Wolla Wins IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Opener

Rain in North Dakota was bad news for Jason Wolla’s competition in Iowa Tuesday night at Benton County Speedway.

Wolla made the quick decision to travel 14-plus hours from his hometown of Ray, in western North Dakota, for the opening event in IMCA’s Hawkeye Dirt Tour.

He started 11th, took the lead from Mark Elliott following a 13th circuit restart and outran defending champion Mike Van Genderen in traffic late in the 40-lapper for an IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modified series win that paid $1,000.

“We made a last-second decision to come here and it paid off,” said Wolla, who’d finished fourth at Vinton en route to the Frostbuster Series crown in early April. “We rained out last week every­where in North Dakota and had the trailer loaded up and ready to go. We had another car to pick up from Justin O’Brien (at Rage Chassis) in West Union and here we are.”

Van Genderen started ninth and made up ground on Wolla before running out of laps. J.D. Au­ringer raced from 12th starting to third, Hunter Marriott was fourth and Joe Docekal made his way from 17th on the original grid to fifth.

Elliott led the first 12 laps and ran ahead of David Brown and Brian Irvine, who fell out of conten­tion after getting together in the first set of turns.

Wolla was in second and Docekal was already up to fifth when the caution came out. Wolla drove around Elliott, with Van Genderen taking over second following the third and final restart, on lap 22.

Auringer moved into third on lap 28 but couldn’t muster a challenge to Van Genderen or Wolla.

“To come here with the dogs and run with them, man, that was fun,” Wolla said before heading north on Highway 150 to West Union. “We knew we were good on the bottom and that we’d be tough to pass. This car is like putting a glove on.”

Wolla was already on the ballot for the 2015 Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational.

Round two of the Hawkeye Dirt Tour is on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25 at I-35 Speedway in Mason City. That main event also pays $1,000 to win.

Other winners Tuesday at Vinton included Damon Murty in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Colby Heishman in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Benji Irvine in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.

Murty made his successful charge back to the front after getting sideways and restarting at the rear. Heishman’s victory was his career first.

Contributed By: Bill Martin of IMCA

IMCA HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR
SEASON OPENER
BENTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY
MAY 20, 2015

IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modifieds:
1. Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D.; 2. Mike Van Genderen, Newton; 3. J.D. Auringer, Water­loo; 4. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 5. Joe Docekal, Dysart; 6. Mark Elliott, Webster City; 7. Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 8. Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 9. Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 10. Kyle Brown, Kellogg; 11. Scott Hogan, Vinton; 12. Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 13. Mitch Morris, Long Grove; 14. Ryan Maitland, Denver; 15. Nick Roberts, Des Moines; 16. Dennis Betzer, Central City; 17. Cole Ferguson, Dexter; 18. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 19. Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 20. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 21. Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 22. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 23. Zach Less, Man­chester; 24. David Brown, Kellogg.

IMCA Stock Cars:
1. Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 3. Scott Pippert, El­beron; 4. Nathan Wood, Sigourney; 5. Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 6. Cole Mather, Fairbank; 7. Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 8. Austin Evens, Independence; 9. Lon Mercer, Urbana; 10. Jay Schmidt, Tama; 11. Mike Galli, Urbana; 12. Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

IMCA Hobby Stocks:
1. Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 3. Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 6. Billy Rhoades, Maynard; 7. Matt Brown, Dysart; 8. Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 9. C.J. Dall, Marshalltown; 10. Adam Petrzelka, Norway; 11. Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 12. Neal Miller, Waterloo; 13. Zach Swanson, Waterloo; 14. Matt Pohlman, Keystone; 15. Cody Swanson, Waterloo.

IMCA Northern SportMods:
1. Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 2. Brayton Carter, Oskaloosa; 3. Sam Wieben, Dysart; 4. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. Clint Luellen, Minburn; 6. Danny Dvorak, Vin­ton; 7. Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 8. Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 9. Ryan King, Montour; 10. Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 11. Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 12. Tyler Soppe, Sherrill; 13. Dan Drury, Eldora; 14. Dave Schulze, Keystone; 15. Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids; 16. Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 17. Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 18. Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 19. Nate Smith, Cedar Falls; 20. Kyle Bent­ley, Independence; 21. Lee Rouse, Atkins; 22. Mike McNeal, Vinton; 23. Kurt Hogan, Vinton; 24. Matt McCahen, Waterloo.