Kunkle collects back-to-back feature wins at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (May 6, 2006) - B modified driver Brian Kunkle picked up where he left off at the end of the 2005 season - with multiple trips to the winner's circle. Kunkle scored his second straight victory to start 2006, giving him five consecutive wins on the 3/8-mile oval dating back to August of last year.

It was rookie driver Kyle Bentley setting the pace early in the 15-lapper while Kunkle worked through the pack from a fifth row start. By the time the race's first caution flag was displayed on lap two, Kunkle had already worked his way into the third position.

Just one lap later, Kunkle assumed control of the event and drove to the win ahead of Joe Docekal and Alan Wessels.

On the first night of points racing for the I.M.C.A. late model division, Dale Stolte jumped into the early lead from his pole position start. He was chased by Darren Ackerman and Dale Hackwell Jr. for the first handful of laps until Dean Wagner entered the mix.

As Stolte and Ackerman started distancing themselves from the field, the leaders encountered lapped traffic on the seventh circuit. After they cleared the backmarkers, Ackerman tried to make his move on the bottom side of Stolte, but could not make it stick.

Wagner then went to work on Ackerman, passing him for second with only a handful of laps remaining in the 25-lapper. Stolte maintained his stay out front, leading the event in its entirety to score the victory ahead of Wagner and Ackerman.

Contact at the drop of the green in the I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature sent front row starter Bill Meyer into a roll-over off of turn one, bringing the race to an early halt. He was uninjured. Meyer's departure from the event moved veteran Vince Buchholz into the front row for the ensuing restart.

When the race resumed, Buchholz took charge. He led the field with Paul Shepherd comfortably in second. The lead duo pulled away from the field, but Shepherd was never able to mount a challenge as Buchholz scored the win. Shepherd and defending track champion Patrick Stansbery ran second and third.

Brian Krall held the early lead in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified main event. Krall paced the field while sixth-row starting Scott Hogan ran the top groove to the front of the pack. Hogan motored into second after only five laps and made his pass for the lead on the high side just three laps later.

As Hogan led, Shawn Fisher made his way through traffic and settled into second midway through the event. Hogan's fortunes took a turn when mechanical problems sidelined him with just six laps remaining. Fisher inherited the lead and drove to the apparent victory ahead of J.D. Auringer and Krall.

During post-race inspection, Fisher was disqualified for missing a muffler giving the victory to Auringer.

Nick Wroten fell victim to the same muffler fate in the I.M.C.A. stock car 20-lapper. Wroten took command on lap four and never looked back on his way to victory lane, however he was also disqualified for not having a muffler.

Second place finisher Jarod Weepie was awarded the win. Eric Weber and Sean Johnson rounded out the top three.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL
First heat - 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. 29 Wayde Russell, Dunkerton; 3. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 4. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 5. 5W Scott Welsh, Marion; 6. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Second heat - 1. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 2. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 3. 78 Dale Stolte, Springville; 4. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; DNS 17 Brian Hunter, Independence.

Third heat - 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 3. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 4. Rick McGill, Independence; 5. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence; DQ Dave Stricker, Waterloo.

Feature - 1. Stolte; 2. Wagner; 3. Ackerman; 4. Martin; 5. Bruening; 6. Dralle; 7. Wheeler; 8. Hackwell; 9. Russell; 10. Goedert; 11. Johnson; 12. Brasch; 13. Welsh; 14. Thomsen; 15. Hamilton; 16. Lillie; 17. Pattee; 18. McGill; DNS Stricker; DNS Hunter.

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 2. 9 Ben Metcalf, Evansdale; 3. 171 Buck Swanson, Cedar Falls; 4. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 5. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton; 6. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 7. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo; 8. 6 Don Erger, Brandon.

Second heat - 1. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 2. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 3. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 4. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 5. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 6. 11S Dion Speed, New Hartford; 7. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner.

Third heat - 1. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 2. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 3. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 4. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 5. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 6. 38 Beau Duffield, Cedar Rapids; 7. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 8. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester.

Fourth heat - 1. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 4. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 5. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 6. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; DQ 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo.

First B feature - 1. Flannagan; 2. Corporon; 3. Erger; 4. Johnson; 5. Jensen; 6. Sondag; 7. Speed; 8. Haupt; 9. Schaefer.
Second B feature - 1. Jackson; 2. Betzer; 3. Luloff; 4. Snyder; 5. Cordes; 6. Passick; 7. Pate; 8. Manson; 9. Duffield.
A feature - 1. Auringer; 2. Krall; 3. Luloff; 4. Flannagan; 5. Betzer; 6. Swanson; 7. Thimmesch; 8. Jackson; 9. Gill; 10. Erger; 11. Trefz; 12. Johnson; 13. Corporon; 14. Hogan; 15. Stuber; 16. Metcalf; 17. Thomas; 18. Snyder; 19. Bolin; DQ Fisher.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 2. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 3. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley; 4. 21M Shane Manson, Manchester; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 6. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 7. 9 Dallas Morin, Cedar Rapids; 8. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo; DNS 38 Dain Sires, Waterloo.

Second heat - 1. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 4. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 6. 49 Doug Otto, Cedar Falls; 7. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 9. 99 Erick Knutsen, Center Point.

Feature - 1. Weepie; 2. E. Weber; 3. Johnson; 4. Trimble; 5. Temeyer; 6. Chesmore; 7. L. Weber; 8. Otto; 9. Adams; 10. Morin; 11. Sires; 12. Hocken; 13. Schimmels; 14. Knutsen; 15. Irvine; 16. Manson; DQ Wroten.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 4. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 5. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 6. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 7. 1 Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat - 1. 01 Joe Burmeister, Mt. Auburn; DNF 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; DNF 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; DQ 24J John Meyer, Independence; DQ 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; DQ 62 Ryan Bochmann, Greene; DQ 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein.

Third heat - 1. 22 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 2. 7B Jim Ball Jr., Independence; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 5. 1X Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 6. 6G Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; 7. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton.

Fourth heat - 1. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 2. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 3. 30 Mike Stanek, Dewar; 4. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 5. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 6. 6 Justin Ginther, Oelwein; 7. 24R Kevin Robinson, Independence.

First B feature - 1. Gebel; 2. Whitaker; 3. W. Stanek; 4. Irvine; 5. J. Meyer; 6. G. Sweerin; 7. Thomsen; 8. Bochmann; DNS Brown; DNS Siems.

Second B feature - 1. Grother; 2. Wilson; 3. Luloff; 4. Ginther; 5. Michels; 6. Gonzales; 7. A. Sweerin; DNS Robinson.

A feature - 1. Buchholz; 2. Shepherd; 3. Stansbery; 4. Grother; 5. Hilmer; 6. Gebel; 7. Whitaker; 8. W. Stanek; 9. J. Meyer; 10. Wilson; 11. Irvine; 12. Luloff; 13. Sprague; 14. G. Sweerin; 15. Ginther; 16. M. Stanek; 17. Burmeister; 18. Ball; 19. Davis; 20. B. Meyer.

B MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. 69 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 3. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 4. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; 5. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 6. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 7. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat - 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 3. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 4. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 5. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 6. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo.

Feature - 1. Kunkle; 2. Docekal; 3. Wessels; 4. Temeyer; 5. Krall; 6. Ebaugh; 7. Bentley; 8. Brown; 9. Handberg; 10. Buhlman; 11. Rouse; 12. Cox; 13. Doyle.