Weepie and Irvine pad points leads with victories at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 11) - With only a couple of weeks remaining in the 2007 season, Jarod Weepie and Josh Irvine added some cushion to their points leads as both drivers drove to victory at Independence Motor Speedway.

At the start of the 20-lap I.M.C.A. stock car feature, Richard Quail held the lead until third row starter Tony Schimmels worked the low groove to the front on lap two. Schimmels paced the field while Sean Johnson worked through traffic from a fourth row start. Johnson settled into second place on lap three before the caution flag waved two laps later. One lap following the restart, contact between the two cars prematurely ended the night for both drivers.

Kevin Rose held the lead for the ensuing restart as Weepie and Brian Irvine were making their way through the field from mid-pack starts. Running the low groove, Weepie made his way around Rose on lap 12 and Irvine followed suit with only four laps to go.

Irvine moved to the high side and gained ground on Weepie as laps wound down. Irvine edged ahead as the white flag was displayed, however Weepie continued to run a quick line on the bottom as he shot ahead exiting turn four on the final lap to drive to the win. Irvine and Rose completed the top three.

Pole-sitter Joe Sprague was the early leader in the 15-lap I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature. Sprague put some distance over second-running Jeremiah Wilson until a broken axle on lap six ended Sprague's run at the front. Wilson inherited the lead on the restart with Dave Wheeler and Josh Irvine in tow.

On the restart, Wheeler and Irvine quickly made their way around the leader and Irvine worked under Wheeler to take the lead one lap later. Irvine led the remainder of the event to take his fourth win of the season. Wilson and Wheeler ran second and third.

J.D. Auringer drove to his fourth win of the season in the I.M.C.A. modified division. He took the lead from Jason Snyder on lap 12 as Vern Jackson was running the low groove through traffic after starting next to Auringer in the fifth row.

With only two laps remaining, Jackson worked under Auringer for the lead, however Auringer powered back into the lead when the white flag was displayed. He held on to score the exciting win ahead of Jackson and Scott Hogan.

Kyle Bentley picked up his first win of the season in the 15-lap B modified feature. Running the high side, Bentley motored around Craig Cordes on the sixth circuit to drive away to the victory. Joe Docekal and Josh Sherbon finished second and third.

Levi Benn earned his second win of the season in the I.M.C.A. late model division. Benn made his way around race leader Drew Johnson on the seventh lap to settle into the top spot. He then maneuvered through lapped traffic and held off the challenges of Darin Burco to score the victory. Curt Martin finished third.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL
First heat - 1. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 2. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 3. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 4. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 5. 19 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 6. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 7. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup.
Second heat - 1. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 2. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 3. 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 6. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls; 7. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo.
Third heat - 1. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 2. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 3. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 4. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 5. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 6. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence.
Feature - 1. Benn; 2. Burco; 3. Martin; 4. Hackwell; 5. Ackerman; 6. Kastli; 7. Grady; 8. Goedert; 9. Johnson; 10. Dralle; 11. Smock; 12. Duffy; 13. Brasch; 14. Pattee; 15. Wheeler; 16. Passick; 17. Lillie; 18. Thomsen; 19. Aikey; 20. Hamilton.

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 5. 14B John Burbridge, Delhi; 6. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 7. 87 Terry Folkers, Central City; 8. 171 Buck Swanson, Cedar Falls; 9. 3 Max Corporon, Marion.
Second heat - 1. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 2. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 3. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 4. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 5. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 6. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 7. 8X Andy Snyder, Sumner; 8. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale.
Third heat - 1. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 4. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 5. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo; 6. 100 Cliff Schimmels, Denver; 7. 24 Colt Robinson, Dunkerton; 8. 78 Adam Bolin, Waterloo.
First B feature - 1. Cordes; 2. Corporon; 3. Schaefer; 4. Burbridge; 5. Folkers; 6. Cunha; 7. Robinson (DNS).
Second B feature - 1. Lauritzen; 2. Whalen; 3. A. Snyder; 4. Schimmels; 5. Swanson (DNS); 6. Bolin (DNS).
A feature - 1. Auringer; 2. Jackson; 3. Hogan; 4. J. Snyder; 5. Luloff; 6. Johnson; 7. Cordes; 8. Thomas; 9. Thimmesch; 10. Burbridge; 11. Trefz; 12. Jensen; 13. Lauritzen; 14. Whalen; 15. Schaefer; 16. Schimmels; 17. A. Snyder; 18. Flannagan; 19. Corporon; 20. Conrad.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 2. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 3. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 4. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 6. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; DNS Dallas Morin, Marion.
Second heat - 1. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 2. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 4. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 5. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 6. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana; 7. K38 Kenny Taylor, Strawberry Point.
Feature - 1. Weepie; 2. Irvine; 3. Rose; 4. Chesmore; 5. Quail; 6. Manson; 7. Meyer; 8. Niedert; 9. Taylor; 10. Mercer; 11. Schimmels; 12. Johnson; 13. Hocken; DNS Morin.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 3. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 4. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 6. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 7. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 8. 062 Kerry Davis, Monticello; 9. 171 Jeremy Swanson, Maynard; 10. 7B Jim Ball, Independence.
Second heat - 1. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 4. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 5. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 6. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 7. 20W Bruce Fraser, Manchester; 8. 20 Wes Stanek, Buckingham; 9. 6 Keven Gonzales, Fairbank.
Feature - 1. Irvine; 2. Wilson; 3. Wheeler; 4. Brown; 5. Miller; 6. Lichty; 7. Gebel; 8. Grother; 9. Meyer; 10. Ball; 11. Fraser; 12. Davis; 13. Quail; 14. Burmeister; 15. Gonzales; 16. Buchholz; 17. Sprague; 18. Swanson; 19. Stanek.

B MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 2. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 3. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 5. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 6. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 7. 24D Mike Depping, Reinbeck; 8. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 9. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar.
Second heat - 1. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 4. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 95 Todd Temeyer, Independence; 6. 5 Jared Otis, Center Point; 7. 49 Brandon Smith, Cedar Falls; DNS 69 John Dumer, Waterloo.
Feature - 1. Bentley; 2. Docekal; 3. Sherbon; 4. Olson; 5. Cordes; 6. Brown; 7. Depping; 8. Wessels; 9. Temeyer; 10. Snyder; 11. Handberg; 12. Robinson; 13. Dumer; 14. Buhlman; 15. Otis; 16. Rouse; 17. Smith.