Auringer and Sherbon win modified thrillers at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (July 28) - J.D. Auringer and Josh Sherbon picked up a pair of exciting victories in modified competition at Independence Motor Speedway.

At the start of the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature, Mel Saffran worked to the inside from a third row starting position to secure the lead after just one circuit. Running the bottom groove, Saffran maintained his stay out front while Todd Conrad and Auringer worked through traffic.

By the time the yellow flag waved on lap eight, Conrad settled into third with Auringer right behind him. Two laps later, the pair worked past Jeff Kriz and set their sights on Saffran. The lead trio battled wheel-to-wheel for a number of laps before Auringer pulled out front on lap 12.

As Auringer led, Jerry Luloff was working his way through traffic. After mechanical problems sidelined him early in his heat race, Luloff was forced to start the main event from the 21st position. He made his way through the field and into second place with only six laps to go.

With laps winding down, Luloff reeled in Auringer and was able to pull alongside him when the waving green was displayed. Auringer remained strong on the high side as he held off Luloff by a car-length at the stripe to take the win. The win was Auringer's third in as many days after scoring victories in Vinton during the Benton County Fair on Thursday and at Marshalltown Speedway on Friday.

From her outside front row starting position, Mary Handberg quickly shot into the lead at the start of the 15-lap B modified feature. She paced the field until the midway point when Josh Sherbon took over the top spot.

As Sherbon led, Kyle Bentley was making his way through the pack from a fifth row start. With only three laps remaining, the caution flag waved and the field was realigned for a three-lap dash to the finish.

Running the high groove, Sherbon slid off the top of the speedway exiting turn four with only one lap remaining, allowing Bentley to pass for the lead. Sherbon collected his No. 75 as the two leaders raced side-by-side over the final circuit. Off turn four of the final lap, Sherbon worked the high side to perfection as he returned to the front, edging Bentley at the line for victory.

Brian Irvine continued his stranglehold in the I.M.C.A. stock car division. From a sixth row start, Irvine quickly worked his way through traffic and settled into fourth on the fifth lap of the 20-lap event. As Richard Quail and Sean Johnson battled out front, Irvine reeled in the leaders and entered his No. 26 into the fight for the lead three laps later.

Irvine drove past Johnson on lap nine, then made his way around Quail for the lead one lap later as he drove to his fourth consecutive win, his seventh this season.

First-year I.M.C.A. hobby stock driver Quinton Miller backed up his first career win last week with his second straight win in the division. From a third row start, Miller worked the low groove to perfection and into the lead after just one lap. He drove away from the field to take the victory ahead of Josh Irvine and Wes Stanek Jr.

Terry Neal made his first appearance in weekly competition this season worth the trip. From a sixth row start, Neal rocketed through the field and into fifth place when the caution flag waved after one lap. He then left the field in his dust as he held a three-quarter of a lap lead over second-running Tyler Bruening by the time the caution flag waved on lap 21.

When racing resumed, Neal pulled away to score the impressive victory, leaving only eight cars on the lead lap when the checkers waved.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL
First heat - 1. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 2. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 3. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 4. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 5. 99L Luke Pestka, Robins; 6. 44S Tom Struve, Palo; 7. 33 Chuck Lewis, Coggon.
Second heat - 1. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 2. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 3. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 4. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 5. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 6. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.
Third heat - 1. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 2. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 3. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 4. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 5. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 6. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton.
Feature - 1. Neal; 2. Goedert; 3. Bruening; 4. Burco; 5. Wheeler; 6. Pattee; 7. Smock; 8. Ackerman; 9. Pestka; 10. Hamilton; 11. Hackwell; 12. Passick; 13. Johnson; 14. Benn; 15. Dedrick; 16. Struve; 17. Thomsen; 18. Lewis; 19. Dralle; 20. Brasch (DNS).

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 2. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 3. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 4. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 5. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 6. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 7. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 8. 38 Dain Sires, Cedar Falls.
Second heat - 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 3. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 4. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 5. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 6. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 7. 87 Terry Folkers, Central City; 8. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids.
Third heat - 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 1D Mel Saffran, Farley; 3. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 4. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo; 5. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 6. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 7. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence.
Feature - 1. Auringer; 2. Luloff; 3. Conrad; 4. Cordes; 5. Kriz; 6. Haupt; 7. Jackson; 8. Hogan; 9. Betzer; 10. Thomas; 11. Trefz; 12. Johnson; 13. Flannagan; 14. Sires; 15. Bolin; 16. Stuber; 17. Snyder; 18. Lauritzen; 19. Folkers; 20. Thimmesch; 21. Corporon; 22. Whalen (DNS); DQ Saffran.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 2. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 3. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 5. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 6. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 7. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford.
Second heat - 1. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 2. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 3. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 4. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 5. 28X Chip Kohl, Marion; 6. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana.
Feature - 1. Irvine; 2. Johnson; 3. Chesmore; 4. Weepie; 5. Meyer; 6. Schimmels; 7. Samec; 8. Quail; 9. Rose; 10. Niedert; 11. Mercer; 12. Kohl; 13. Hocken.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 20 Wes Stanek Jr., Buckingham; 2. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 5. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 6. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank.
Second heat - 1. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 2. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 3. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 5. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 6. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids.
Third heat - 1. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 2. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 3. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 4. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 5. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; 6. 171 Jeremy Swanson, Maynard; 7. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo.
Feature - 1. Miller; 2. Irvine; 3. Stanek; 4. Brown; 5. Hilmer; 6. Meyer; 7. Ball; 8. Gebel; 9. Wheeler; 10. Lichty; 11. Sprague; 12. Quail; 13. Grother; 14. Buchholz; 15. Wilson; 16. Burmeister; 17. Swanson; 18. Jones; 19. Fraser.

B MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 2. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 5. 21 Lew Chipp, Waterloo; 6. 2D Ryan Coleman, Urbana; 7. 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls.
Second heat - 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 3. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 4. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 5. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 6. 69 John Dumer, Waterloo; 7. 47 Cliff Beauregard, Center Point.
Third heat - 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 3. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; 4. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 5. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 6. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester.
Feature - 1. Sherbon; 2. Bentley; 3. Docekal; 4. Olson; 5. Wessels; 6. Buhlman; 7. Rouse; 8. Handberg; 9. Brown; 10. Chipp; 11. Dumer; 12. Beauregard; 13. Steere; 14. Hesse; 15. McDonald; 16. Coleman; 17. Snyder; 18. Cordes; 19. Cox; 20. Smith (DNS).