Bruening scores first career I.M.C.A. late model victory at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 22, 2006) – Although he had to endure a rain delay of two hours, it was worth the wait for I.M.C.A. late model driver Tyler Bruening. Just after the clock moved past midnight, Bruening made his way to victory lane for the first time ever at Independence Motor Speedway.

Pesky rain showers throughout the afternoon delayed the start of the program, part of the 2006 Buchanan County Fair. Once the track was ironed in and ready for racing shortly after 8 p.m., drivers and fans were provided with a fast, smooth racing surface.

At the start of the 25-lap late model feature, LaVern Carey held the point for a single lap before Levi Benn snuck under the leader exiting turn two on the second lap. Benn paced the field while Bruening worked through the pack from a sixth row start.

After just two laps, Bruening put himself in a battle with Dirk Hamilton, Luke Goedert and Jeff Aikey in exciting two-wide action for second through fifth.

As Bruening made the pass for the lead, Aikey made a slingshot move in turn four on lap 11. Aikey put his nose in a little too deep, making contact with a pair of the other front runners, sending him into a spin and bringing out the race’s first caution. The contact left Aikey unable to continue the event.

Following the restart, Bruening continued his dominant run at the front of the pack and pulled away from the field to score his first-ever victory. Benn came home second and Hamilton third.

The I.M.C.A. hobby stock division also produced a first-time winner as Don Arnold made his first-ever trip to the winner’s circle. Arnold paced the field at the drop of the green from his pole position start. Although pressured by Travis Michels throughout much of the event, Arnold held on to score the victory. Points leader Rod Grother chased the lead duo to the checkers.

Former pro stock track champion Alan Wessels picked up his first-ever feature win in the B modified division in exciting fashion. At the start of the 15-lapper, Mike Moore assumed command. He paced the field as Tim Swope ran second throughout the early stages.

Wessels worked his way around Swope on lap six and set his sights on Moore. Coming off of turn four on the 15th and final lap, Wessels surged off the high side of speedway to pull even with the race leader. Wessels inched ahead at the stripe to take the exciting win. Mike Krall worked his way through the field to take home third.

Adam Johnson was the early leader in the I.M.C.A. modified main event. Johnson remained out front until veteran Don Erger made his bid for the lead on lap six. Erger led the remainder of the race to score the win ahead of Pat Flannagan and Jerry Luloff.

Tony Schimmels assumed command from Jason Hocken on the second lap of the I.M.C.A. stock car feature to drive to his first feature win of the season. Kevin Rose crossed the line in second and Jeff Adams was third.

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 2. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 3. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 4. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 5. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 6. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 8. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 2. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 3. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 77X Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 6. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 7. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 8. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg.

Third heat – 1. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 2. 7 Greg Hunter, Independence; 3. 78W Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 4. 85 LaVern Carey, Ionia; 5. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 6. 53 Darren Ackerman, Wateroo; 7. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton.

B feature – 1. Aikey; 2. Martin; 3. Wheeler; 4. Ackerman; 5. Passick; 6. Dedrick; 7. Johnson;8. Wagner; 9. Thomsen; 10. Watters; 11. Lillie.

A feature – 1. Bruening; 2. Benn; 3. Hamilton; 4. Hackwell; 5. Goedert; 6. Ackerman; 7. Brasch; 8. Wagner; 9. Struve; 10. Martin; 11. Carey; 12. Passick; 13. Dedrick; 14. Pattee; 15. Wendling; 16. Johnson; 17. Hunter; 18. Wheeler; 19. Aikey; DNS Dralle.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 2. 6 Don Erger, Brandon; 3. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 4. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 5. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 6. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 7. 27 Jamie Johnson, Waterloo; 8. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua.

Second heat – 1. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester; 2. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 3. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 4. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 5. 123 Rob Rose, Center Point; 6. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 7. 11S Dion Speed, New Hartford; 8. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner; 2. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo; 3. 57B Dennis Betzer Central City; 4. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 5. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 6. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 7. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 8. 9 Ben Metcalf, Evansdale.

B feature – 1. Rose; 2. Luloff; 3. Auringer; 4. Hogan; 5. King; 6. Thomas; 7. Metcalf; 8. Speed; 9. J. Johnson; 10. Whalen; 11. Pate; 12. Cordes.

A feature – 1. Erger; 2. Flannagan; 3. Luloff; 4 Corporon; 5. Metcalf; 6. Auringer; 7. Rose; 8. Jensen; 9. Haupt; 10. A. Johnson; 11. Schaefer; 12. Hogan; 13. King; 14. Manson; 15. Gill; 16. Betzer; 17. Snyder; 18. Jackson; 19. Thomas; 20. Speed.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 2. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 5. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 6. 11 Loras Schaefer, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 2. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley; 3. 7G Jason Goedken, Fairbank; 4. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 5. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 6. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton.

Third heat – 1. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton ; 3. 12I ken Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 5. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo; 6. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls.

Feature – 1. Schimmels; 2. Rose; 3. Adams; 4. Trimble; 5. E. Weber; 6. Manson; 7. Hocken; 8. Johnson; 9. Weepie; 10. Wroten; 11. Chesmore; 12. Goedken; 13. L. Weber; 14. K. Irvine; 15. Schaefer; 16. Taylor; 17. Sires; DNS B. Irvine.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 4. 30 Mike Stanek, Dewar; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 07 Craig Pesek, Coggon, 7. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 8. 6G Keven Gonzales, Fairbank.

Second heat – 1. 32 Don Arnold, Stanley; 2. 62 Ryan Bochmann, Greene; 3. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 4. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 6. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 7. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids.

Third heat – 1. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 2. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 3. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 4. 2 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 5. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 18W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 7. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart.

Feature – 1. Arnold; 2. Michels; 3. Grother; 4. Shepherd; 5. Luloff; 6. Ball; 7. Buchholz; 8. Irvine; 9. Sprague; 10. Whitaker; 11. Hilmer; 12. Bochmann; 13. Wheeler; 14. W. Stanek; 15. Meyer; 16. Stansbery; 17. Wilson; 18. Gonzales; 19. M. Stanek; DNS Pesek; DNS Thomsen; DNS Brown.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 2. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 3. 15 Rod McDonald, Strawberry Point; 4. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 5. 99 John Bates, Fairbank; 6. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; DNS 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 3. 57S Mike Moore, Janesville; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 6. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 7. 61 Lloyd Bacon, Cedar Falls.

Third heat – 1. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 2. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 3. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 4. 69 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 5. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 6. 32 Dan Feltus, Allison; 7. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls.

Feature – 1. Wessels; 2. Moore; 3. Krall; 4. Olson; 5. Ladehoff; 6. Swope; 7. Kunkle; 8. Feltus; 9. McDonald; 10. Buhlman; 11. Rouse; 12. Bentley; 13. Handberg; 14. Temeyer; 15. Sherbon; 16. Bates; 17. Bacon; 18. Ebaugh; 19. Cox; 20. Docekal; 21. Brown.