Hunter, Irvine Top Mid-Season at Independence Motor Speedway

Mid-season championships were extra special for a pair of drivers Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway on June 27, 2015

Brian Hunter and Brian Irvine earned their first trips to victory lane in their respective divisions at their hometown track.

Hunter took the green flag from the third row in the 25-lap Budweiser IMCA Late Model headliner. He made his way through traffic while Greg Kastli held the early lead.

Hunter reeled in the leader in a handful of laps before making his bid to the low side of Kastli on the sixth circuit. Hunter pulled away from the field and fought off the challenges of Rick Wendling in lapped traffic before the event’s only caution waved with six laps to go.

On the restart, Hunter again extended his advantage while Tyler Droste battled Wendling for second. Droste broke free from Wendling as laps wound down, however Hunter raced to the checkers and his first Independence win.

Irvine, a first-year Performance Bodies IMCA Modified driver, had been close to that elusive first win throughout the first half of the season. He checked it off his to-do list Saturday night.

Irvine raced the low side past Tony Snyder to steal the lead midway through that 20-lapper and then survived a late caution to earn his career first Modified victory ahead of Vern Jackson and Snyder.

Irvine’s cousin, Benji Irvine, continued his winning ways in the Big Daddy Chassis IMCA Hobby Stock division by earning his fourth win of the year.

Although lapped traffic impeded his progress in the second half of that 15-lapper, Irvine took advantage of slower traffic late to steal the win by a bumper ahead of Justin Lichty. Shawn Kuennen finished third.

Tony Olson raced past the low side of Matt McCahen to steal the lead on the sixth of 15 circuits and drive to his third win of the year in the Tenacity Graphics IMCA Northern SportMod main.

Olson held off a charging Lucas Lundry in traffic to score the win and take over the point lead. McCahen ran third.

Phil Holtz and Chris Luloff shared time at the front of the 15-lap Burco Sales IMCA Stock Car feature while point leader Jarod Weepie worked through the pack from a fourth row start.

Weepie worked a lower groove past Luloff for the lead as the white flag waved to drive to his second win of the season. Holtz finished third.

Don Erger raced to a convincing win in the 12-lapper for the RCZ Enterprises Indee Cars. Erger soared to his second win of the year by a straightaway ahead of Jeff Davis and Cole McNeal.

Racing action continues Saturday, July 4 in all six weekly divisions, however hot laps are scheduled one hour earlier, 5:30 p.m., due to the Independence Day holiday. The racing program, which will be held in conjunction with the City of Independence, is scheduled to be complete by 9:30 p.m. to accommodate the city’s fireworks display.

INDEPENDENCE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
WEEKLY RACE RESULTS - Mid-Season Championship
JUNE 27, 2015

IMCA LATE MODEL:
Feature – 1. 1H Brian Hunter, Independence; 2. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 3. 78 Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 4. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 5. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 6. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 7. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 8. 53 Darren Ackerman, Readlyn; 9. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 10. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 11. 51 Ryan Dolan, Lisbon; 12. 02T Tanner Allen, Springville; 13. 12 Don Pataska, Green Island; 14. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 15. 60 Ben Seemann, Waterloo; 16. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 17. 44 Mark Hurst, Denver; 18. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 19. 23 Todd VanTassle, Delmar; 20. 2 Rory Metcalf, Iowa City.

First heat – 1. Hunter; 2. Allen; 3. Ackerman; 4. Droste; 5. Seemann; 6. Pataska; 7. Hurst.

Second heat – 1. Kastli; 2. S. Johnson; 3. Passick; 4. Wendling; 5. D. Johnson; 6. Dolan; 7. Metcalf.

Third heat – 1. Hamilton; 2. Hesse; 3. Bruening; 4. Martin; 5. King; 6. VanTassle.

IMCA MODIFIED:
Feature – 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 3. 8 Tony Snyder, Readlyn; 4. 00J J. D. Auringer, Waterloo; 5. 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo; 6. 5 Jason Morehouse, Evansdale; 7. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 8. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 9. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 10. 9 Ben Metcalf, Evansdale; 11. 66 Terry Johnson, Waterloo; 12. 49 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 13. 5B Austin Bishop, Manchester; 14. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 15. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 16. 41 Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque; 17. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 18. 4 Ryan Maitland, Denver; 19. 20L Zach Less, Manchester; 20. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 21. 2 Brandon Maitland, Denver; 22. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 23. 21 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo; DNS 1S Scott Fitzpatrick, Wheatland.

First heat – 1. Chipp; 2. Flannagan; 3. Cordes; 4. R. Maitland; 5. A. Johnson; 6. Betzer; 7. Bishop; 8. Metcalf; DQ 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. Irvine; 2. McDonald; 3. Auringer; 4. Less; 5. Lauritzen; 6. Thomas; 7. B. Maitland; DNS Fitzpatrick.

Third heat – 1. Snyder; 2. Morehouse; 3. Jackson; 4. Burbridge; 5. Hogan; 6. Dripps; 7. T. Johnson; 8. Hurst.

IMCA STOCK CAR:
Feature – 1. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 7H Phil Holtz, Manchester; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 5. 47 Scott Pippert, Rowley; 6. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 7. 22R Todd Reitzler, Grinnell; 8. 3T Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 9. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 10. 74C Cole Mather, Dundee; 11. 61 Scott Hampton, Waterloo; 12. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 13. 37C Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 14. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 15. 15T Tim Helle, Garnavillo; 16. 5G Cliff Gray, Waterloo; 17. 13 Rick Milks, Jesup; 18. 8 Austin Evens, Independence.

First heat – 1. Holtz; 2. Weepie; 3. Rose; 4. Ebaugh; 5. Pippert; 6. Milks.

Second heat – 1. Damme; 2. Luloff; 3. Gray; 4. Helle; 5. Ciesielski; 6. Evens.

Third heat – 1. Hocken; 2. Mather; 3. Chesmore; 4. Dulin; 5. Hampton; DNS Reitzler.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK:
Feature – 1. 79 Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 3. 35B Shawn Kuennen, Hazleton; 4. 82 Billy Rhodes, Maynard; 5. 58B Randy Byerly, Tipton; 6. 68R Shawn Randall, Raymond; 7. 95 Matt Lundry, Oelwein; 8. 24T Tyler Ollendieck, Tripoli; 9. 83 Gene Nicklas, Grinnell; 10. 64 Jerome Wilson, Waterloo; 11. 16 Rob Twaites, Waterloo; 12. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 13. 71A Kyle Dulin, Brandon; 14. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 15. 20B Matt Burmeister, Dunkerton; 16. 18X Dru Kueker, West Union; 17. T64 Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 18. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 19. 98 Neal Miller, Waterloo; 20. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; DNS 55 Vince Buchholz, Tama.

First heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Rhodes; 3. Kueker; 4. Byerly; 5. Randall; 6. Ball; DNS Buchholz.

Second heat – 1. Jeremiah Wilson; 2. Ollendieck; 3. Kuennen; 4. Lichty; 5. Jerome Wilson; 6. Twaites; 7. Burmeister.

Third heat – 1. Lundry; 2. Vanous; 3. Miller; 4. Wacha; 5. Dulin; 6. Nicklas; 7. Grother.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD:
Feature – 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 96 Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 3. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo; 4. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 5. 39 Brian Hilbert, Independence; 6. 36 Jake Salisbury, Dunkerton; 7. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 8. 339 Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 9. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 10. 11G Greg Hunter, Independence; 11. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 12. 99B John Bates, Fairbank; 13. 42 Chris Lewis, Anamosa; 14. 29 Sean Vogt, Watkins; 15. 50H Steve Wimer, Toddville; 16. 8 Jim Aschenbrenner, Aplington; 17. 35 Kyle Bentley, Independence; 18. 32Z Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 19. 17 Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 20. 10S John Schaefer, La Porte City.

First heat – 1. McCahen; 2. Vogt; 3. Zwanziger; 4. Bentley; 5. King; 6. Wimer; 7. Krall.

Second heat – 1. Aschenbrenner; 2. Siems; 3. Salisbury; 4. Hunter; 5. Robinson; 6. Lewis; 7. Hurst.

Third heat – 1. Olson; 2. Hilbert; 3. Lundry; 4. Buhlman; 5. Schaefer; DNS Bates.

INDEE CAR:
Feature – 1. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 2. 18 Jeff Davis, La Porte City; 3. 51 Cole McNeal, Dysart; 4. 71 Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 5. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein; 6. 64 Matt Post, Walker; 7. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 8. J111 Jason Hard, Hiawatha; 9. 75S Cole Suckow, Cresco; 10. 16 Robby Decker, Waterloo; 11. 1 Kaden Reynolds, Cedar Rapids; 12. 48L Carson Less, Manchester.