Meyers master I.M.C.A. stock car and hobby stock features at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 12) – Although unrelated, Steve Meyer and Bill Meyer proved to have more than their last names in common as the pair of drivers scored feature wins at Independence Motor Speedway. The victories were the first this season for each driver on the 3/8-mile oval.

In the 20-lap I.M.C.A. stock car feature, Kenny Taylor took charge at the drop of the green flag. Taylor paced the field until mechanical problems sidelined him after five laps. Jason Hocken inherited the lead and ran the top groove at the front of the pack.

Hocken continued to lead the field until a miscue on the 14th circuit handed the lead to Dain Sires. Sires’ stay out front was short-lived as a flat tire forced him to the pits one lap later.

At that time Steve Meyer, who had been running with the lead pack for much of the event after starting 11th, took command and led the final five circuits to score the victory. Eric Weber and Sean Johnson chased Meyer to the checkers.

Perry Thomsen held the early lead in the I.M.C.A. hobby stock 15-lapper. As Thomsen led, Bill Meyer was quickly working through traffic from a fourth row start. Meyer pulled alongside Thomsen after only two laps and took the lead one lap later.

Meyer pulled away from the field to score the win by a straightaway ahead of his competitors. Jamie Whitaker, who restarted the event at the tail of the field following a lap one caution, made a strong run through the field to take second place ahead of Josh Irvine.

In B modified action, Travis Brown jumped out to the early lead. Brown stretched his lead to half of a straightaway before the yellow flag slowed action on the fifth lap. He continued his strong run at the front of the pack while Brett Ladehoff and Joe Docekal worked through the field.

By the time the final yellow flag waved on lap 13, Ladehoff worked his way under Brown to take the lead. Ladehoff led the final two laps to score the win over Brown and Docekal.

Todd Conrad was the early leader in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature. Conrad pulled away from the field from his pole position start while Adam Johnson and Erik Haupt battled behind him for second.

From his fifth row start, Troy Cordes maneuvered his way through traffic and joined Haupt and Johnson after only six laps. Cordes worked his way into second only one lap later running the high groove to perfection.

On the ninth lap, Cordes worked around the high side of Conrad and sailed to the victory ahead of Johnson and Conrad.



Four drivers battled early on for the top spot in the 25-lap I.M.C.A. late model feature. Rick Dralle held the early lead after taking the green from the front row, receiving heavy pressure from fellow front row starter Jon Passick.

As Passick took command on the fifth lap, Luke Goedert and Levi Benn entered in the battle at the front of the pack. Meanwhile, Greg Kastli and Curt Martin, were racing through the field from mid-pack starts.

Goedert worked around Passick for the lead on the 11th lap and Kastli followed him to the front one lap later.

Following a lap 18 caution, Kastli worked his way around the high side of Goedert and drove to the win, his second of the season. Martin made his way through the pack to take home second. Goedert finished third.



RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 3. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg; 6. 85 LaVern Carey, Ionia; DNS 44S Tom Struve, Palo.

Second heat – 1. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 2. 78W Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 3. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 4. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 5. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 6. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 2. 7 Greg Hunter, Independence; 3. 68 Tysus Pattee, Garrison; 4. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence; DNS Z1 Rick McGill, Independence.

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



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 2. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 3. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 4. 9 Ben Metcalf, Dunkerton; 5. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 6. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 7. 100 Clifford Schimmels, Denver; 8. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 2. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 3. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 4. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 5. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 6. 11S Dion Speed, New Hartford; 7. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 3. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 4. 93 Erik Haupt, Sumner; 5. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 6. 17B Brian Sondag, Vinton; DNS 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton.

Feature – 1. Cordes; 2. Johnson; 3. Conrad; 4. Auringer; 5. Luloff; 6. Stuber; 7. Hogan; 8. Jackson; 9. Haupt; 10. Betzer; 11. Thomas; 12. Gill; 13. Snyder; 14. Flannagan; 15. Jensen; 16. Speed; 17. Trefz; 18. Metcalf; 19. Schimmels; 20. Whalen; 21. Sondag; DNS Corporon.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat – 1. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 2. 69 Kurt Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 4. 6X Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 5. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 6. 68 Mike Knickerbocker, Fayette; 7. 7G Jason Goedken, Fairbank; 8. 83Z Nick Wroten, Rowley.

Second heat – 1. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independene; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 3. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 4. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 5. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 6. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 7. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 8. 11 Loras Schaefer, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 2. 4 LaVerne Weber, Waterloo; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 6. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 7. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 8. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo.

B feature – 1. Trimble; 2. Weepie; 3. Goedken; 4. Knickerbocker; 5. Adams; 6. Rose; 7. Samec; 8. Manson; 9. Temeyer; 10. Beauregard; DNS. Wroten; DNS Schaefer.

A feature – 1. Meyer; 2. E. Weber; 3. Johnson; 4. Chesmore; 5. Trimble; 6. Hocken; 7. Ahrendsen; 8. Weepie; 9. Kastli; 10. Manson; 11. Irvine; 12. Schimmels; 13. Adams; 14. Goedken; 15. L. Weber; 16. Rose; 17. Knickerbocker; 18. Sires; 19. Taylor; 20. Samec.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 2. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 3. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 4. 8W Lynn Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 5. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 6. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 7. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 8. 22 Patrick Stansbery, Evansdale; 9. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 10. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton.

Second heat – 1. 24R Kevin Robinson, Independence; 2. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 3. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 4. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 6. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 7. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 8. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 9. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 10. 32 Don Arnold, Stanley.

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



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 5. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 6. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 7. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 8. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 9. 66 Brian Kauffman, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 2. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 3. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 4. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 5. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 6. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 7. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; 8. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Ladehoff; 2. Brown; 3. Docekal; 4. Kunkle; 5. Buhlman; 6. Krall; 7. Olson; 8. Handberg; 9. Sherbon; 10. Ebaugh; 11. Temeyer; 12. Hesse; 13. Bentley; 14. Swope; 15. Rouse; 16. Doyle; 17. Kauffman.