Neal does it again, wins Indee Open Series thriller at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, IA (Sept. 2, 2006) – Terry Neal may very well have saved his best for last. In two previous Indee Open Series victories this season, Neal won by dominating the field and also by going from third to first in the final straightaway. In the Indee Open Series Finale at Independence Motor Speedway, Neal used a pass at the checkers to take his third win of the season, denying Jeff Aikey a $6,000 payday in the process.

At the start of the 50-lap event, 10 drivers in the 24-car starting field were eligible for a $6,000 winner’s share based on attending at least seven of the eight series events. Aikey, one of those drivers, led 29 of those 50 laps, but came up just short at the line when the checkers waved.

When the race started, pole-sitter Greg Kastli took command and held the point until fellow front row starter Ace Ihm worked passed him on the second circuit. Aikey also worked passed Kastli as Ihm took the lead. The leaders then engaged in an exciting battle at the front of the pack.

With Ihm running low, Aikey went to work on the high side of the speedway, making a pass for the lead one lap later. Aikey continued to run out front until Ihm worked ahead of him at the line just prior to a lap six caution.

Following the restart, Ihm continued to lead as Aikey went back to work on the high side of the 3/8-mile oval. Aikey reeled in the leader and regained the lead on the 15th lap, only to relinquish it to Ihm two laps later. As the leaders battled, Neal worked through traffic from a fifth row start and passed Rob Toland for third on the 21st lap.

Aikey once again regained control of the event just before the yellow flag waved once more on lap 26. After the race went back to green, the top three remained unchanged until Neal worked under Ihm for second on lap 40. Neal then went to work on Aikey, running the bottom groove of the speedway while Aikey continued to run up top.

Neal was able to inch ahead at the line to take the lead on lap 44, but Aikey powered back on the high side to take charge once more with only five laps to go.

Just after the leaders saw the white flag, the yellow flag was displayed once more, reverting the field back to a green, white, checker shoot-out finish with Aikey out front, Neal in second and Ihm running third.

When racing resumed for the final time, Neal went to work one last time on the bottom side of the race leader. A car-length behind as the white flag was displayed, Neal powered into the bottom groove of the speedway as the leaders came through the final set of turns. He edged ahead of Aikey to take the checkers by a couple of feet for the victory and the $2,000 payday. Aikey crossed the line in second and Toland edged Ihm for third. Curt Martin was the series points champion.

In the 25-lap modified feature, it was Layne Meyer taking the huge early lead. From his second row start, Meyer quickly worked to the front of the pack to take the lead after the first lap. Following two early cautions, Meyer pulled away from the field by nearly a straightaway over Joey Schaefer and Kevin Pittman.

Schaefer chipped away at Meyer’s huge lead and pulled to within a car-length when a tire went down on Meyer’s ride, forcing him to the pits. Schaefer dominated the remainder of the event to score the victory, earning him a $2,000 payday after competing in a minimum of six of the series’ seven events. Darin Duffy ran second and Jerry King, who started 10th, came home in third. Pittman won the series points title.

Travis Brown held the early lead in the 15-lap B modified feature. Brown paced the field while Ryan Gustin, in his first-ever appearance at the speedway, worked through traffic from a fifth row start.

Following a pair of early cautions, Gustin settled into second on lap five and made his bid for the lead one lap later. As Gustin worked his way to the front, Brett Ladehoff was also working through the field, eventually settling into second on lap eight.

Ladehoff went to work on running down the race leader and closed in as laps wound down, but was not able to make his way to the front, allowing Gustin to score the victory. Ladehoff and Brown completed the top three.

Jarod Weepie led the entire distance of the 20-lap stock car feature to take the victory. Brian Irvine, who started outside the second row, made his way into second on the first lap and applied immediate pressure to pole-starting Weepie. Although he remained glued to the leader’s bumper throughout much of the race, Irvine was unable to make the pass as Weepie held on for the hard-fought win. Tom Schmitt finished third.

From his second row start, Chris Luloff jumped into the early lead in the 15-lap hobby stock main event. Luloff started to pull away from the field early as Josh Irvine settled into second on lap two. Irvine reeled in the race leader and pulled even when they crossed the line for the checkers, but came up just under a car-length short at the stripe as Luloff drove to the win. Brad Forbes finished third.

RESULTS

LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 2. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 3. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 4. 11W Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 5. 78W Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 6. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; DNS Bobby Toland, Bettendorf.

Second heat – 1. 78 Dale Stolte, Springville; 2. 33 Kevin Kirkpatrick, Waterloo; 3. 56W Gary Webb, Blue Grass; 4. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 5. 15G Cam Granger, West Union; 6. 37 Mike Smith, Jewell; 7. 77M Mitch Current, Dacula, Ga.

Third heat – 1. 14 Boone McLaughlin, Mediapolis; 2. 15 Matt Strassheim, Burlington; 3. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 4. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg; 5. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 6. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 7. 12J T.J. Criss, Oskaloosa; 8. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Fourth heat – 1. 11 Ace Ihm, Hazel Green, Wis.; 2. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 39 Rob Toland, Bettendorf; 4. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 5. 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown; 6. 777 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 7. 22 Jill George, Cedar Falls.

B Feature – 1. Smith; 2. Wendling; 3. Ackerman; 4. Granger; 5. Current; 6. B. Toland; 7. DeFrance; 8. Dralle; 9. Hamilton; 10. Criss; 11. Brasch; 12. George; 13. Lillie; 14. Thomsen.

A Feature – 1. Neal; 2. Aikey; 3. R. Toland; 4. Ihm; 5. Martin; 6. McLaughlin; 7. Wendling; 8. Stolte; 9. Hackwell; 10. Hansen; 11. DeFrance; 12. Kastli; 13. Wagner; 14. Watters; 15. Dralle; 16. Ackerman; 17. Current; 18. Smith; 19. Benn; 20. Strassheim; 21. Kirkpatrick; 22. B. Toland; 23. Webb; 24. Granger.



MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 26P Kevin Pittman, Waterloo; 2. 21 Layne Meyer, West Union; 3. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 4. 7 Jeff Morris, Long Grove; 5. 30 Mark Massey, Worthington; 6. 91 Shawn Ryan, Waterloo; 7. 9L Timmy Current, Dubuque; 8. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 9. 19G Richie Gustin, Gilman.

Second heat – 1. 2 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 2. 19D Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 3. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 4. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 5. 14B Shane Burbridge, Manchester; 6. 07 Jason Schlangen, Cresco; 7. 27 Terry Johnson, Waterloo; 8. 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo; 9. 11S Dion Speed, New Hartford.

Feature – 1. Schaefer; 2. Duffy; 3. King; 4. Massey; 5. Ryan; 6. Betzer; 7. Haupt; 8. Schlangen; 9. Meyer; 10. M. Burbridge; 11. S. Burbridge; 12. Pittman; 13. Gustin; 14. Morris; DNS Current; DNS Johnson; DNS Dripps; DNS Speed.



STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 7G Jason Goedken, Fairbank; 2. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 3. 17X Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 4. 27 Josh Steere, New Hartford; DQ 8K Jerry Merkes, Farley; DQ 95X Brian Brunscheen, Dyersville; DNS 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 2. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 18 Tom Schmitt, Independence; 4. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 5. 37 Loren Kuennen, Ossian; 6. 81 Andy Huffman, Waterloo; 7. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence.

Feature – 1. Weepie; 2. Irvine; 3. Schmitt; 4. Trimble; 5. Kuennen; 6. Goedken; 7. Niedert; 8. Taylor; 9. Huffman; 10. Steere; 11. Hocken; 12. Sires.



HOBBY STOCK

Heat – 1. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 5. 1S Dave Sweerin, Reinbeck; 6. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 7. 6G Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; 8. 83J Robbie Wroe, Evansdale; 9. 1X Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; 10. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls.

Feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Irvine; 3. Forbes; 4. Buchholz; 5. D. Sweerin; 6. Hilmer; 7. Gonzales; 8. N. Sweerin; 9. Grother; DNS Wroe.



B MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 2. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 3. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 4. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 6 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 6. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 7. 61 Lloyd Bacon, Cedar Falls; 8. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 9. 2 Rob Coleman, Urbana.

Second heat – 1. 19 Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown; 2. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 3. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 4. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 32F Dan Feltus, Allison; 6. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 7. X Mike Sampson, Evansdale; 8. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; DNS 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point.

Feature - 1. Gustin; 2. Ladehoff; 3. Brown; 4. Feltus; 5. T. Olson; 6. Docekal; 7. Kunkle; 8. Sherbon; 9. Buhlman; 10. Sampson; 11. Krall; 12. Hesse; 13. Handberg; 14. Bacon; 15. Coleman; 16. K. Olson; 17. R. Olson; DNS Wessels.