Johnson drives to second I.M.C.A. modified victory at Independence Motor Speedway
By Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (May 19) – Adam Johnson realized that one win was nice, but two was even better as he powered to his second career I.M.C.A. modified victory in a span of three weeks at Independence Motor Speedway.

After starting the 20-lap feature from the fourth row, Johnson wasted little time working his way to the front of the 20-car field. After just one circuit, Johnson found himself in third place just prior to an early caution.

One lap later, Johnson worked around leaders George Cunha and Dennis Betzer to secure the lead. Following a second stoppage, Johnson continued his stay at the front of the pack with veterans Vern Jackson and Jerry Luloff in pursuit.

Johnson pulled away from the field and drove to a straightaway lead while Jackson and Luloff battled for the runner-up position. Although the event was slowed again in the waning laps, Johnson continued his strong run at the front to pull away from the field and secure the win.

Luloff and Brett Ladehoff motored past Jackson to finish second and third, respectively.

In the 25-lap I.M.C.A. late model feature, front row starter Tysus Pattee played hide-and-seek with the rest of the 20-car field. Pattee powered into the lead with Drew Johnson and Rick Dralle in tow.

With Pattee out front, Curt Martin and Jeff Aikey were maneuvering through traffic and settled into second and third with only a handful of laps remaining. By that time, Pattee gained a straightaway lead and placed lapped traffic between himself and his nearest competitors.

Aikey made his way around Martin for second with four laps remaining, however Pattee’s strong run at the front proved to be too much to overcome as he drove to the win. Aikey and Martin ran second and third.

I.M.C.A. hobby stock points leader Josh Irvine added some more cushion to his already sizable lead in the standings. He engaged in a side-by-side battle with Vince Buchholz at the front of the 20-car feature field before sweeping under the veteran for the lead midway through the event.

Irvine held off the persistent challenges of Buchholz to make the trip to victory lane for the second time in three weeks. Buchholz and Bill Meyer chased Irvine to the checkers.

Tony Olson ended the stranglehold Joe Docekal has had in the B modified division. Olson engaged in a three-way battle at the front of the pack with Craig Cordes and Kyle Bentley before taking command in the late stages of the 15-lapper.

Running the high groove, Olson worked past Cordes on the 10th lap to drive to the win, his first of the season, ahead of Cordes and Bentley.

Consistency has propelled I.M.C.A. stock car driver Justin Temeyer to the top of that division’s standings. He was able to extend that lead with his first win of the year in the 20-lap main event.

Temeyer assumed command from point man Eric Weber following a lap six caution to drive to the victory. Sean Johnson, after starting the event last, made an impressive run through the field to finish second. Jarod Weepie finished third.



RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 3. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 4. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 5. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 6. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence; 7. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton.

Second heat – 1. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 2. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 3. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 4. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 5. 77 Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 6. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. Jon Passick, Waterloo; 2. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 3. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 4. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 5. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 6. 17A Jamie Aikey, Cedar Falls.

Feature – 1. Pattee; 2. Jeff Aikey; 3. Martin; 4. 53 Ackerman; 5. Johnson; 6. Hackwell; 7. Dralle; 8. Burco; 9. Benn; 10. Dedrick; 11. Thomsen; 12. Lillie; 13. Bruening; 14. Goedert; 15. Passick; 16. Jamie Aikey; 17. Hamilton; 18. Wheeler; 19. Smock; 20. Brasch.



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 4. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 6. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 7. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 8. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester; 9. 3 Max Corporon, Marion.

Second heat – 1. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 2. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 3. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 4. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 6. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 7. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 8. 100 Clifford Schimmels, Denver.

Third heat – 1. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 2. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 3. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 4. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 5. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 6. 93E Erik Haupt, Denver, Co.; 7. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 8. 6E Don Erger, Brandon.

First B feature – 1. Corporon; 2. Ladehoff; 3. Jensen; 4. Glass; 5. Flannagan (DNS); 6. Sires (DNS); 7. Schimmels (DNS).

Second B feature – 1. Trefz; 2. Thimmesch; 3. Pate; 4. Erger; 5. Manson; 6. Haupt (DNS).

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



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 2. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 5. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 6. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 7. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 8. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence/

Second heat – 1. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 2. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 3. 58I Eric Weber, Evansdale; 4. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 5. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 6. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana; 7. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 8. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein.

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



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 2. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 3. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 6. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 7. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 8. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids; 9. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington.

Second heat – 1. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 4. 48 Travis Michels, Oelwein; 5. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 6. 12oz Gary Gates, Waterloo; 7. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 8. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 7. 6 Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; 8. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo.

First B feature – 1. Ball; 2. Sweerin; 3. Brown; 4. Wilson; 5. Jones; 6. Gates; 7. Gonzales.

Second B feature – 1. Fraser; 2. Robinson; 3. Quail; 4. Higham; 5. Damme; 6. Burmeister.

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



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 3. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 4. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 5. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 6. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 7. 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton; 8. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 9. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 3. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 6. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 7. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 8. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls.

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