Bruening bags thrilling I.M.C.A. late model win at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (June 9) – For much of the race it was anyone’s to win. In the end, Tyler Bruening drove to his first I.M.C.A. late model victory of the season at Independence Motor Speedway.

The event provided side-by-side and wheel-to-wheel action throughout its entire 25 laps with drivers swapping racing grooves and positions each time around the fast 3/8-mile oval. In all, eight lead changes among five drivers kept fans on their feet all race long.

Pole-sitter and first-year driver Travis Smock held the point early as Darin Burco, Dirk Hamilton and Jon Passick gave chase. Following a lap four restart, Passick briefly took the lead before Hamilton worked to the front one lap later.

As the leaders swapped positions, Bruening and Luke Goedert worked into the mix, forcing a six-car battle at the front of the pack. Passick again assumed the lead on lap eight before Smock once more worked his way into the lead running the bottom of the speedway. He led the ninth and 10th circuits.

The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 11 at which time Passick shot to the inside of Smock to take command before giving way to Smock one lap later. Burco made his way to the front for the first time one lap later and appeared to be on his way to victory as he quickly put distance between himself and the rest of the field.

Burco continued to lead until a pair of cautions on the 16th lap bunched the field. Goedert, who started the event in the fourth row, and Bruening, who started sixth, realigned behind the leader. Bruening made quick work of Goedert as he worked the bottom groove of the speedway into second on lap 17.

Bruening then went to work on Burco and pulled even with the race leader with only five laps remaining. Two laps later, Bruening edged ahead for the lead just prior to a late caution. Bruening led the remainder of the event to score the exciting win over Goedert and Burco.

Vern Jackson took advantage of an excellent start to drive to the win in the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified main event. From an inside fifth row starting position, Jackson rocketed beneath his competitors and pulled even with pole-sitter Adam Bolin at the completion of the first lap.

Jackson then pulled away from the field and survived a number of caution periods to take the impressive win. Troy Cordes and Bolin ran second and third.

Much like Jackson, Justin Temeyer used a quick start to his advantage in the I.M.C.A. stock car feature. From an outside fifth row starting position, Temeyer found himself in the top three after only two laps.

As Temeyer worked through traffic, Brian Irvine was making his way to the front from a third row start. Irvine worked past leader Eric Weber on the third lap just prior to the race’s first caution when Weber spun in turn four.

On the restart, Irvine held the point with Temeyer in pursuit. Irvine continued to lead the 20-lapper and had built a sizeable lead before overheating problems forced him to the pits on lap 15. Temeyer inherited the lead and drove to the victory, his second straight, over Jarod Weepie and Roger Samec.

Brandon Davis led the early stages of the I.M.C.A. hobby stock 15-lapper. Davis paced the field while Chris Luloff was maneuvering through traffic from his fourth row starting position. Luloff made his way into second after just two laps, then took command of the event two laps later.

Luloff appeared to be on his way to his second win of the season when a flat tire on the final lap ended his night. Davis, who had been running second throughout the event, drove to the win. Wes Stanek and Rod Grother completed the top three.

Josh Sherbon drove from a second row start into the lead on the first lap of the B modified feature. As Sherbon led, Joe Docekal quickly worked through traffic from an eighth row start. Docekal powered into second after only three laps and into the lead just three laps later.

Docekal pulled away to lead the rest of the 15-lapper on his way to the apparent victory, however he was disqualified after failing post-race inspection. The victory was then awarded to Sherbon, the first of his career. Travis Brown, who started ninth, was scored second. Russell Hesse was third.


RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 2. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 3. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 6. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 7. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg; 8. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

Second heat – 1. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 2. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 3. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 4. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 5. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 6. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 3. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 4. 99L Luke Pestka, Robins; 5. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 6. 77 Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 7. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton.

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



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 5. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 6. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 7. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; DNS 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua.

Second heat – 1. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 2. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 5. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 6. 12T Ty Glass, Sumner; 7. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls.

Third heat – 1. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 2. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 3. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 4. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 5. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 6. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 7. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale.

Fourth heat – 1. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 3. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 4. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 5. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 6. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 7. 49 Mike Manson, Manchester.

First B feature – 1. Kriz; 2. Thomas; 3. Haupt; 4. Olson; 5. Glass; 6. Jensen; 7. T. Snyder (DNS); 8. Sires (DNS); DNS Whalen.

Second B feature – 1. Corporon; 2. Conrad; 3. Manson; 4. Lauritzen; 5. Stuber; 6. Johnson; 7. Erger; 8. Cunha (DNS).

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



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 2. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 3. 58I Eric Weber, Jesup; 4. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 5. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point; 6. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion.

Second heat – 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 3. 9 Dallas Morin, Marion; 4. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 5. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 6. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester.

Third heat – 1. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 2. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 3. 12I Ken Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 5. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana; DNS JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence.

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



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada; 2. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 3. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 4. 20 Wes Stanek, Cedar Falls; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 78.1 Dave Brissette, Dike; 7. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 8. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 9. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 3. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 4. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 6. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 7. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids; 8. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester.

Third heat – 1. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 2. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 5. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 6. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 7. 6 Keven Gonzales, Fairbank; DNS 78 Matt Brown, Dysart.

First B feature – 1. Buchholz; 2. Sprague; 3. Meyer; 4. Wheeler; 5. Fraser; 6. Gonzales (DNS); 7. Damme (DNS).

Second B feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Brissette; 3. Higham; 4. Floyd (DNS); 5. Burmeister (DNS); DNS Brown.

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



B MODIFIED

First heat – 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 3. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 4. 7 Tim Swope, Waterloo; 5. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 6. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; DNS 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls.

Second heat – 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 3. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 4. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 5. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 6. 14 Robbie Butikofer, Tripoli; 7. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point.

Third heat – 1. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 2. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 3. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 4. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 5. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; DNS 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton.

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