Stricker sails to first career I.M.C.A. late model win at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (June 3, 2006) – In only his second year in an I.M.C.A. late model, Dave Stricker picked up the first win of his career at Independence Motor Speedway. Two weeks after earning a career-best second place finish, Stricker took his first win in the 25-lap headliner.

Randy Wheeler set the pace early as he took command the first time around the 3/8-mile oval. Stricker, who started outside the third row, chased Wheeler into second one lap later and then made his bid for the lead on lap four.

Stricker made the pass for the lead, survived a trio of caution periods and led the remaining 21 laps to take the win ahead of Wheeler and Tyler Bruening.

Pole-sitter Ben Metcalf enjoyed the early lead in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature. His stay out front was short-lived, however, as fourth-row starting Troy Cordes moved into fourth place after only one lap. Cordes then made a charge to the front of the pack one lap later, just prior to the race’s first caution.

By the time the race was slowed again for caution at the midway point of the race, Cordes extended his lead to nearly an entire straightaway. On the restart, Max Corporon was glued to the rear bumper of Cordes’ machine with Jason Snyder in third.

Corporon remained within striking distance of the race leader when the race resumed, however he was never able to mount a serious charge as Cordes drove to victory, his second of the season. Vern Jackson worked his way around Snyder with a handful of laps remaining to take third.

Jeff Adams held the point through the early stages of the I.M.C.A. stock car 20-lapper. Following a trio of stoppages on the second lap, Justin Temeyer worked his way into the lead followed by Brian Irvine.

The lead pair engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle until Irvine was able to break free on the sixth lap. Irvine led the remainder of the event to take the win, his second of the season, ahead of Temeyer and Nick Wroten.

Travis Brown was the early leader in the 15-lap B modified main event. As Brown paced the field, points leader Brian Kunkle was working through the field from his sixth row starting position.

Kunkle entered the top five after only one lap and into second after two laps. Kunkle then made his move past Brown just three laps later as he drove away from the field to score his fourth win of the season. Brown came home second and Josh Sherbon crossed the line in third.

Paul Shepherd took the lead from Matt Brown on the third lap of the I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature. Shepherd pulled away from the field to take his first win of the season ahead of Brown and Jamie Whitaker.



RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 31$ Dave Stricker, Waterloo; 4. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 7. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 2. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 3. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 4. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 5. 17 Brian Hunter, Independence; 6. 78 Dale Stolte, Springville.

Third heat – 1. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 2. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 3. 32 Greg Hunter, Independence; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 29 Wayde Russell, Dunkerton; 6. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville.

Feature – 1. Stricker; 2. Wheeler; 3. Bruening; 4. Kastli; 5. Martin; 6. Wagner; 7. Passick; 8. Hackwell; 9. G. Hunter; 10. Pattee; 11. Stolte; 12. Brasch; 13. Benn; 14. Johnson; 15. Thomsen; 16. Lillie; 17. B. Hunter; 18. Dralle; 19. Russell.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 9 Ben Metcalf, Evansdale; 2. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 3. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 4. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 5. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 6. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 7. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton; 8. 38 Beau Duffield, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 4. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 5. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 6. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 7. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester; 8. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton.

Third heat – 1. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 4. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 5. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 6. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 7. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner.

B feature – 1. Hogan; 2. Thimmesch; 3. Betzer; 4. Pate; 5. Manson; 6. Flannagan; 7. Trefz; 8. Bolin; 9. Haupt; 10. Sondag; DNS Duffield.

A feature – 1. Cordes; 2. Corporon; 3. Jackson; 4. Snyder; 5. Auringer; 6. Thomas; 7. Hogan; 8. Gill; 9. Betzer; 10. Metcalf; 11. Bolin; 12. Johnson; 13. Thimmesch; 14. Jensen; 15. Trefz; 16. Pate; 17. Flannagan; 18. Luloff; 19. Manson; 20. Fisher.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 2. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 3. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 4. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 5. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 6. 20 Dan Trimble, Independence; 7. 49 Doug Otto, Cedar Falls; 8. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 9. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point.

Second heat – 1. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 2. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 3. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley; 5. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 6. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 7. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 8. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Temeyer; 3. Wroten; 4. Trimble; 5. Samec; 6. Weepie; 7. Chesmore; 8. Kohl; 9. Johnson; 10. Manson; 11. Adams; 12. Otto; 13. L. Weber; 14. Taylor; 15. Schimmels; 16. E. Weber; 17. Hocken.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 2. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 3. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 22 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 6. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 7. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 8. 6 Justin Ginther, Oelwein.

Second heat – 1. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 7. 6G Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; DNS 24R Kevin Robinson, Independence.

Third heat – 1. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 2. 32 Don Arnold, Stanley; 3. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 4. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 6. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; 7. 30 Mike Stanek, Dewar; DNS Dave Wheeler, Fairbank.

B feature – 1. Stansbery; 2. Buchholz; 3. Sweerin; 4. Davis; 5. Irvine; 6. M. Stanek; 7. Robinson; 8. W. Stanek; 9. Ginther; 10. Jones; 11. Gonzales; DNS Wheeler.

A feature – 1. Shepherd; 2. Brown; 3. Whitaker; 4. Grother; 5. Ball; 6. Stansbery; 7. Irvine; 8. Wilson; 9. Meyer; 10. Hilmer; 11. Thomsen; 12. Sweerin; 13. Sprague; 14. Buchholz; 15. Arnold; 16. M. Stanek; 17. W. Stanek; 18. Davis; DNS Michels; DNS Robinson.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 3. 69 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 4. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 5. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; 6. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 7. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 8. 6 Steve Swope, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 2. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 3. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 6. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 7. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond.

Feature – 1. Kunkle; 2. Brown; 3. Sherbon; 4. Buhlman; 5. Rouse; 6. Temeyer; 7. Handberg; 8. Bentley; 9. S. Swope; 10. Docekal; 11. Ebaugh; 12. T. Swope; 13. Olson; 14. Cox; 15. Krall.