Two first-time winners emerge during Dick Frye Memorial at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Ia (July 21) – Emotions were heavy as the memory of the late Dick Frye was honored at Independence Motor Speedway.

The first annual event, to be held yearly during the Buchanan County Fair, served as a tribute to Frye who was involved in the fair association for over 40 years. He spent many years as the board president, and most recently as the race director of the speedway, before his unexpected passing in January.

Throughout his years of service, Frye was known for helping young members of the community get started in 4-H, often times helping them start their first projects. Appropriately on this night, two drivers earned their first career victories to make the event even more memorable.

In the I.M.C.A. hobby stock division, hometown driver Quinton Miller was in search of his first victory in his first year in the division. After suffering misfortune a handful of times earlier in the season while leading the field, Miller was able to take home his first feature win.

From his inside second row start, Miller worked the low side of the speedway around pole-sitter Jeremy Floyd on the second lap to take the lead. Miller never looked back as he led the remainder of the 15-lapper to score the victory ahead of Vince Buchholz and Matt Brown.

Josh Steere took advantage of an outside front row starting position to drive to his first-ever win in the B modified division. Steere assumed command at the drop of the green to lead the 15-lap event in its entirety en route to the win. Joe Docekal edged Tony Olson at the line to steal second place honors.

Brian Irvine earned his third straight win in the I.M.C.A. stock car division. From his second row start, Irvine swept beneath pole-sitter Shane Manson to take command on the first lap. He led the rest of the 20-lapper uncontested to score the win, his sixth of the season. Norman Chesmore and Tony Schimmels completed the top three.

Troy Cordes took charge midway through the I.M.C.A. modified feature to score his second straight win. After a fourth row start, Cordes entered a three-wide battle at the front of the pack with pole-sitter Dain Sires and J.D. Auringer before securing the lead on lap nine. He led the remaining 11 laps and took the checkers ahead of Auringer and Sires.

I.M.C.A. late model driver Darren Ackerman added to his points lead as he picked up his second win of the season. From a fifth row start, Ackerman worked around race leader Joel Brasch on the 13th circuit to drive away to victory in the 25-lapper. Brasch and Randy Wheeler rounded out the top three.


RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 3. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 4. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 5. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 6. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 8. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 9. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 2. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 3. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 4. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 5. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 6. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 7. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 8. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo.

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



I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 2. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 3. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 4. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 5. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 6. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 7. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 8. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; DNS 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 2. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls; 3. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 4. F7 Patrick Flannagan; 5. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 6. 1D Mel Saffran, Farley; 7. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 8. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 9. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 2. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 3. 14H Tom Hanson, Vinton; 4. 171 Buck Swanson, Cedar Falls; 5. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 6. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 7. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 8. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 9. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo.

First B feature – 1. Saffran; 2. Kriz; 3. Schaefer; 4. T. Snyder; 5. Whalen; 6. Thimmesch; 7. Cunha; 8. Stuber (DNS).

Second B feature – 1. Ladehoff; 2. Olson; 3. J. Snyder; 4. Jackson; 5. Trefz; 6. Betzer; 7. Thomas (DNS).

A feature – 1. Cordes; 2. Auringer; 3. Sires; 4. Luloff; 5. Bolin; 6. Haupt; 7. Saffran; 8. Olson; 9. Kriz; 10. Hanson; 11. T. Snyder; 12. Flannagan; 13. J. Snyder; 14. Johnson; 15. Schaefer; 16. Conrad; 17. Corporon; 18. Swanson; 19. Ladehoff; 20. Jackson.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat – 1. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 2. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 5. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 6. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 7. 8B Scott Beauregard, Center Point; 8. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank.

Second heat – 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 3. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 4. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 5. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 6. 58I Eric Weber, Evansdale; 7. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana; 8. 61 Adam Barlow, Nashua.

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



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 2. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; DNS 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Buckingham.

Second heat – 1. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 3. 78 Matt Brown, Fairbank; 4. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 5. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 6. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 7. 7B Jim Ball, Independence.

Third heat – 1. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 2. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 3. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 4. 12J Jeremy Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 5. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 6. 8LW Lynn Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 7. 12OZ Gary Gates, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Miller; 2. Buchholz; 3. Brown; 4. Meyer; 5. Sweerin; 6. Irvine; 7. Ball; 8. Gebel; 9. Sprague; 10. Wheeler; 11. Grother; 12. Lichty; 13. Hilmer; 14. Fraser; 15. Forbes; 16. Burmeister; 17. Wilson; 18. Jones; 19. Floyd; 20. Gates; DNS Stanek.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 3. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 4. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; 5. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 6. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 7. 15B Troy Burkhart, Center Point.

Second heat – 1. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 2. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 66 Brian Kauffman, Cedar Rapids; 5. 2C Rob Coleman, Urbana; 6. 47 Cliff Beauregard, Center Point; DNS 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point.

Third heat – 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 3. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 4. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 5. 21 Lew Chipp, Waterloo; 6. 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls; 7. 5 Jared Otis, Center Point.

Feature – 1. Steere; 2. Docekal; 3. Olson; 4. Rouse; 5. Bentley; 6. Sherbon; 7. Brown; 8. Buhlman; 9. Handberg; 10. Chipp; 11. Wessels; 12. Otis; 13. Beauregard; 14. Cox; 15. Kauffman; 16. Hesse; 17. Coleman; 18. Smith; 19. Cordes; 20. Robinson (DNS); 21. Burkhart (DNS).