Ackerman and Irvine sweep season championship honors at Independence Motor Speedway
by Ryan Clark

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (Aug. 25) - For the second straight week rain showers threatened the racing program at Independence Motor Speedway. Despite receiving more than seven inches of rain in the area over the last week alone, Mother Nature took a reprieve on Saturday as season championship racing concluded the 2007 weekly points season.

Two drivers made the event twice as nice by earning championship feature victories along with their respective division points titles.

In the I.M.C.A. late model feature, points leader Darren Ackerman shot into the lead at the drop of the green from his pole position start. He held the point while Luke Goedert and Darin Burco battled for second.

As Goedert and Burco jockeyed for position, Ackerman extended his lead to almost a straightaway distance until caution bunched the field on lap nine.

Ackerman assumed control once more on the restart to drive away from the field to victory, his third of the season. Goedert and Travis Smock ran second and third. In the process, Ackerman secured the track championship by 16 points over Goedert.

Ackerman took over the lead in the standings on May 19 and maintained that advantage throughout the final 11 weeks of the season to take the title.

In the I.M.C.A. hobby stock division, Josh Irvine had the division crown wrapped up before the 15-lap feature went green. He capped off his dominant season by driving to his fifth win of the year en route to the title.

At the start of the event, Irvine held the lead until inside second row starter Rod Grother applied pressure on the low side of Irvine's No. 35. Grother snuck ahead on the second circuit and worked the low groove out front until Irvine made his way around the high side of the race leader on lap 11.

Irvine led the remainder of the event to score the victory ahead of Grother and Vince Buchholz. Irvine took over the lead in the division's standings on the second week and held the position throughout the remainder of the season. His championship margin was the largest at the speedway this season, by 48 markers over Grother.

Going into the night, I.M.C.A. modified drivers J.D. Auringer and Jerry Luloff sat tied atop the division's standings. The pair wowed the crowd when both elected to start their feature event from the tail of the field in attempt to double their earnings with a victory.

With the rest of the field eliminated from championship contention, Auringer and Luloff made it a winner-take-all affair from the back of the 20-car starting field.

By virtue of the lineup change, Vern Jackson inherited the pole position and he made quick work of his good fortune. At the drop of the green, Jackson took charge while fellow front row starter Troy Cordes battled with Adam Johnson for second.

Running the high side, Jackson held his advantage over the field while Cordes worked his way under Johnson and into second following a lap eight caution.

On the restart, Jackson continued to run up top with Cordes beneath him as the leaders engaged in a thrilling side-by-side fight at the front of the pack. Meanwhile, Auringer and Luloff were quickly making their way through the field.

Running the low groove, Auringer shot beneath a pair of drivers on the 14th circuit to make his way into fourth as Luloff was also charging through traffic and into the top eight.

With the leaders still racing door-to-door, Auringer gained ground and snuck past Johnson with only four laps remaining. As he pulled to the low side of the leaders, the caution flag waved a final time with only three laps remaining.

On the restart, Jackson again went to work on the high side with Cordes below him. Cordes edged ahead for the first time in the event on lap 23 with Auringer close behind. In the meantime, Luloff was picking off his competitors and settled into fifth with one lap remaining.

As the field came to the checkers, Jackson edged ahead at the line to score the exciting win by half of a car-length over Cordes. Auringer held onto third as Luloff's late surge left him a couple of car-lengths short of Auringer at the stripe.

By virtue of his third place finish, Auringer earned the track championship, the first of his career, by a single point over Luloff.

All Jarod Weepie needed to do was take the green flag in the I.M.C.A. stock car main event to earn his second track championship in the last three years. With the title all but guaranteed, Weepie offered the fans a great show as he elected to take the challenge and start the 25-lapper from the back of the field.

From his outside front row start, Sean Johnson took the early lead as Brian Irvine settled in behind him for second. Irvine ducked under the leader on the third lap to take away the top spot.

The leaders rain nose-to-tail throughout the first half of the event until contact from Johnson sent Irvine into a spin as the field worked the 12th lap. As the race went yellow, Johnson was forced to the pits with a flat tire.

On the restart, Irvine once again took the lead and quickly received heavy pressure from Tony Schimmels. As the leaders battled, Weepie was making his way through the field. He settled into third place at the 15-lap mark, but was unable to reel in the leaders as Irvine drove to the victory, his eighth of the season.

Weepie, who took over the points lead just prior to mid-season, led the final eight weeks of the season to earn the title over Irvine.

Tony Olson was guaranteed the B modified division title with a top-15 finish in the 18-car field. He added some insurance to that margin as he finished the 15-lap event in third.

At the drop of the green, outside front row starter Joe Docekal assumed command. He quickly distanced himself from the pack as Josh Sherbon and Olson gave chase.

Although slowed a number of times for caution, Docekal led the event in its entirety to earn his sixth win of the season. Sherbon and Olson ran second and third. By virtue of his third place finish, Olson clinched the track championship by 13 points over Docekal.



RESULTS

I.M.C.A. LATE MODEL

Feature - 1. 53 Darren Ackerman, Waterloo; 2. 44 Luke Goedert, Holy Cross; 3. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 4. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 5. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 6. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 7. C10 Darin Burco, Independence; 8. 68 Tysus Pattee, Vinton; 9. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 10. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 11. 70 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; 12. 4D Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 13. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 14. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 15. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 16. 19 Jill George, Cedar Falls; 17. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; DNS 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls.


I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
B feature - 1. 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo; 2. 4S Garry Stuber, Waterloo; 3. 171 Buck Swanson, Cedar Falls; 4. 23W Robert Whalen, Nashua; 5. 87 Terry Folkers, Central City; 6. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 7. 14B John Burbridge, Delhi; 8. 96 Derrick Reedy, Evansdale; 9. 14H Tom Hanson, Vinton; 10. 8G George Cunha, Evansdale; 11. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 12. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 13. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; DQ 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo.

A feature - 1. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 2. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 3. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 5. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 6. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 7. 3 Max Corporon, Marion; 8. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 9. 12X Brett Ladehoff, Marshalltown; 10. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 11. 01K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 12. 11 Timm Jensen, Dunkerton; 13. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 14. Schaefer; 15. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 16. 83C Todd Conrad, Cedar Rapids; 17. Stuber; 18. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; 19. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 20. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR

Feature - 1. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 00 Tony Schimmels, Readlyn; 3. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 4. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 5. 94 Steve Meyer, Grundy Center; 6. 58 Dave Stricker, Waterloo; 7. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 8. 29A Jeff Adams, Bondurant; 9. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 10. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank; 11. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 12. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 13. 99L Lon Mercer, Urbana; 14. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 15. 9 Dallas Morin, Marion.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

Feature - 1. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 55 Vince Buchholz, Cedar Falls; 4. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 5. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 6. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 7. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 8. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 9. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 10. 8W Dave Wheeler, Fairbank; 11. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 12. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 13. 062 Kerry Davis, Monticello; 14. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 15. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo; 16. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 17. 20 Wes Stanek, Buckingham; 18. 171 Jeremy Swanson, Maynard; 19. 8 Bill Meyer, Sumner; 20. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 21. 86H Steve Higham, Cedar Rapids; 22. B62 Brandon Davis, Cedar Rapids; 23. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

B MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 3. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 32 Chris Snyder, Evansdale; 5. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 6. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; 7. 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; 8. 52R Marty Rouse, Grundy Center; 9. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 10. 95H Mary Handberg, Waterloo; 11. 20T Scott Thomas, Waterloo; 12. 24 Travis Brown, Cedar Rapids; 13. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 14. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 15. 69 John Dumer, Waterloo; 16. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 17. 24D Mike Depping, Reinbeck; 18. 5 Jared Otis, Center Point.