With the addition of SLMR rules late models, a solid field of ninety five race teams filled the pit area at the Benton County Speedway Bullring in Vinton, Iowa on a beautiful Sunday night.
Even with a short delay for minor grader work to repair a dip between turns one and two, the twelve heat races ran off in less than an hour and with a minimum of caution flags. A brief intermission and all twenty three IMCA sport mods lined up for fifteen laps around the fairgrounds 1/4 mile oval.
Joe Docekal shot from the pole position to the lead over Chowchilla, California driver Kaylin Lopez as lap one was scored. As the leader, now with a commanding lead, caught slower traffic at the halfway mark, the first yellow flag of the race was displayed. On the restart, Docekal drove off the top of turn three and the second running car of Brett Thomas spun,collecting Brandon Tharp and Ben Chapman, bringing out another yellow and sending all four front runners to the tail for the restart. With the leader now at the back, Lopez and Tony Olson lined up side by side, with Olson taking over the top spot. Two more times the caution came out, but Olson was not deterred, and he cruised to the win. With both coming from row six, Logan Anderson won a back and forth duel with Dylan Van Wyk for second. Brian Kauffman came from tenth to fourth, and Ryan King moved up ten spots to fifth.
A dozen IMCA hobby stocks battled for fifteen laps. Kaden Reynolds had been victorious in every feature dating back to last summer, but he was out on lap one with a flat tire. Matt Brown grabbed the early lead, but the last driver other than Reynolds with a win, Nathan Ballard, took over ahead of a lap four yellow. With one more lap scored, the red flag was displayed as the ambulance was needed in the pit area which is off turns one and two. Racing resumed right away as Slater, Iowa driver Eric Knutson briefly challenged for the lead. With Ballard and Knutson settling into spots one and two, a three wide scrum developed for third. Following the front duo to the checkers it was Jacob Floyd, Joren Fisher, and Braden Richards.
Twenty five laps would be the distance for the late models, and all but one of the eighteen checked in, Andy Eckrich, came to the grid. Richie Gustin redrew the pole position, with John Emerson alongside in the car normally driven by Ben Seeman. Gustin soon opened a sizable lead as the front pack ran around the top of the slippery oval. The first caution came eight laps in as veteran Greg Kastli lost a top five run sliding off the backstretch. Charlie McKenna did a power move to second on the restart, and Emerson slipped over the top of turn three. Now it was Chad Holladay charging to second on the restart followed by Jason Hahne to third. Jeff Aikey had lined up in row five, and he climbed to fifth with ten laps complete. With eight circuits remaining, Gustin was preparing to put returning veteran driver Kevin Kirkpatrick a lap down when Kirkpatrick spun right in front of him. Fortunately Gustin was able to take avoid the spinning #33, keep moving, and retain his lead on the restart. As the pack came through turns three and four, McKenna did a slide job on Holladay in an attempt to grab the second spot, but Hahne took advantage of the inside line to pass both cars. With those three locked in a battle for second, Gustin pulled away for the win. Aikey charged to the runner up spot following a final caution with two laps to go, followed by Hahne and McKenna. Luke Pestka was able to outlast Holladay for fifth. Jeff Tharp, Darren Ackerman, Luke Goedert, and Dave Eckrich filled out the top ten.
The IMCA stock car class had the smallest turn out with a late arrival bringing the count to ten. Nine of them lined up for fifteen laps of feature racing. Jason Doyle led the opening circuit, but it was fifth starting Dallon Murty leading lap two. The younger Murty, driving his fathers car on this night quickly checked out in the non stop event. Jay Schmidt soon worked to the runner up slot while Doyle held off Leah Wroten and Miciah Hidlebaugh in an intense battle for third.
All fifteen IMCA modifieds made the feature call, with eighteen laps the distance. Hometowner Jerry Dedrick paced the first three trips past the flag stand while a group of four ran side by side at times for second. Lap four saw Santa Maria, California pilot Dylan Thornton grab the top spot, quickly opening a sizable lead. Derrick Stewart took over the second spot at the halfway point but he had nothing for the leader, who had a straightaway advantage as he caught slower traffic with five laps to go. His five and a half second lead evaporated slowly, and he had to come back to the pack when the first caution came with two laps remaining. The yellow waved a second time as the white flag was displayed, and rather curiously the race was called complete at that point. Regardless, Thornton scored a dominant win in front of Stewart, Troy Cordes, Dedrick, and Jason Briese.
The final race of the evening came as all seventeen IMCA sport compacts prepared for a dozen laps of action. Vinton driver Zeke Wheeler charged from outside row one to pace the early laps. Chuck Fullenkamp made the long tow from West Point, Iowa to take over at lap five from his row four start, as tenth starting Nathan Chandler powered to second. From there Chandler, making a return to racing while battling health issues, ran in Fullenkamps' tracks, appearing to occasionally letting the leader know he was there. At the waving green signaling only two laps remained, Chandler moved up the track one line and the pair took the white flag side by side. Chandler then edged ahead at the checkers with an apparent win. However word came to us on the drive home that he had been disqualified. I do not know what the infraction was, but the victory then went to Fullenkamp. Second through fifth was Logan Clausen, Travis Losenicky, Wheeler, and William Michel.
As we left the bleachers, we were greeted by a smiling Rick Dripps, who we thank along with Kim Dripps for their hospitality. We were able to smile back considering we had witnessed a six division, ninety five car program that lasted three hours and fifteen minutes including hot laps, and had us in the car at 8:45! This track truly is an excellent Sunday evening destination, and we hope to make it so again this 2021 season.
Our plans are to be back in that part of Iowa this Thursday for the Dale Defrance Memorial program at the Marshalltown Speedway. At this time on Monday morning, the weather forecast is sketchy, but a few days ago the same was true concerning our Sunday plans in Vinton, so we will cross our fingers and hope to see our Iowa friends again this week as we go Racin' Down the Road!
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