Irvine earns exciting I.M.C.A. stock car victory at Independence Motor Speedway

By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 15) – After many three and four-wide battles throughout the early stages of the I.M.C.A. stock car feature. Brian Irvine drove to his third feature win of the season at Independence Motor Speedway.

At the drop of the green, pole-sitter Kenny Taylor assumed command. Driving the high groove of the fast 3/8-mile oval, Taylor took the quick lead, but was chased by Jason Goedken and Damon Murty.

The lead trio swapped the lead a couple of times over the early laps as Irvine worked his way into the mix from a fifth row start. Irvine entered the top four on lap five as the lead threesome did battle. Irvine made it a four-car race a lap later and worked his way into second on lap eight.

Running the bottom groove, Irvine motored into the lead just past the midway point. He held off the persistent challenges of Murty to score the victory. Jarod Weepie and Dan Trimble worked through the pack to finish third and fourth, respectively.

Luke Goedert shot into the early lead of the 25-lap I.M.C.A. late model feature. From his second row start, Goedert quickly made his way to the front of the pack and into the top spot, extending his lead to half of a straightaway.

As Goedert paced the field, Tyler Bruening worked through traffic from the sixth row and settled into second on lap five. He took the lead just four laps later as Darren Ackerman worked around traffic on the high side of the speedway.

Ackerman took charge on the 11th lap as Bruening suffered a flat tire, ending his strong run early. Curt Martin chased Ackerman to the front, but was unable to reel in the leader as Ackerman charged to the victory, his first of the year. Following Martin home in third was Greg Kastli.

Josh Sherbon set the early pace in the B modified feature. He led the field while Joe Docekal and Brian Kunkle marched through the field from fourth and fifth row starts. Docekal made quick work of the field as he settled into second after just the second lap. Kunkle followed suit and moved into the third position just one lap later.

The race was slowed for caution with just six laps remaining and Sherbon still out front. Following the restart, Docekal worked his way around the leader and drove to his third win of the season. Kunkle worked his way into second on lap 12 to take home runner-up honors. Tony Olson finished third.

Troy Cordes drove the high groove to victory in the I.M.C.A. modified feature. Cordes worked his way around Vern Jackson on lap eight of the 20-lapper to drive to the impressive victory, his third of the year. Jerry Luloff and Patrick Flannagan chased Cordes to the checkers.

Chris Luloff took the lead with only six laps to go on his way to his second straight I.M.C.A. hobby stock win. Points leader Rod Grother made a late race pass on Kevin Robinson to come home second.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 78W Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 2. 85 LaVern Carey, Ionia; 3. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 4. 31$ Dave Stricker, Waterloo; 5. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 6. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 7. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 8. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 2. 44 Luke Goedert Holy Cross; 3. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 4. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 5. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 6. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 7. 19 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 8. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 3. 7 Greg Hunter, Independence; 4. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 5. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 6. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 7. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine.

B feature – 1. Brasch; 2. Hackwell; 3. Hamilton; 4. Duffy; 5. Wagner; 6. Wheeler; 7. Benn; 8. Johnson; 9. Lillie; 10. Thomsen; 11. Struve.

A feature – 1. Ackerman; 2. Martin; 3. Kastli; 4. Wendling; 5. Goedert; 6. Hunter; 7. Hackwell; 8. Duffy; 9. Stricker; 10. Passick; 11. Wagner; 12. Pattee; 13. Benn; 14. Carey; 15. Hamilton; 16. Wheeler; 17. Dralle; 18. Brasch; 19. Johnson; 20. Bruening.

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 2. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 3. 11S Dion Speed, New Hartford; 4. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester; 5. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 6. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 7. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 8. 6 Don Erger, Brandon; 9. 8F Ernie Freese, Morley.

Second heat – 1. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 5. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 6. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 7. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 8. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence.

Third heat – 1. 761 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 2. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 3. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 4. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner; 5. 1ST Bret Hamilton, Flat Rock, Va.; 6. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 7. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; DNS 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.

B feature – 1. Jackson; 2. Johnson; 3. Pate; 4. Stuber; 5. Trefz; 6. Auringer; 7. Bolin; 8. Erger; 9. Thomas; 10. Freese; 11. Whalen; 12. Hamilton; DNS Thimmesch.

A feature – 1. Cordes; 2. Luloff; 3. Flannagan; 4. Auringer; 5. Jensen; 6. Erger; 7. Gill; 8. Stuber; 9. Betzer; 10. Snyder; 11. Haupt; 12. Jackson; 13 Corporon; 14. Speed; 15. Johnson; 16. Hogan; 17. Manson; 18. Pate; 19. Bolin; 20. Trefz.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 2. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 3. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley; 4. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 5. Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 7. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo; 8. 11 Loras Schaefer, Waterloo; 9. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn.

Second heat – 1. 7G Jason Goedken, Fairbank; 2. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 3. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 4. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 5. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 6. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 7. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 8. 15 Norma Chesmore, Quasqueton; 9. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester.

Feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Murty; 3. Weepie; 4. Trimble; 5. E. Weber; 6. Meyer; 7. Wroten; 8. Goedken; 9. Chesmore; 10. Hocken; 11. Sires; 12. L. Weber; 13. Manson; 14. Johnson; 15. Schaefer; 16. Schimmels; 17. Taylor; 18. Adams.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 24R Kevin Robinson, Independence; 2. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 3. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 4. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 5. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 30 Mike Stanek, Dewar; 7. 8W Lynn Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 8. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 9. C67 Ryan Hogan, Littleton.

Second heat – 1. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 2. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 3. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 4. 22 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 5. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; 6. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 7. 62 Ryan Bochmann, Greene; 8. 7B Jim Ball, Independence.

Third heat – 1. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 5. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 6. 32 Don Arnold, Stanley; 7. 6G Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; 8. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence.

B feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Whitaker; 3. Michels; 4. Wilson; 5. Ball; 6. Sprague; 7. Bochmann; 8. M. Stanek; 9. Gonzales; 10. Wheeler; 11. Hogan; DNS Jones; DNS Arnold.

A feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Grother; 3. Robinson; 4. Meyer; 5. Buchholz; 6. Davis; 7. Stansbery; 8. Brown; 9. Wilson; 10. Whitaker; 11. Michels; 12. Sprague; 13. Bochmann; 14. M. Stanek; 15. Hilmer; 16. W. Stanek; 17. Shepherd; 18. Thomsen; 19. Irvine; 20. Ball.

B MODIFIED

First heat – 1. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 3. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 4. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 5. 57S Mike Moore, Janesville; 6. 15 Rod McDonald, Strawberry Point; 7. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; 8. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 9. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 10. 66 Brian Kauffman, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 3. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 4. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 5. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 6. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 7. 2 Jamie Huff, Center Point; 8. 6 Steve Swope, Waterloo; 9. K35 Kaleb Bentley, Fairbank; DQ Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown.

Feature – 1. Docekal; 2. Kunkle; 3. Olson; 4. Ladehoff; 5. Ebaugh; 6. Krall; 7. Brown; 8. Rouse; 9. Huff; 10. Buhlman; 11. T. Swope; 12. Sherbon; 13. Temeyer; 14. Moore; 15. Kauffman; 16. S. Swope; 17. McDonald; 18. Wessels; 19. Bentley; 20. Handberg.