Luloffs take I.M.C.A. modified and hobby stock wins at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (May 12) – Almost two years to the day since they last shared visits to victory lane on the same night, the father and son team of Jerry and Chris Luloff did it again at Independence Motor Speedway. It was the third time since 2004 they have scored wins on the same night.

In the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature, Adam Johnson was looking to score back-to-back wins as he took the early lead. Vern Jackson, working the high groove, made his way around the race leader on lap six as Jerry Luloff worked through traffic on the bottom side of the speedway from a sixth row start.

By the time Jackson took the lead, Luloff worked his way into third place and followed Jackson to the front one lap later. With Jackson continuing to run the high side and Luloff on the bottom, Luloff made the lower groove work to his advantage as he took charge on lap 10.

Luloff started to pull away from the field before a pair of cautions late in the event bunched the field. Luloff held off a charging Jackson to take the victory, his second of the season. Jackson and J.D. Auringer, who started 10th, ran second and third at the line.

In the 15-lap hobby stock feature, Brandon Davis quickly worked to the front of the pack from his third row start. Davis snared the top spot after only two laps as Chris Luloff, who started eighth, settled into second a lap later.

Luloff worked past the race leader after only five laps leaving Davis to battle with Josh Irvine behind him for second. Following a spin by Davis that brought out the caution toward the end of the event, the field realigned for a three-lap shootout.

On the restart, Luloff maintained the advantage, however a late charge off of the final set of turns allowed Irvine to work to the bottom side of the race leader. Irvine’s efforts fell half of a car-length short at the line as Luloff drove to his first win of the season. Irvine and Vince Buchholz completed the top three.

The father and son team also doubled-up on feature wins at the speedway on June 26, 2004, and May 14, 2005.

Rick Dralle was in search of his first career I.M.C.A. late model victory and, for much of the event, appeared to be on his way in dominating fashion. From his pole position start, Dralle quickly put distance on the field with Greg Hunter and Jon Passick in tow.

As Dralle pulled away to a straightaway lead over his competitors, Jeff Aikey was making his way through the field from the fifth row. He settled into the third position just prior to a lap 11 caution. Following the race’s final caution flag two laps later, Aikey went to work on the front-running Dralle and Passick.

Aikey made his way around Passick on lap 14 and then went to work on chasing down Dralle who had already reassumed a half-straightaway lead. Aikey reeled in the leader in the waning laps, but struggled navigating the cushion on the high groove, giving up his ground as quickly as he took it.

Over the final two laps the leaders encountered lapped traffic in the low groove, where Dralle was running his No. 4D. When Dralle slowed slightly, Aikey took advantage and charged past the leader to drive to the exciting victory. Dralle ran second and Luke Goedert finished third after starting in the sixth row.

Sean Johnson put some distance between himself and the rest of the field early in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. stock car main event. From a third row start, Johnson took the lead after only one lap and quickly pulled away from the field.

As Johnson led, Brian Irvine maneuvered through the competition from his fourth row starting position to settle into third after just four laps. Following a caution period on the fifth lap, Irvine restarted the event on Johnson’s rear bumper.

Two laps after racing resumed, Irvine worked the high side into the lead with Johnson running the bottom groove. Johnson then moved up to the high groove and kept within striking distance of the leader.

Johnson was able to stay glued to the rear bumper of Irvine’s No. 26, however he was never able to make a charge as Irvine drove to his the victory. Irvine’s win was his second straight and third of the season. Johnson and points leader Justin Temeyer rounded out the top three.

Joe Docekal continued his dominance in the B modified division. After starting deep in the field, Docekal found himself in second place following a lap six caution. Five laps later he passed leader Josh Sherbon to take command of the 15-lapper.

Kyle Bentley, after starting side-by-side with Docekal, worked his way into second as Docekal took the lead. He stayed close to Docekal, but was unable to overtake the leader as Docekal took home his fourth straight win to start the season. Bentley and Sherbon chased Docekal to the checkers.



RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 77 Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 2. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 3. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 4. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 5. 14b Levi Benn, Dyersville; 6. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 8. 4J Darin Duffy, Hazleton.

Second heat – 1. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 2. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 3. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 4. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 5. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 6. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 7. C10 Darin Burco, Independence.

Third heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 3. 7 Greg Hunter, Independence; 4. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. Z1 Rick McGill, Independence; DQ Travis Smock, Independence.

Feature – 1. Aikey; 2. Dralle; 3. Goedert; 4. Ackerman; 5. Hackwell; 6. Martin; 7. Passick; 8. Hamilton; 9. Burco; 10. Hunter; 11. Dedrick; 12. Hansen; 13. Pattee; 14. Benn; 15. Wheeler; 16. Smock; 17. Johnson; 18. Thomsen; 19. Bruening; 20. Brasch; 21. McGill; 22. Duffy (DNS).



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer; Waterloo; 4. 14H Tom Hanson, Vinton; 5 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 6. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 7. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 8. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 9. 100 Clifford Schimmels, Denver; 10. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City.

Second heat – 1. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 2. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 3. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 4. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 6. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 7. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; DNS 49 Mike Manson, Manchester.

Third heat – 1. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 2. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 3. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 4. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 6. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 7. 93E Erik Haupt, Denver, Co.; 8. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton.

First B feature – 1. Flannagan; 2. J. Snyder; 3. Cunha; 4. T. Snyder; 5. Haupt; 6. Whalen; 7. Betzer.

Second B feature – 1. Thimmesch; 2. Kriz; 3. Lauritzen; 4. Pate; 5. Glass; 6. Schimmels; 7. Manson.

A feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Jackson; 3. Auringer; 4. Ladehoff; 5. Johnson; 6. Hogan; 7. Thimmesch; 8. Trefz; 9. J. Snyder; 10. Kriz; 11. Lauritzen; 12. Hanson; 13. Pate; 14. Cunha; 15. T. Snyder; 16. Flannagan; 17. Cordes; 18. Bolin; 19. Thomas; 20. Corporon.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 2. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 3. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 4. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 5. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 6. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 7. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 8. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 8. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point.

Second heat – 1. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 2. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 3. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 4. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 6. 58I Eric Weber, Evansdale; 7. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 8. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant.

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



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 2. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 3. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 4. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 5. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 6. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 7. 8T Perry Thomsen, Cedar Rapids; 8. 20 Wes Stanek, Cedar Falls; 9. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; DNS 19 Greg Jones, Aplington.

Second heat – 1. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 2. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 4. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 6. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 7. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 8. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 9. 12oz Gary Gates, Waterloo; 10. C67 Ryan Hogan, Jesup.

Third heat – 1. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 2. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 3. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 4. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 5. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 6. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 7. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 8. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 9. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids.

First B feature – 1. Wilson; 2. Grother; 3. Ball; 4. Burmeister; 5. Quail; 6. Thomsen; 7. Whitaker; 8. Higham; DNS Jones.

Second B feature – 1. Meyer; 2. Brown; 3. Hilmer; 4. Stanek; 5. Damme; 6. Sweerin; 7. Hogan; 8. Gates.

A feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Irvine; 3. Buchholz; 4. Meyer; 5. Grother; 6. Wheeler; 7. Michels; 8. Brown; 9. Miller; 10. Sprague; 11. Davis; 12. Fraser; 13. Floyd; 14. Hilmer; 15. Robinson; 16. Wilson; 17. Ball; 18. Stanek; 19. Burmeister; 20. Gebel.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 2. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 3. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 4. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 5. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 6. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 7. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 8. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 9. 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 3. 12D Joe Docekal; 4. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 5. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 6. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 7. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 8. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo.

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