Docekal dominates, Burco returns to victory lane at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (April 28) – Since the B modified division was first introduced to the weekly racing program at Independence Motor Speedway in 2004, one driver has dominated the field.

After winning the track championship in his rookie year that season, Joe Docekal has remained a front-runner in the class. He raised the bar one more level with his second straight win to start the season.

At the start of the 15-lap feature, John Bates assumed command as he paced the field for the first five laps. A pair of cautions bunched the field as Docekal had worked his way through the pack from a fourth row start.

By the time the final yellow waved on lap five, Docekal settled into second and wasted little time working around the race leader. Taking charge on the sixth lap, Docekal drove away from the field to score the win by three-quarters of a track ahead of his nearest competitor.

Travis Brown, who made his way into second after two laps, miscued and found himself at the back of the field. He made an impressive run through the field to score runner-up honors ahead of Jim Buhlman.

A familiar face returned to victory lane in the I.M.C.A. late model division. Darin Burco, the 2000 track champion, has spent little time behind the wheel of a race car the last three seasons, however he made a strong return to the speedway as he scored the division’s opening night points win.

From his pole position start, Burco entered a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead with second-year driver Luke Goedert. Burco settled into the lead on the third lap, while Goedert continued to apply heavy pressure to the race leader.

Jeff Bair made it a three-car battle at the front of the pack, but was never able to overcome the leaders. Burco took the win with Goedert and Bair chasing him to the checkers.

Adam Johnson took the early lead in a heavily contested I.M.C.A. modified feature. As many as six drivers challenged for the lead throughout the early stages of the 20-lapper with Johnson holding the point through the first five laps.

Scott Hogan worked his way to the front of the field on the sixth circuit and was followed to the front of the pack by Troy Cordes and Max Corporon. Cordes briefly challenged for the lead before settling into second place when Hogan’s car went up in smoke and flames on the 11th lap. Cordes inherited the top spot when Hogan was forced to the pits.

When the race resumed, Vern Jackson joined the leaders and moved into the runner-up spot on lap 12, along with Jerry Luloff who started the event from the sixth row.

The three leaders battled wheel-to-wheel over the final five laps before Luloff was able to sneak under Cordes’ machine the final time around the 3/8-mile oval. Luloff took the exciting win as Jackson edged past Cordes at the stripe to take second.

Sean Johnson masterfully worked the bottom side of the speedway throughout the 20-lap I.M.C.A. stock car feature. Johnson paced the field with Jason Hocken and Richard Quail in tow.

As the leaders battled, Jarod Weepie worked his way through traffic from a fourth row start. He made his way around Hocken on the 12th lap and went to work on Johnson. Weepie made his bid for the lead with only five laps remaining as he drove to the win ahead of Johnson and Hocken.

Much like Johnson, Jeremiah Wilson drove a perfect line on the bottom groove of the speedway during the 15-lap I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature. Wilson paced the field at the on-set of the event with John Meyer in pursuit.

Wilson drove a smooth line, glued to the bottom side of the track, forcing Meyer to try his luck a groove higher. Meyer made multiple attempts to pass on the high side, but struggled to make it stick until the 12th lap. Meyer edged ahead of Wilson at the line just before the caution flag was displayed.

On the restart, Meyer took control and drove to the hard-fought victory ahead of Wilson and Jamie Whitaker.


RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 0 Jeff Bair, Solon; 2. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 3. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 4. 53J Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Second heat – 1. 7 Greg Hunter, Independence; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 3. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 4. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 5. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 6. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville.

Third heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 27 Darin Burco, Independence; 3. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 4. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 5. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 6. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton.

Feature – 1. Burco; 2. Goedert; 3. Bair; 4. Passick; 5. Ackerman; 6. Hackwell; 7. Wheeler; 8. Bruening; 9. Dedrick; 10. Benn; 11. Smock; 12. Hamilton; 13. Pattee; 14. Struve; 15. Brasch; 16. Johnson; 17. Thomsen; 18. Hunter.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 2. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 02 Mike Gill, La Porte City; 5. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 6. 14 Tom Hanson, Vinton; 7. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 8. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunketon; 9. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora.

Second heat – 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 2. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 3. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 4. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 5. 14B Shane Burbridge, Manchester; 6. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 7. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 8. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton.

Third heat – 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 4. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 5. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 6. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 7. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 8. 111 Buster Pate, Marion.

First B feature – 1. Auringer; 2. Trefz; 3. J. Snyder; 4. Thimmesch; 5. T. Snyder; 6. Cunha; 7. Glass.

Second B feature – 1. Erger; 2. Hanson; 3. Haupt; 4. Pate; 5. Burbridge; 6. Jensen.

A feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Jackson; 3. Cordes; 4. Corporon; 5. Auringer; 6. Hanson; 7. Thimmesch; 8. Flannagan; 9. Thomas; 10. J. Snyder; 11. Erger; 12. Haupt; 13. Trefz; 14. Pate; 15. Lauritzen; 16. Fisher; 17. Hogan; 18. Betzer; 19. Johnson; 20. Gill (DNS).



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat – 1. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 5. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 6. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 7. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 8. 6X Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 9. 81 Andy Huffman, Waterloo; 10. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank.

Second heat – 1. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 2. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 3. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 4. JR 3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 6. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 7. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 8. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 9. 58 Dave Stricker, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Weepie; 2. Johnson; 3. Hocken; 4. Temeyer; 5. Chesmore; 6. Meyer; 7. Kohl; 8. Schimmels; 9. Samec; 10. Adams; 11. Niedert; 12. Ahrendsen; 13. Taylor; 14. Huffman; 15. Beauregard; 16. Manson; 17. Quail; 18. Stricker; 19. Irvine (DNS).



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 24J John Meyer, Independence; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 22 Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 6. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 7. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 8. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester.

Second heat – 1. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 2. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 3. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 4. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 7. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 2. 95X Micheal Smith, Marshalltown; 3. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Cedar Falls; 4. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 7. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence.

Fourth heat – 1. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 2. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 3. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 5. 95 Jason Spece, Rowley; 6. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 7. 12oz, Gary Gates, Waterloo.

First B feature – 1. Gebel; 2. Hilmer; 3. B. Meyer; 4. Sweerin; 5. Floyd; 6. Burmeister; 7. Thomsen; 8. Damme; 9. Fraser.

Second B feature – 1. Michels; 2. Luloff; 3. Miller; 4. Quail; 5. Wheeler; 6. Spece; 7. Sprague; 8. Gates.

A feature – 1. J. Meyer; 2. Wilson; 3. Whitaker; 4. Brown; 5. Irvine; 6. Robinson; 7. B. Meyer; 8. Hilmer; 9. Smith; 10. Ball; 11. Sweerin; 12. Stanek; 13. Davis; 14. Buchholz; 15. Luloff; 16. Michels; 17. Quail; 18. Grother; 19. Gebel; 20. Miller.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 3. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 4. 99 John Bates, Fairbank; 5. 34 Jeremy Schaufenbuel, New Hampton; 6. 2 Jamie Huff, Center Point; 7. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 8. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 9. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; DNS 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 4. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 5. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 6. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 7. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 8. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 9. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; DNS 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls.

Feature – 1. Docekal; 2. Brown; 3. Buhlman; 4. Bentley; 5. Snyder; 6. Rouse; 7. Schaufenbuel; 8. Olson; 9. Swope; 10. Huff; 11. Krall; 12. Handberg; 13. McDonald; 14. Sherbon; 15. Bates; 16. Hesse; 17. Wessels; 18. Smith; 19. Cordes; DNS Smith.