Ihm gets second straight Indee Open Series win during Fayette County Fair
by Ryan Clark

WEST UNION, Iowa (July 24) – For a while, it looked like Ace Ihm would have to settle for second. Following a late caution however, the veteran late model driver left fans on their feet with his second straight Climate Seal Insulation Indee Open Series win at Fayette County Speedway.

The third and final series race on the 3/8-mile oval this season, the event served as the opening night attraction for the 2007 Fayette County Fair.

At the start of the 40-lap late model feature, second row starter Chad Simpson rocketed into the lead when he shot beneath front row starters Darin Burco and Scott Megonigle. Simpson quickly distanced himself from his competitors and had lengthened his advantage to nearly a straightaway when the race’s first caution flag waved on lap four.

Third row starter Kurt Kile followed Simpson to the front prior to the caution period and Ihm settled into fourth behind Tyler Bruening for the restart. When racing resumed, Ihm shot to the inside of both Kile and Bruening to steal second before another quick caution.

Ihm then searched for a way to chase down Simpson who remained glued to the bottom of the speedway. Trying both high and low, Ihm worked all angles but was unable to gain much ground as Simpson maintained a two to three car-length lead over of his nearest competitor.

The lead pair remained unchanged until the race’s final caution flag was displayed with only seven laps to go. On the ensuing restart, Ihm initially followed Simpson on the low side before moving to the top with just five laps remaining.

Gaining ground on the leader, Ihm pulled even with just three laps to go. As the field took the waving green, Ihm edged ahead and drove away to the exciting win. Chad Simpson crossed the line in second followed by Chris Simpson and Jeff Bair.

In the 25-lap modified feature, Dan Bohr was hoping to run away from the pack from his pole position start. He took the lead at the drop of the green flag and quickly walked away from the field.

After extending his advantage to almost a straightaway margin, lapped traffic allowed Nate Caruth to cut into his margin on lap nine. A handful of laps later, the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic at which time Bohr’s margin disappeared.

Running the high groove throughout the event, Bohr was forced to the low side as he maneuvered through the backmarkers. Caruth continued to work the middle and high grooves in search of a way to the front.

While the leaders battled, Kevin Pittman made his way through the field from the fifth row and into a three-car fight out front.

Bohr returned to the high groove after masterfully working through traffic and pulled away from the field to score the victory, his second series win this season. Pittman made his way around Caruth late in the event to take second place honors. Mike Darnall finished fourth.

A multi-car battle highlighted the early stages of the 15-lap stock car feature. Pole-sitter Mark Jencks held the early advantage while Shawn Peter, Tory Reicks, Tony Schimmels, Greg Mitchell, Lynn Panos and Kurt Krauskopf battled two and three-wide behind him.

Peter made his way through the pack a handful of laps into the event, however a blown motor sidelined him one lap after taking the lead. This allowed Reicks to sneak past for the lead. He led the remainder of the event to score his second series win this season. Mitchell and Panos completed the top three.

Jr. Boyer took command on the second lap of the 15-lap B modified feature to drive to his first series victory. Boyer held off the challenges of Koal Deering and Jimmy Broszeit to score the win.



RESULTS

LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 25 Chad Simpson, Mt. Vernon; 2. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 3. 32 Chris Simpson, Oxford; 4. 22C Josh McGowan, Vinton; 5. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 6. 22 Jill George, Cedar Falls; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Second heat – 1. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 2. 0 Jeff Bair, Solon; 3. M2 Scott Megonigle, Cedar Rapids; 4. 19 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 5. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 6. 9 95 Ed Sanger, Postville; DNS 25S Chris Smyser, Lancaster, Mo.

Third heat – 1. 78 Dale Stolte, Springville; 2. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 3. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 4. 77X Kurt Kile, Nichols; 5. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 6. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 7. 37 Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo.

Fourth heat – 1. 11 Ace Ihm, Hazel Green, Wis.; 2. 88 Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 3. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 4. 15G Cam Granger, West Union; 5. 77C Mitch Current, Maquoketa; 6. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 7. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.

B feature – 1. Hackwell; 2. Smyser; 3. Current; 4. Grady; 5. Hansen; 6. Ciesielski; 7. Passick; 8. George; 9. Smock; 10. Sanger; 11. Lillie; 12. Thomsen.

A feature – 1. Ihm; 2. Chad Simpson; 3. Chris Simpson; 4. Bair; 5. Smyser; 6. Stolte; 7. Granger; 8. Neal; 9. Kurt Kile; 10. Bruening; 11. McGowan; 12. Passick; 13. Burco; 14. Martin; 15. Hansen; 16. Kevin Kile; 17. Aikey; 18. Grady; 19. Megonigle; 20. Hackwell; 21. George; 22. Ciesielski; 23. Current; 24. Duffy.



MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 2. 21 Layne Meyer, West Union; 3. 2 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 4. 31 Corey Dripps, Waterloo; 5. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 6. 5W Darrin Walch, Postville; 7. 55H Troy Hansmeier, Waukon.

Second heat – 1. 7M Mike Darnall, West Union; 2. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 3. 26P Kevin Pittman, Waterloo; 4. 7C Nate Caruth, Ames; 5. 37X Mike Weidemann, Dubuque; 6. 37B Ron Barker, Dubuque.

Third heat – 1. 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah; 2. 70S Matt Sweeney, Waukon; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 5. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 6. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner.

Feature – 1. Bohr; 2. Kevin Pittman; 3. Caruth; 4. Darnall; 5. Schulte; 6. Auringer; 7. Weidemann; 8. Barker; 9. Schaefer; 10. King; 11. Sweeney; 12. Walch; 13. Keith Pittman; 14. Hansmeier; 15. Haupt; 16. Betzer; 17. Snyder; 18. Meyer; 19. Dripps.



STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 27P Shawn Peter, Mabel, Minn.; 2. 60 Kurt Krauskopf, Decorah; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 14M Brian Mahlstedt, Ionia; 5. 17 Chad Halverson, Decorah; 6. 9 Patty Fosaaen, Waukon.

Second heat – 1. 20 Greg Mitchell, Decorah; 2. 97 Lynn Panos, Protivin; 3. 27T Tory Reicks, Waukon; 4. Z53 Mark Jencks, Hawkeye; 5. 91 Rick Suckow, Oelwein.

Feature – 1. Reicks; 2. Mitchell; 3. Panos; 4. Krauskopf; 5. Jencks; 6. Fosaaen; 7. Schimmels; 8. Halverson; 9. Peter; 10. Mahlstedt; 11 Suckow (DNS).



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 8 Jason Hovey, Decorah; 2. 88X Jimmy Broszeit, Postville; 3. 42 Jr. Boyer, Calmar; 4. 14X Brian Schrage, Cresco; 5. 32F Dan Feltus, Allison; 6. 58 Shane Panos, Decorah; 7. 51P Paul Seedorff, Arlington.

Second heat – 1. 1D Koal Deering, Postville; 2. 17R Derek Reimer, Elkader; 3. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 4. 17H Boyd Halverson, Decorah; 5. 82 Em Fretheim, Decorah; 6. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 7. 47J Jeremy LaPlant, Elgin.

Feature – 1. Boyer; 2. Deering; 3. Broszeit; 4. Schrage; 5. Docekal; 6. Fretheim; 7. Panos; 8. Halverson; 9. Reimer; 10. Wessels; 11. Seedorff; 12. LaPlant; 13. Hovey; 14. Feltus.