Independence Motor Speedway
August 11, 2012
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Lerch drives to his second win of the season at Independence

by Ryan Clark
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 11) – Adam Johnson continued his recent dominance Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway. The hometown driver earned his third straight win in the IMCA Modified division and his fourth victory in the last five weeks.

Johnson chased Kevin Pittman and Jason Snyder at the drop of the green before sweeping past the front row starters by the completion of lap two. He then quickly pulled away from the pack while Troy Cordes raced into contention.

Cordes, who settled into third by the time the caution flag waved on lap six, made his way around the outside of Snyder when racing resumed. He pursued the race leader for numerous laps before challenging to the low side of Johnson in the waning laps.

Cordes pulled even with Johnson in the corners at various points toward the end of the 20-lapper, but Johnson ran the cushion to perfection to sail to the victory. Cordes ran second ahead of Darin Duffy and Ronn Lauritzen. Lauritzen’s fourth place finish pulled him to within a single point of Mark Schulte atop the division’s standings.

The points race also closed to within a single point in the IMCA Hobby Stock division after Benji Irvine made his way to the winner’s circle in that scheduled 15-lapper.

After a pair of early cautions slowed action and jumbled up the lineup, Quinton Miller took charge with Doug Laughridge, Vince Buchholz and points leader Justin Stander in pursuit. While the front-runners battled, Irvine made his way into fifth by the time the yellow flag waved again on lap six.

On the restart, Irvine powered through the pack to assume command by the time the yellow flag waved again one lap later. He pulled away from the pack on the restart to take the win in an event that timed out after 10 laps. Miller ran second ahead of Laughridge and Stander. With the win, Irvine moved ahead of Stander by a single point in the standings with two weeks remaining in the season.

John Emerson led early in the 18-lap IMCA Stock Car main event. From a second row starting position, Emerson made his way around Tim Helle on lap two to take command. While Emerson paced the field, Scooter Dulin, Brian Irvine and Sean Johnson battled for second.

Johnson made his way past Irvine just shy of the midway point, then reeled in the leader with a handful of laps to go. Running the low side, Johnson shot to the inside of Emerson at the 15-lap mark to drive to the win, his sixth of the season. Irvine came home second ahead of Helle. A top-11 finish next week will lock up the track championship a week early for Johnson.

Kip Siems took the lead at the drop of the green in the IMCA SportMod feature. He showed the way while Lucas Lundry worked his way through traffic and into the runner-up spot on lap eight.

Chasing the leader around the top side of the speedway, Lundry shot to the inside of Siems exiting turn four as the flying green waved. Lundry took charge at the line, then led the final two circuits to take his first win of the season. Siems and Alex Zwanziger chased Lundry to the checkers.

Greg Hunter was enjoying the lead in the 25-lap IMCA Late Model feature while Chad Lerch made his way into second just shy of the midway point. Lerch reeled in the leader, then made his bid for the top spot at the 15-lap mark while Curt Martin made a terrific run through traffic from a sixth row start.

By the time Martin made his way into second on the 17th circuit, Lerch pulled away from his nearest pursuers by a straightaway margin. That lead disappeared when the caution flag waved one lap later.

When racing resumed, Martin tried numerous time to work beneath the leader, however his efforts came up short as Lerch drove to his second win of the season. Martin ran second at the line ahead of Hunter.

Steve Miedke and Duayne Herb shared time at the front of the pack in the IMCA Sport Compact feature before mechanical problems sidelined both competitors. Merv Chandler inherited the lead, then held off track newcomer William Michel to take his second straight win in the division. A.J. Witten came home third.

Next Saturday is Independence Area Chamber of Commerce Back to School Night. The Chamber is planning a number of prizes, including bicycle giveaways for the kids. It will be the last Saturday of weekly racing before the August 25 Budweiser Season Championships. Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6 and racing to follow.

RESULTS

IMCA LATE MODEL
Feature – 1. 3X Chad Lerch (North Liberty); 2. 45 Curt Martin (Independence); 3. 7 Greg Hunter (Independence); 4. 0 Rory Metcalf (West Union); 5. 99D Darrel DeFrance (Marshalltown); 6. 16 Tyler Bruening (Decorah); 7. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr. (Washburn); 8. 88 Drew Johnson (Belle Plaine); 9. 60 Dean Wagner (Evansdale); 10. 38S Dain Sires (Cedar Falls); 11. 85 LaVern Carey (Ionia); 12. 21B Joel BRasch (Dunkerton); 13. 77 Dirk Hamilton (Jesup); 14. 4 Leon Thomsen (Waverly); 15. 14 Tracey Rigel (Waterloo); 16. 25P Kenny Pint (Independence); 17. 73 Greg Kastli (Waterloo); 18. 98 Travis Smock (Independence); 19. 4D Rick Dralle (Waterloo); 20. 68 Tysus Pattee (Vinton); 21. 83 Russell Hesse (Waterloo).
First heat – 1. Hunter; 2. DeFrance; 3. Kastli; 4. Johnson; 5. Bruening; 6. Hesse; 7. Pint.
Second heat – 1. Hamilton; 2. Smock; 3. Lerch; 4. Martin; 5. Pattee; 6. Sires; 7. Thomsen.
Third heat – 1. Brasch; 2. Metcalf; 3. Wagner; 4. Hackwell; 5. Carey; 6. Rigel; 7. Dralle.

IMCA MODIFIED
Feature – 1. 24R Adam Johnson (Independence); 2. 71 Troy Cordes (Dunkerton); 3. 19D Darin Duffy (Hazleton); 4. 10K Ronn Lauritzen (Jesup); 5. 00J J.D. Auringer (Waterloo); 6. 12J Justin O’Brien (West Union); 7. 27M Mark Schulte (Delhi); 8. 75 Josh Sherbon (Cedar Falls); 9. F7 Patrick Flannagan (Cedar Rapids); 10. 91 Shawn Ryan (Waterloo); 11. 93K Jeff Kriz (Waterloo); 12. 32 Chris Snyder (Raymond); 13. 41P Keith Pittman (Waterloo); 14. 23 J.J. Scott (Iowa City); 15. 11 Timm Jensen (Dunkerton); 16. 64 Vern Jackson (Waterloo); 17. 98 Jason Snyder (Dunkerton); 18. 1J Jeff Streeter (Vinton); 19. 26P Kevin Pittman (Waterloo); 20. 01 Ed Thomas (Waterloo); 21. 57B Dennis Betzer (Central City).
First heat – 1. Jackson; 2. Lauritzen; 3. Kevin Pittman; 4. Johnson; 5. Ryan; 6. Thomas; 7. Betzer.
Second heat – 1. J. Snyder; 2. Cordes; 3. Duffy; 4. O’Brien; 5. Schulte; 6. Kriz; 7. Keith Pittman.
Third heat – 1. Auringer; 2. Sherbon; 3. Flannagan; 4. C. Snyder; 5. Streeter; 6. Jensen; 7. Scott.

IMCA STOCK CAR
Feature – 1. 8R Sean Johnson (Independence); 2. 26 Brian Irvine (Oelwein); 3. 15T Tim Helle (Garnavillo); 4. 3T Scooter Dulin (Cedar Rapids); 5. 00 Tony Schimmels (Readlyn); 6. JR3 Jason Hocken (Independence); 7. 3 Jarod Weepie (Dunkerton); 8. 4JR Russell Damme Jr. (Waterloo); 9. 4 Cory Tharp (Cedar Falls); 10. 17 Jason Niedert (Cedar Falls); 11. 85 Bryce Carey (Nashua); 12. 87 John Emerson (Waterloo); 13. 11J Jerome Jacoby (Waterloo); 14. 15 Norman Chesmore (Rowley); 15. 18 Tom Schmitt (Independence); 16. 11 Jesse Brown (Nashua).
First heat – 1. Hocken; 2. Damme; 3. Schimmels; 4. Irvine; 5. Dulin; 6. Brown; 7. Carey; 8. Tharp.
Second heat – 1. Johnson; 2. Emerson; 3. Helle; 4. Chesmore; 5. Niedert; 6. Jacoby; 7. Weepie; 8. Schmitt.

IMCA SPORTMOD
Feature – 1. 96 Lucas Lundry (Maynard); 2. S16 Kip Siems (Cedar Falls); 3. 32Z Alex Zwanziger (Nashua); 4. 14 Shane Ebaugh (Raymond); 5. 92 Tyler Droste (Waterloo); 6. 80J jared Van Deest (Grundy Center); 7. 00 Jim Buhlman (Cedar Falls); 8. 3R Danny Dvorak (Vinton); 9. 21 Brennen Chipp (Waterloo); 10. 25T Travis Peterson (Gladbrook); 11. J2 Dave Schulze (Keystone); 12. 196 Ray Lundry (Maynard); 13. 223W Robert Whalen (Nashua); 14. 28P Rick Paulson (Tripoli); 15. 39 Brian Hilbert (Independence); 16. 1E Ryan Engelkes (Dike); 17. 49 Brandon Smith (Rowley); 18. 40J Jason Doye (Cedar Rapids); 19. 11 Bob Ebaugh (Raymond); 20. 9 Synjun Bauer (Prairie du Chien, Wis.); 21. 7Z Zac Becker (Waterloo); 22. 339 Kevin Hurst (Janesville); 23. B62 Brandon Davis (Robins).
First heat – 1. Siems; 2. Peterson; 3. Van Deest; 4. Davis; 5. Chipp; 6. Hilbert; 7. B. Ebaugh; DNS Engelkes.
Second heat – 1. L. Lundry; 2. Dvorak; 3. Zwanziger; 4. Whalen; 5. Smith; 6. Doyle; 7. Bauer; 8. Hurst.
Third heat – 1. S. Ebaugh; 2. Droste; 3. Buhlman; 4. Schulze; 5. Paulson; 6. R. Lundry; 7. Becker.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK
Feature – 1. 79 Benji Irvine (Cedar Falls); 2. 73 Quinton Miller (Independence); 3. 258 Doug Laughridge (Vinton); 4. 67 Justin Stander (Vinton); 5. 45 Justin Wacha (Vinton); 6. 77 Rod Grother (Cedar Rapids); 7. 4T3 T.J. Mortenson (Independence); 8. 5 Marcus Wayne (Independence); 9. 26 Nathan Christie (Waterloo); 10. 35B Shawn Kuennen (Hazleton); 11. 90 Lowell Potter (White Bear Lake, Minn.); 12. 95 Matt Lundry (Oelwein); 13. 58B Randy Byerly (Tipton); 14. 14J Jacob Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 15. 7B Jim Ball (Independence); 16. 12OZ Gary Gates (Waterloo); 17. 64 Jerome Wilson (Waterloo); 18. 55 Vince Buchholz (Cedar Falls); 19. 20B Matt Burmeister (Dunkerton); 20. 12J Jeremy Floyd (Cedar Rapids); 21. 166 Justin Lichty (Waterloo); 22. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson (Waterloo).
First heat – 1. Lichty; 2. Laughridge; 3. Jerome Wilson; 4. Wacha; 5. Gates; 6. Jeremy Floyd; 7. Jeremiah Wilson; 8. Mortenson.
Second heat – 1. Irvine; 2. Buchholz; 3. Grother; 4. Byerly; 5. Jacob Floyd; 6. Christie; DQ Burmeister.
Third heat – 1. Lundry; 2. Miller; 3. Ball; 4. Wayne; 5. Kuennen; 6. Stander; 7. Potter.

IMCA SPORT COMPACT
Feature – 1. 2 Merv Chandler (Vinton); 2. 24 William Michel (Farmington); 3. 111 A.J. Witten (Cedar Rapids); 4. 57 Duayne Herb (Cedar Rapids); 5. 83 Travis Ross (Evansdale); 6. 7 Dave Fangman (Marion); 7. 11 Steve Miedke (Shellsburg).
Heat – 1. Miedke; 2. Herb; 3. Michel; 4. Chandler; 5. Fangman; 6. Ross; 7. Witten.