Final feature win gives DeFrance tie-breaking edge for third national IMCA Late Model crown

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa Aug. (28) – His 10th feature win of the year gave Darrel DeFrance of Marshalltown his third career IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship.

That victory, earned Saturday night at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, was the tie-breaking dif-ference after DeFrance and Terry Neal of Ely both ended the regular season with 803 points.

Neal had nine wins, after seeing his Friday night finale at Davenport Speedway rained out, running third Sat-urday at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa and ending in 13th on Sunday at Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill.

Both drivers won a pair of track championships, with the highest average car count of the two determining bonus points. The title at Davenport gave Neal 21 bonus points while the crown at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway in Des Moines added 17 points to DeFrance’s total.

Neal also paced the standings at Maquoketa. DeFrance, the 1993 and defending national king, led the way at Webster City as well.

Mark Burgtorf was champion at his hometown Quincy, Ill., Raceway enroute to third place nationally. Rob Toland of Bettendorf swapped the top spot in the national standings five times with DeFrance over the course of the season before finishing fourth.

Quincy’s Lonnie Bailey, track champion at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, rounded out the top five.

DeFrance is the second driver to win back-to-back titles, and the first to win three crowns since IMCA resumed sanctioning the Late Models in 1987. The next step in breaking the tie for the 2007 championship would have been second place finishes, in which DeFrance held a 6-5 edge.

Both DeFrance and Burgtorf now have 10 career IMCA Late Model track titles to their credit, tied for second on the all-time list for the division behind only the 11 earned by Todd Cooney of Des Moines.

Adam Larson of Ames was national rookie of the year and 14th overall in standings for the Late Models.

Also winning track titles were Darren Ackerman of Readlyn at Independence Motor Speedway, Tom Darbyshire of Morning Sun at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Jason Bahrs of Colona, Ill., at Quad City Raceway and Barry Sorensen of Avoca at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan.

The point season for Late Models ran from April 27 through Aug. 26; local track officials have until Sept. 24 to notify IMCA of any corrections to weekly results that would affect their top 15 standings.

Unofficial National IMCA Sunoco Late Model Point Standings
1. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa 803 (10 feature wins)
2. Terry Neal, Ely, Iowa 803 (9 feature wins)
3. Mark Burgtorf, Quincy, Ill. 800
4. Rob Toland, Bettendorf, Iowa 791
5. Lonnie Bailey, Quincy, Ill. 786
6. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, Iowa 765
7. Jason Bahrs, Colona, Ill. 762
8. Jeremy Grady, Story City, Iowa 761
9. Hershel L. Roberts, East Moline, Ill. 727
10. Craig Jacobs, Des Moines, Iowa 724
11. Andy Nezworski, Buffalo, Iowa 720
12. Matt Ryan, Davenport, Iowa 716
13. Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa 714
14. Adam Larson, Ames, Iowa 713
15. Mark Preston, Port Byron, Ill. 706
16. Robert See, Altoona, Iowa 701
17. Matt Strassheim, Burlington, Iowa 699
18. Sam R. Halstead, New London, Iowa 698
19. Mike Murphy Jr., Colona, Ill. 696
20. Justin Reed, Quincy, Ill. 684