps, then held off late pressure from Shawn Ryan to secure the win. Burbridge crossed the line in third.

Next Saturday, August 17, is Back to School Night. Backpacks filled with school supplies will be given to the first 50 kids through the gate. Bicycle giveaways are also planned.

Visit www.independencemotorspeedway.com for the latest speedway news.

RESULTS IMCA LATE MODEL Feature – 1. 2 Rory Metcalf, West Union; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Readlyn; 3. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 4. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 5. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 6. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 7. 99 Luke Pestka, Robins; 8. 38S Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 9. 60 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 10. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 11. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 12. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 13. C41 Jim Aschenbrenner, Aplington; 14. 54 Wayne Hesse, Waterloo; 15. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 16. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 17. 1 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 18. 35 Curran Beckler, Tiffin; 19. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 20. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton.

First heat – 1. Beckler; 2. Hamilton; 3. Ackerman; 4. Hackwell; 5. Bruening; 6. Aschenbrenner; 7. Sires.

Second heat – 1. Pestka; 2. Passick; 3. Wagner; 4. Dralle; 5. R. Hesse; 6. W. Hesse; 7. Pattee.

Third heat – 1. Kastli; 2. Metcalf; 3. Martin; 4. Brasch; 5. Johnson; 6. Thomsen.

IMCA MODIFIED Feature – 1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 2. 91 Shawn Ryan, Waterloo; 3. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 4. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 5. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 6. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 7. 92 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 8. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 9. 77 Tim McBride, Denver; 10. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester; 11. 38M Dan Praska, Dunkerton; 12. 32 Chris Snyder, Raymond; 13. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 14. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 15. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 16. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 17. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 18. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 19. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 20. 66 Terry Johnson, Waterloo; 21. 415 Josh Barta, Cedar Falls; 22. 5 Jason Morehouse, Evansdale; 23. 17 Justin Buehler, Oelwein.

First heat – 1. Auringer; 2. Burbridge; 3. Ryan; 4. Jensen; 5. Droste; 6. Dedrick; 7. Praska; DNS Manson.

Second heat – 1. A. Johnson; 2. Flannagan; 3. Thomas; 4. Schulte; 5. Snyder; 6. Morehouse; 7. McBride; 8. Buehler.

Third heat – 1. Jackson; 2. Lauritzen; 3. Cordes; 4. Kriz; 5. Barta; 6. Pittman; 7. T. Johnson.

IMCA STOCK CAR Feature – 1. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 2. 7H Phil Holtz, Manchester; 3. 11 Jesse Brown, Nashua; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 5. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 6. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 7. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 8. 87X Travis Shipman, Mason City; 9. 17 Jason Niedert, Winthrop; 10. 11J Jerome Jacoby, Waterloo; 11. 15T Tim Helle, Garnavillo; 12. 87A Aaron Matthias, Fairbank; 13. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 14. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 15. 85C Bryce Carey, Nashua; 16. 32 Dan Feltus, Allison; 17. 4JR Russell Damme, Waterloo.

First heat – 1. Brown; 2. Rose; 3. Chesmore; 4. Schimmels; 5. Emerson; 6. Shipman; 7. Carey; 8. Damme; 9. Feltus.

Second heat – 1. Matthias; 2. Weepie; 3. Hocken; 4. Holtz; 5. Helle; 6. Niedert; 7. Johnson; 8. Jacoby.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD Feature – 1. 86U Rod McDonald, Manchester; 2. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 3. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo; 4. 32Z Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 5. 339 Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 6. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 7. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 8. 96 Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 9. 21 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo; 10. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 11. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 12. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 13. 45 Jonathan Williams, Walker; 14. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 15. 39 Brian Hilbert, Independence; 16. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 17. 35 Kyle Bentley, Independence; 18. 21J Joe Harken, Waterloo; 19. 50H Steve Wimer, Toddville; 20. 114 Mike Nielsen, Evansdale; 21. 115 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond.

First heat – 1. Hilbert; 2. McDonald; 3. McCahen; 4. Zwanziger; 5. Lundry; 6. King; 7. B. Ebaugh.

Second heat – 1. Hurst; 2. Maitland; 3. Siems; 4. Chipp; 5. Hilmer; 6. Bentley; 7. Wimer.

Third heat – 1. Schulze; 2. S. Ebaugh; 3. Buhlman; 4. Dvorak; 5. Williams; 6. Harken; 7. Nielsen.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK Feature – 1. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 2. 79 Benji Irvine, Cedar Falls; 3. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 4. 35B Shawn Kuennen, Hazleton; 5. 87M Milo Matthias, Cocoa, Fla.; 6. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 7. 20B Matt Burmeister, Dunkerton; 8. 10MW Mike Wilson, Jesup; 9. 95 Matt Lundry, Oelwein; 10. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein; 11. 18X Dru Kueker, West Union; 12. 58B Randy Byerly, Tipton; 13. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 14. 55 Vince Buchholz, Waterloo.

First heat – 1. Matthias; 2. Whitaker; 3. Miller; 4. Lundry; 5. Kueker; 6. Byerly; 7. Ball.

Second heat – 1. Luloff; 2. Irvine; 3. Kuennen; 4. Wacha; 5. Burmeister; 6. Wilson; 7. Buchholz.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT Feature – 1. Mitchell Balik, Fort Atkinson; 2. 2 Merv Chandler, Urbana; 3. 111 A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 4. 26H Jim Hoth, Elkader; 5. 83 Travis Ross, Waterloo.

Heat – 1. Chandler; 2. Witten; 3. Ross; 4. Balik; 5. Hoth; DQ 7X Zach Marmann, Elkader.

Category: Independence, Iowa