Sunday night we traveled to the Benton County Speedway "the Bullring" in Vinton, Iowa as the first year Pro Late Model series crowned their season champion. In addition, six other classes competing at the fairgrounds quarter mile contested their championship features. The Late Models would race a full program, while the other classes would run features only. In place of heat races there were front stretch driver introductions for the remaining six classes. With a goal of still getting the program completed in a timely manner, hot laps kicked off one hour earlier than normal. A solid field of one hundred and nine race teams rolled through the pit gate and following hot laps the first green flag for three Late Model heats waved at 5:30 sharp.
Passing points were tabulated for the Late Models, and after charging from the seventh starting spot to the front in heat three, popular veteran Curt Martin topped the leader board. Adding a twist to the proceedings, he then pulled a number four to set up a four car invert for the thirty lap feature, putting Bryan Klein and heat two winner Corey Dripps on row one, while Martin shared row two with heat one winner and series points leader Logan Duffy
Before their main event however, there were six other features to be staged. Although the track was in excellent racing condition, with crews continually tickling and watering the surface during post race interviews and driver introductions, there were an over abundance of stoppages during the seven features. By my unofficial count, twenty three times the yellow flag flew during the features for everything from over driving to score settling perhaps taking place!
Inex Legend Cars would kick things off, sixteen cars battling for fifteen laps. The first of those cautions came with one lap in the books, as Cohen Henze lost a wheel on the front stretch. Back to racing, it was Griffin McGrath and Kevin Korsmo locked in a tight two car duel up front. A second and final yellow came with just two laps remaining, but the green, white, checkers Delaware restart only delayed things for McGrath, who pulled away to take the win. Korsmo held second, while Danny Lehmkuhl slipped around points champion Michael Weber on the final circuit for third. Cole O'Brien completed the top five.
IMCA Northern Sport Mods would be next, seventeen strong for fifteen trips around the fairgrounds quarter mile. It was a rocky start, as an IMCA Modified looking for some extra hot laps lined up well behind the starting grid, but spun out on the first lap, causing a yellow flag situation. Well, there is a first time for everything, I guess! Josh Barnes was the early leader with Robert Patava in pursuit. Soon Brady Hilmer and Tony Olson took up the chase behind Barnes. The leaders were locked in the low line when the next caution came with eight laps down. On the restart, Olson decided to try a higher line, but almost as soon as he took off, he slowed and headed for the pits. With most eyes watching to see if he was able to clear the track, something happened up front that saw the leader suddenly sitting in the infield off the backstretch. Climbing from his car, Barnes showed his displeasure with another competitor, although neither our group nor announcer Ryan Clark were sure what happened. It was now Brady Hilmer on the point, and following a lap twelve caution, he was pulling well ahead. As the leader was exiting turn four looking for the checkers, he saw the yellow flag instead, as a car had spun in turn two. I will insert a personal opinion here, as it seems to me in this day of drivers wearing Raceivers, that a checkered flag along with a warning of a stalled car in turn two would be a better way to do business, but then I was not in charge... as a side note, this would happen a second time later on. At any rate, this set up a two lap finish rather than a green and white one lap dash. Still Hilmer was up to the challenge, taking the delayed victory. Sam Wieben took runner up honors ahead of Joe Docekal, Kyle Olson, and Patava.
IMCA Sport Compacts would show sixteen cars for sixteen laps of action. Steven Randall would pace the field ahead of a lap two caution. Things were plenty entertaining, with lots of good old fashioned bumpin' and bangin' ahead of a final caution on lap five. Back to racing, Nolan Tuttle grabbed the lead, taking Cristian Grady along in second. The duo then pulled away in a tight two car scrum, running nose to tail before Grady pulled alongside down the backstretch on the final circuit. Grady took his first lead as the cars came through the last set of turns and snatched away the victory. Tuttle ran second, trailed by Randall, Colton Stewart, and Robert Rundle.
A short field of ten IMCA Stock Cars would next go fifteen laps to a checkered flag. Kaden Reynolds lined up in the sixth starting spot, but quickly powered his #1 machine to the lead on the opening lap ahead of a lap two caution. Kyle Olson was subbing in the #49 car, and he came charging back through the field after restarting on the tail. He had worked his way to third before a lap seven caution would have moved him back to fourth, but a two position penalty for jumping the start saw him now back to sixth. Leah Wroten had rolled off in row four, and she held a slim points lead over Reynolds, needing to stay withing two positions of him to claim the championship. She was locked in a tight battle with Norman Chesmore with Olson again on the move while Reynolds was cruising up front. She was finally able to secure the runner up spot, then once again the caution waved on the final lap for a car setting low on the backstretch. But Reynolds remained in command, winning the battle while Wroten won the war. Chesmore, Olson, and Logan Clausen completed the top five.
Fifteen laps would be the distance for fourteen IMCA Hobby Stocks. Following a lap one restart for a spinning car, the field nearly stacked up in turn four as pole sitter Bradly Graham got out of shape temporarily, making a great save. However the bottle neck allowed Dalton Weepie to shoot to a big lead as the pack scrambled down the front stretch. Two more yellow flags would halt the action, but there would be no stopping the high riding Weepie. He cruised to the win over eighth starting Matt Brown, row six starter Joren Fisher, a rebounding Graham, and Michael Kimm.
Rolling along, it was a dozen IMCA Mods for twenty laps of action. Following a lap one caution, Chase Weimer and Jacob Snyder paced the field. Sixth starting Troy Cordes was on the move, taking over the lead following a caution on lap two ( or was it three?, the scoring seemed a bit off!). At any rate, he battled with Snyder, swapping the spot back and forth before Joel Rust joined the party after lining up in row four. Cordes held the top spot until a restart with eleven laps scored, when Rust took over. From there, the #26 was never headed, as Rust became the only points leader to also claim the feature win. Cordes topped Brennen Chipp, Patrick Flannagan, and Snyder in the fast paced event.
Pro Late Models would wrap things up, with all twenty two competitors lining up for thirty laps and a $3,500 top prize. The Late Models were hardly exempt from the yellow fever, with the race stopped five times, although the first three came before one lap was scored! The front row of Klein and Dripps drove off from the pack in a great two car duel, Klein tucked in the low groove while Dripps pounded the cushion. Martin tried to make it a three car battle, but could not maintain the pace of the front runners. Multiple lead changes occurred between the front pair, and if not for the electronic timing, it would have been difficult to tell who was on top as they continued to race side by side. On lap thirteen, they caught the back of the pack, and just to keep things interesting, each had a car racing for position directly in their line. The log jam was broken four laps later when the yellow waved for Chase Brunscheen. As the green flag again waved, ninth running Bobby Hansen lost power in turn three, his night over. On the restart, it was twelfth starting J.D. Auringer, filling in for Brandon Davis behind the wheel of the #62 joining the front runners. Dripps took the lead on lap twenty one, with Auringer rolling in second one lap later. Now those two were locked in a tight battle, with Auringer finally grabbing the lead five laps from the finish. Finding speed late, eighth starting Nick Marolf took third one lap later, and as J.D. opened a bit of a cushion, Marolf drove around Dripps for second in the final laps. The official finish was Auringer with the win, followed by Marolf, Dripps, Klein, and C. J. Horn. Martin came home sixth, followed by Greg Kastli, Gabe Umbarger, Sean Johnson, and Duffy. Dripps would be the first ever series champion.
It was a long but fun and exciting night of racing for our party of four! Thanks to Rick and Corey for their hospitality and to Ryan for the shout outs for Positively Racing and the All Iowa Points. The track will be back in action next Sunday with Sprint Invaders and Legends Cars topping the bill. Next for us will be the rescheduled season championships and IMCA Late Model Drive for Five finale this Thursday, August 31 at Lee County Speedway. Admission is only $5.00, courtesy of U.S. Cellular! Hope to see you there!
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