Brown becomes third straight first-time hobby stock winner at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, IA (Aug. 5, 2006) – For the third consecutive week, a first-time winner visited victory lane in the I.M.C.A. hobby stock division at Independence Motor Speedway. Matt Brown led all 15 laps on the 3/8-mile oval to take the memorable win.

At the start of the event, Brown took command from his outside front row start. He paced the field while a handful of drivers battled two and three-wide behind him. Paul Shepherd worked through traffic from a sixth row start to challenge for the lead with only five laps remaining. Shepherd pulled alongside the race leader but was not able to get by Brown.

Jim Ball settled into second with only one lap remaining and pulled to the bottom side of Brown through the final set of turns. Ball drove hard through the corners, driving into the side of Brown’s machine as they entered the front stretch. Ball made contact with the leader, sending him off of the front straightaway.

The caution flag immediately came out along with the checkers. The crowd was delighted when Ball was disqualified for rough driving, thus giving Brown the hard-fought win. Shepherd was scored second and Curt Hilmer third.

Brett Ladehoff became another first-time winner in the B modified division. Following a feature win the night before at Marshalltown Speedway, Ladehoff celebrated the weekend of his 21st birthday with a second trip to the winner’s circle.

Josh Sherbon paced the 20-car field at the green flag with Tim Swope in tow. Ladehoff, who started 11th, settled into second just prior to a caution on lap four. By the time the yellow flag waved again one lap later, Ladehoff put his No. 12X machine in front.

Ladehoff led the remainder of the event to score his first win at Independence. He was chased to the checkers by points leader Brian Kunkle and Sherbon.

Kenny Taylor was the early leader in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. stock car main event. He was pressured early by Jason Goedken, Kurt Kastli and Brian Irvine. The leaders swapped the top four positions multiple times, running two and three-wide until Irvine inched ahead on the ninth lap, driving the bottom groove of the speedway.

Irvine was still leading when the yellow flag waved on lap 13, however mechanical problems sidelined him shortly following the restart. Dan Trimble took advantage of Irvine’s misfortune and took command of the event one lap later. Trimble led the final six circuits to score the win over points leader Jarod Weepie and Taylor.

In the I.M.C.A. modified feature, Erik Haupt took the lead at the drop of the green flag. Haupt remained out front while Ed Thomas ran second. Vern Jackson and Richie Gustin raced through the field from mid-pack starts to settle into the top four a handful of laps into the event.

Thomas took the lead from Haupt at the midway point of the 20-lapper after mechanical problems forced Haupt off the high side of the front stretch. Following the restart, Thomas continued to pace the field while Gustin and Jackson ran side-by-side behind him.

Just two laps later, mechanical problems sidelined Gustin as well, leaving Jackson on the rear bumper of Thomas for the lead. With Thomas running a solid line at the bottom of the speedway, Jackson was unable to make the pass until he opted for the high line as the waving green was displayed.

Jackson inched ahead as the white flag was displayed and, as the leaders were coming to the checkers, a spin in turn two brought out the yellow-checkers. Jackson held on for the victory over Thomas and Troy Cordes, who blistered his way through the field after starting 15th.

Just two weeks after picking up his first-ever win, I.M.C.A. late model driver Tyler Bruening took little time returning to the winner’s circle. Bruening drove under race leader LaVern Carey on the 11th of 25 laps and led the final 15 circuits to score the win. Curt Martin raced through the field to take home second and Greg Kastli crossed the line in third.

RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 85 LaVern Carey, Ionia; 2. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 4. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg; 5. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 6. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; DNS 7 Greg Hunter, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 3. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 4. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 5. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 6. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 2. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 3. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 4. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 5. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 6. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 7. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Feature – 1. Bruening; 2. Martin; 3. Kastli; 4. Wheeler; 5. Ackerman; 6. Benn; 7. Hamilton; 8. Pattee; 9. Brasch; 10. Struve; 11. Hunter; 12. Carey; 13. Johnson; 14. Thomsen; 15. Hackwell; 16. Passick; 17. Lillie; 18. Wagner; 19. Goedert; 20. Watters; DNS Dralle.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Evansdale; 2. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner; 3. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 4. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 5. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 6. 27 Jamie Johnson, Waterloo; DNS 3 Max Corporon, Marion.

Second heat – 1. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 2. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 3. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 4. 6 Don Erger, Brandon; 5. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 6. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; DNS 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua.

Third heat – 1. 9 Ben Metcalf, Evansdale; 2. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 19G Richie Gustin, Gilman; 5. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 6. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 7. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City.

Feature – 1. Jackson; 2. Thomas; 3. Cordes; 4. Auringer; 5. Flannagan; 6. Luloff; 7. Hogan; 8. Gill; 9. Snyder; 10. Trefz; 11. Conrad; 12. Jensen; 13. Metcalf; 14. Erger; 15. Whalen; 16. Johnson; 17. Betzer; 18. Gustin; 19. Haupt; 20. Stuber; DNS Corporon.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo; 4. 9 Dallas Morin, Cedar Rapids; 5. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 6. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 7. 11 Loras Schaefer, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 2. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 3. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 69 Kurt Kastli, Waterloo; 5. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 6. 61 Adam Barlow, Nashua; 7. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley.

Third heat – 1. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 2. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 3. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 4. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 5. 68 Mike Knickerbocker, Fayette; 6. 7G Jason Goedken, Faribank; 7. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant.

Feature – 1. Trimble; 2. Weepie; 3. Taylor; 4. Hocken; 5. Kastli; 6. Schimmels; 7. Manson; 8. Johnson; 9. Goedken; 10. Weber; 11. Barlow; 12. Sires; 13. Rose; 14. Knickerbocker; 15. Morin; 16. Beauregard; 17. Wroten; 18. Chesmore; 19. Irvine; DNS Schaefer; DNS Adams.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 2. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 3. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 4. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 7. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; 8. 24R Kevin Robinson, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 2. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 3. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 4. 32 Don Arnold, Stanley; 5. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 7. 1 Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 8. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington.

Third heat – 1. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 2. 22 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 5. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 6. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 7. 8W Lynn Wheeler, Cedar Falls.

B feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Sweerin; 3. Grother; 4. Floyd; 5. Thomsen; 6. Siems; 7. Steere; 8. Robinson; 9. Wheeler; DNS Fraser; DNS Jones.

A feature – 1. Brown; 2. Shepherd; 3. Hilmer; 4. Whitaker; 5. Meyer; 6. Wilson; 7. Grother; 8. Buchholz; 9. Stanek; 10. Stansbery; 11. Floyd; 12. Sprague; 13. Sweerin; 14. Steere; 15. Thomsen; 16. Robinson; 17. Ball; 18. Irvine; 19. Siems; 20. Arnold.



B MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 99 John Bates, Fairbank; 2. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 3. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 4. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 5. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 6. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 7. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 8. 61 Lloyd Bacon, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 3. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 4. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 5. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 6. 57S Mike Moore, Janesville; 7. 15 Rod McDonald, Strawberry Point.

Third heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 3. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 4. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 5. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 6. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; DNS 7I James Tompkins, Newhall.

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