Dralle and Lichty earn first career wins at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 7) – The wait is over for two long-time competitors as Rick Dralle and Justin Lichty scored their first-ever victories at Independence Motor Speedway.

Second generation driver Dralle, the son of former late model champion Red Dralle, used the high side to take his first win in the I.M.C.A. late model division. Lichty, a former go-kart racer, jumped out to the early lead and drove away for his first-ever I.M.C.A. hobby stock victory.

In the 25-lap late model main, pole-sitter Joel Brasch briefly held the point until Randy Wheeler worked past him on lap two. Wheeler quickly pulled away from the pack while Brasch, Travis Smock and Dirk Hamilton battled behind him.

Dralle, coming from a third row start, worked the high groove into a battle with the leaders. Dralle passed second-running Hamilton on lap nine and continued his charge in the high groove of the speedway to run down Wheeler.

Dralle reeled in the leader on the 14th circuit to make the winning pass. He led the remainder of the event to score the milestone victory. Luke Goedert, who came from a sixth row start, charged through the field to secure runner-up honors and Curt Martin, who started ninth, came home third.

Pole-sitter Lichty grabbed the early lead in the 15-lap hobby stock feature. He held the point until Quinton Miller challenged for the lead and took the top spot on the second lap.

Miller continued to lead the event until the field was slowed for caution on lap four. On the restart, Lichty once again took charge as he and Curt Hilmer made their way around Miller when the green flag replaced the yellow.

From that point, Lichty left unquestioned that he was the man to beat as he pulled away from the field to score the memorable win. Brad Forbes worked through traffic to take second and points leader Josh Irvine finished third.

Although it wasn’t the first of his career, I.M.C.A. modified driver Max Corporon joined the list of firsts as he scored his first win of 2007.

Pole-sitter Rob Olson grabbed the early lead until Adam Johnson worked under him to take over the point on lap two. Corporon, who started in the fourth row, made his way through the field to settle into second on lap four.

Just prior to a lap six caution, Corporon made his way under the leader to snag the lead, a position he would not relinquish. After Corporon secured the lead, a handful of drivers battled two and three-wide behind him looking for racing room.

When the checkers waved, Corporon led the field across the line to take the victory ahead of Vern Jackson and Todd Conrad.

Tony Olson continued his strong run in the B modified division as he took his third straight victory and fourth win in five weeks.

At the on-set of the 15-lap event, first year driver Chris Snyder took command. He pulled away from the pack as Josh Sherbon and Russell Hesse battled for second.

Snyder continued to distance himself from the field and appeared to be on his way to the first win of his career when the caution flag was displayed with only five laps remaining.

By that time, Olson worked his way into second place from a fifth row start and Joe Docekal was in third. When the green flag waved, points leader Olson made his way around the leader to drive to the victory. Docekal and Travis Brown made their way around Snyder to finish second and third, respectively.

I.M.C.A. stock car driver Brian Irvine earned his fourth win of the season in the 20-lapper. From a second row start, Irvine shot into the early lead and never looked back as he powered to the win by a straightaway margin ahead of Tony Schimmels and Steve Meyer.


RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 2. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 3. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 4. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 5. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 5. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 6. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Second heat – 1. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 3. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 4. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 5. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 6. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 7. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg.

Third heat – 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 3. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 4. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 5. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 6. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 7. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah.

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



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 3. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 4. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 5. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 6. 1ST Bret Hamilton, Flat Rock, Va.; 7. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 8. 22 Chris Moore, Walkerton, Va.

Second heat – 1. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 2. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 3. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 4. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 5. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 6. 007 Dan Arp, Traer; 7. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 8. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 2. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 5. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 6. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 7. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo.

Fourth heat – 1. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 3. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 4. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 5. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 6. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 7. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo.

First B feature – 1. Conrad; 2. Lauritzen; 3. Haupt; 4. Hamilton; 5. Whalen; 6. Moore; 7. Arp; 8. Cunha; 9. Betzer.

Second B feature – 1. Trefz; 2. Thimmesch; 3. Sires; 4. Glass; 5. T. Snyder; 6. Schaefer; 7. Jensen; 8. Kriz; 9. Stuber (DNS).

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



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 3. 19 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 4. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 5. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 6. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 7. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana.

Second heat – 1. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 2. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 3. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 4. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 5. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 6. 9 Dallas Moran, Marion.

Feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Schimmels; 3. Meyer; 4. Duffy; 5. Johnson; 6. Weepie; 7. Chesmore; 8. Niedert; 9. Hocken; 10. Manson; 11. Beauregard; 12. Mercer; 13. Morin.



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 2. 99JR Nick Murty, Chelsea; 3. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 5. 48 Travis Michels, Hazleton; 6. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 7. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 8. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; 9. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Nevada.

Second heat – 1. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 2. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 3. 20 Wes Stanek, Buckingham; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 6. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 7. 10B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 8. 8LW Lynn Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 9. 6 Keven Gonzales, Fairbank.

Third heat – 1. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 2. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 3. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 4. 78.1 Dave Brissette, Dike; 5. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 6. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 7. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 8. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 9. 7B Jim Ball, Independence.

First B feature – 1. Grother; 2. Sprague; 3. Wilson; 4. Wheeler; 5. Whitaker; 6. Michels; 7. Damme (DNS); 8. Ball (DNS).

Second B feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Floyd; 3. Fraser; 4. Quail; 5. Jones; 6. Burmeister (DNS); 7. Gonzales (DNS).

A feature – 1. Lichty; 2. Forbes; 3. Irvine; 4. Hilmer; 5. Meyer; 6. Buchholz; 7. Gebel; 8. Grother; 9. Brown; 10. Floyd; 11. Stanek; 12. Sprague; 13. Wheeler; 14. Wilson; 15 Quail; 16. Brissette; 17. Miller; 18. Fraser; 19. Murty; 20. Sweerin.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 3. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 5. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 6. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 7. 2C Rob Coleman, Urbana.

Second heat – 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 3. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 4. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 5. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 6. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 7. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Olson; 2. Docekal; 3. Brown; 4. Snyder; 5. Rouse; 6. Cordes; 7. Hesse; 8. Cox; 9. Coleman; 10. Sherbon; 11. Wessels; 12. Bentley; 13. Handberg; 14. Buhlman (DNS).