Ihm victorious in Indee Open Series late models at Fayette County Raceway
by Ryan Clark

WEST UNION, Iowa (June 27) – Patience paid off for Steve “Ace” Ihm as he topped a strong field of 31 late models to take the win in the Climate Seal Insulation Indee Open Series at Fayette County Raceway. For Ihm, a tour regular over the past seven years, it was his first series victory.

Pole-sitter Darin Duffy held the early advantage of the 40-lap event. Running the high groove, Duffy quickly took the lead and was chased by Ihm who was glued to the bottom of the slick, fast 3/8-mile oval.

Ihm tried numerous times to sneak below Duffy’s No. 19, only to be denied as the top groove proved to be too fast.

As the leaders battled, Chris Simpson, Chad Simpson and Darrel DeFrance engaged in a three-car battle behind them. Chris Simpson used the low groove to his advantage, holding off his competitors and then going to work on Ihm.

Chris Simpson worked his way around Ihm after 11 laps and then set his sights on chasing down Duffy who, by that time, worked his way into nearly a straightaway lead.

The leaders entered lapped traffic three laps later as Simpson started gaining ground on the leader. As Simpson pulled even, Duffy masterfully worked his way through the backmarkers and again looked to distance himself from the field when the yellow flag waved on lap 22.

When racing resumed, Ihm pulled ahead of Simpson on the two-wide restart and settled into second place. Ihm again worked the bottom groove while Duffy remained high as the lead pair ran side-by-side at the front of the pack.

Ihm edged ahead of Duffy on the 26th circuit and never looked back en route to the milestone win. Chris Simpson finished second and Denny Eckrich worked his way through traffic to come home third.

Jerry King looked like the man to beat in the 20-lap modified headliner. From his pole position start, King took the early lead with Mark Schulte in tow. The leaders ran wheel-to-wheel throughout the event’s early stages as the field battled behind them.

Ron Barker entered the mix at the front to make it a three-car battle for the lead, eventually settling into second place on the eighth lap. All three leaders consistently looked for racing room on the bottom groove of the speedway

Meanwhile, Mike Darnall tested the waters on the high groove and began reeling in the lead trio. After starting sixth, Darnall worked into the top four on lap seven then found himself in a side-by-side battle with Barker at the race’s midway point.

Darnall worked past Barker three laps later, then edged ahead of King with only five laps remaining just before the yellow flag was displayed.

When racing resumed, Darnall continued to his strong run on the top side to drive to the victory. A longtime pro stock driver when the track held weekly racing, the victory was Darnall’s first in a modified at the Fayette County fairgrounds. Barker and King ran second and third.

Tony Trower led the stock car field throughout the early stages in that 15-lap feature. Trower maintained his stay out front until Jake Ludeking nosed under the leader exiting turn two on the seventh lap.

Ludeking led the rest of the event to score the victory ahead of Tory Reicks and Lynn Panos.

In the B modified division, Jr. Boyer appeared to be well on his way to victory in the 15-lap event as he dominated the first 10 laps. A caution flag with only five laps to go eliminated his straightaway lead when the field was realigned.

On the restart, Shane Panos restarted behind the leader. Contact between the two entering the first set of turns on lap 11 resulted in a flat tire on Boyer’s ride, ending his chance at victory.

Panos led the remainder of the event to score the victory ahead of Alan Wessels and LaPlant.

The Climate Seal Insulation Indee Open Series resumes on Wednesday, July 18, on opening night of the Buchanan County Fair at Independence Motor Speedway. The series then returns to Fayette County Raceway for the final time in 2007 on Tuesday, July 24, to kick off the Fayette County Fair.



RESULTS

LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 50 Denny Eckrich, Tiffin; 2. 99D Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown; 3. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 4. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 5. 14B Levi Benn, Dyersville; 6. 77 Jeff Aikey, Waterloo; 7. 37 Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; DNS 45 Curt Martin, Independence.

Second heat – 1. 25 Chad Simpson, Mt. Vernon; 2. 19 Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 3. 17A Jamie Aikey, Cedar Falls; 4. 22C Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake; 5. 27B Travis Smock, Independence; 6. 9 Bobby Hansen, Center Point; 7. 4B Brian Lillie, Independence; 8. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn.

Third heat – 1. 0 Jeff Bair, Solon; 2. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 3. 78 Dale Stolte, Springville; 4. 88 Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 5. 77X Kurt Kile, Nichols; 6. 77C Mitch Current, Maquoketa; 7. 22 Jill George, Cedar Falls; 8. C10 Darin Burco, Independence.

Fourth heat – 1. 11 Steve Ihm, Hazel Green, Wis.; 2. 15G Cam Granger, West Union; 3. 32 Chris Simpson, Oxford; 4. M2 Scott Megonigle, Cedar Rapids; 5. 95 Ed Sanger, Postville; 6. 80 Jerry Dedrick, Vinton; 7. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg.

First B feature – 1. Martin; 2. Hackwell; 3. Smock; 4. Benn; 5. Lillie; 6. Hansen (DNS); 7. Ciesielski (DNS); 8. Jeff Aikey (DNS).

Second B feature – 1. Kurt Kile; 2. Burco; 3. Current; 4. Sanger; 5. Dedrick; 6. Watters; 7. George.

A feature – 1. Ihm; 2. Chris Simpson; 3. Eckrich; 4. Chad Simpson; 5. Duffy; 6. Grady; 7. Neal; 8. Hackwell; 9. Granger; 10. Kevin Kile; 11. Bair; 12. Martin; 13. Kurt Kile; 14. Stolte; 15. Benn; 16. Sanger; 17. Current; 18. Passick; 19. Megonigle; 20. DeFrance; 21. Smock; 22. Burco; 23. McKenna; 24. Jamie Aikey.



MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 26P Kevin Pittman, Waterloo; 2. 37B Ron Barker, Dubuque; 3. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 4. 7M Mike Darnall, West Union; 5. 5W Darrin Walch, Postville; 6. 70S Matt Sweeney, Waukon; 7. 93 Craig Haupt, Sumner; DNS 13 Jim Schaefer, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 2. 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah; 3. 21 Layne Meyer, West Union; 4. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 5. 7C Nate Caruth, Ames; 6. 21M Dean Mahlstedt, Clear Lake; 7. 2 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo; 2. 12 Justin O’Brien, Volga; 3. 55H Troy Hansmeier, Waukon; 4. 19D Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 5. 11B Mike Burbridge, Delhi; 6. 10J Jason Bakkum, Waukon; 7. 91 Shawn Ryan, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Darnall; 2. Barker; 3. King; 4. Walch; 5. Schulte; 6. Kevin Pittman; 7. Auringer; 8. Meyer; 9. Bohr; 10. O’Brien; 11. Duffy; 12. Ryan; 13. Hansmeier; 14. Joey Schaefer; 15. Bakkum; 16. Haupt; 17. Burbridge; 18. Mahlstedt; 19. Sweeney; 20. Caruth; 21. Keith Pittman; 22. Jim Schaefer.



STOCK CAR

First heat – 1. 08 Tony Trower, New Hampton; 2. 97 Lynn Panos, Protivin; 3. 44 Don Rude, Decorah; 4. 20 Greg Mitchell, Decorah; 5. 1 Jeff Krambeer, Postville; 6. 21 Shane Manson, Manchester; 7. 9 Patty Fosaaen, Waukon; 8. 14 Mike Krambeer, Postville.

Second heat – 1. 69 Jake Ludeking, Decorah; 2. 10 Bryan Webb, Decorah; 3. 27T Tory Reicks, Waucoma; 4. 37 Loren Kuennen, Ossian; 5. Z53 Mark Jencks, Hawkeye; 6. 8 Mike Kelly, Lanesboro, Minn.; 7. 17 Chad Halverson, Decorah; 8. 62 Kevin Bidne, Decorah.

Feature – 1. Ludeking; 2. Reicks; 3. Panos; 4. Mitchell; 5. Kuennen; 6. Kelly; 7. Bidne; 8. Fosaaen; 9. Trower; 10. Halverson; 11. M. Krambeer; 12. J. Krambeer; 13. Webb; 14. Jencks; 15. Manson; DQ Rude.



B MODIFIED

First heat – 1. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 2. 1D Koal Deering, Postville; 3. 20 Brian Kunkle, Oelwein; 4. 47J Jeremy LaPlant, Elgin; 5. 58 Shane Panos, Decorah; 6. 88X Jimmy Broszeit, Postville; 7. 7 Brian Freilinger, Decorah; 8. 17 Mike Krall, Waterloo; 9. 95 Jason Schlangen, Cresco.

Second heat – 1. 42 Jr. Boyer, Calmar; 2. 25 Alan Wessels, Strawberry Point; 3. 92 Craig Cordes, Cedar Falls; 4. 0 Jason Rohde, Fayette; 5. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 6. 29X Paul Fauser, Elgin; 7. 80 Tom Rooney, Hampton; 8. 14 Chad Dugan, Garber; 9. 57 Josh Steere, New Hartford; DNS 8 Jason Hovey, Decorah.

Feature – 1. Panos; 2. Wessels; 3. LaPlant; 4. Docekal; 5. Deering; 6. Broszeit; 7. Freilinger; 8. Kunkle; 9. Schlangen; 10. Dugan; 11. Fauser; 12. Boyer; 13. Rooney; 14. Krall; 15. Sherbon; 16. Steere; 17. Cordes; 18. Rohde; DNS Hovey.