Kile collects first Indee Open Series late model win at Highway 3 Raceway
By Ryan Clark

ALLISON, IA (Aug. 22, 2006) – Three weeks was worth the wait for Kevin Kile as the late model driver drove to his first-ever Indee Open Series late model win at Highway 3 Raceway. The event, which fell to rain on its original date of August 1, concluded the series’ annual “road show” August 22 on the fast ½-mile oval.

At the start of the 30-lap feature event, series points leader Curt Martin assumed command. He quickly received pressure from second row starter Jeff Aikey, a three-time winner in the series this season and also the winner of the June 6 event in Allison.

Martin continued to pace the field as Kile, who started outside the third row, pressured Aikey for the runner-up spot. Kile moved past Aikey on the sixth lap, just three laps before the leaders entered lapped traffic.

As Martin maneuvered through the back-markers, Kile followed suit, never letting the leader more than a few car-lengths out of his sight. Kile was able to work under Martin exiting turn four as the field completed the first half of the event, taking the lead down the front straightaway.

The caution flag waved for the first time four laps later at which time Terry Neal, the winner of the last two series events, settled into third. On the restart, Martin opted for the outside of the second row in the two-wide restart formation.

When racing resumed, Kile pulled away from the field to leave his challengers battling behind him. A final caution on lap 26 slowed the field with the top three unchanged. By that time, Ace Ihm, who started in the sixth row, made his way into the top four.

Following the final restart, Kile again pulled away from the pack to drive to the milestone victory ahead of Neal and Ihm, who edged Martin at the line for third.

In modified action, second row starter Darin Duffy quickly went to work on the bottom side of the speedway, passing the front row starters entering the first set of turns. He exited turn two with the lead and Tommy Myer, who started alongside Duffy in the second row, followed him into second one lap later.

Already half of a straightaway ahead of the pack, Duffy continued to lead the field as Myer went to work on running down the leader. Just prior to a lap five caution, Myer worked his way under Duffy and into the top spot.

When action resumed, Myer pulled away from the field and dominated the final 15 laps to score the win. Duffy finished second and Shawn Ryan came home third.

Ryan Gustin held the early lead in the 12-lap B modified feature, but received heavy pressure from Nate Caruth. As Caruth remained glued to Gustin’s rear bumper, Joe Docekal worked through traffic and settled into third after a pair of laps. Docekal then went to work on running down the leaders.

Midway through the event, Gustin and Caruth swapped the lead as the trio ran three-wide at numerous times at the front of the pack. By the time the race’s only caution was displayed with only four laps to go, Gustin reclaimed the lead and Docekal settled into second ahead of Caruth.

On the restart, Docekal chased Gustin for one lap before making a move on the bottom of the speedway exiting turn four as the flying green was displayed. Docekal took command at that point and led the final two circuits to take the exciting win ahead of Gustin and Caruth.

Three-wide racing was also the theme in the stock car feature as Lance Deal, Shane Weller and Adam Speicher engaged in door-to-door action throughout much of the 12-lap event. Although pressured constantly throughout the race, Deal was able to lead the event in its entirety to secure the victory ahead of Weller and Speicher.

A first-lap pile-up rattled the starting line-up in the 12-lap hobby stock feature. When the dust settled, Mick Meyers took advantage of his front row start to take the win ahead of Brandon Leeman and Chris Hovden.

The Indee Open Series returns home on Saturday, September 2, for the Indee Open Series Finale at Independence Motor Speedway. The event, which will be the eighth and final race in this year's series, will feature late models, modifieds, stock cars, hobby stocks and B modifieds.

Late model drivers who will have competed in at least seven of the eight series events will be eligible to take home $6,000 with an A feature win in the finale. Increased purses are also available in the modified and stock car divisions. Gates will open at 3 p.m. with hot laps scheduled for 5 and the first green flag set to fly at 5:30.



RESULTS

LATE MODEL

First heat – 1. 56W Gary Webb, Blue Grass; 2. 77 Jeff Aikey, Cedar Falls; 3. 77X Kurt Kile, Nichols; 4. 25 Chad Simpson, Mt. Vernon; 5. 06 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 6. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 7. 57 Scott Badker, Garner.

Second heat – 1. 11 Ace Ihm, Hazel Green, Wis.; 2. 15G Cam Granger, West Union; 3. 88 Kevin Kile, West Liberty; 4. 43 Jeremy Grady, Story City; 5. 23 Scott Schurbon, Maquoketa; 6. H2O Paul Watters, Parkersburg; 7. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly.

Third heat – 1. 28C Terry Neal, Ely; 2. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 3. 78W Rick Wendling, Hazleton; 4. 86 Rick Dralle, Waterloo; 5. 22 Jill George, Cedar Falls; 6. 25X Nate Hartzell, Cedar Falls; 7. 8 Randy Wheeler, Cedar Falls.

Fourth heat – 1. 99D Darrel DeFrance; 2. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 3. 87 Jon Merfeld, Peosta; 4. 33 Kevin Kirkpatrick, Waterloo; 5. 32 Chris Simpson, Marion; 6. 69B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton; 7. 15C Curt Schroeder, Des Moines.

B feature – 1. Chris Simpson; 2. Wagner; 3. George; 4. Schurbon; 5. Brasch; 6. Watters; 7. Wheeler; 8. Schroeder; 9. Hartzell; 10. Thomsen; 11. Badker; DNS Kastli.

A feature – 1. Kevin Kile; 2. Neal; 3. Ihm; 4. Martin; 5. Webb; 6. Aikey; 7. Kevin Kile; 8. Granger; 9. Wendling; 10. Hackwell; 11. Kirkpatrick; 12. Merfeld; 13. Watters; 14. George; 15. Chad Simpson; 16. Grady; 17. Chris Simpson; 18. DeFrance; 19. Brasch; 20. Schroeder; 21. Dralle; 22. Wheeler; 23. Wagner; 24. Schurbon.



MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 2. 19D Darin Duffy, Hazleton; 3. Shawn Ryan, Waterloo; 4. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 5. 66 Dan Bohr, Decorah; 6. 26P Kevin Pittman, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. 2 Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 2. Tommy Myer, Blooming Prairie, Minn.; 3. 14B Shane Burbridge, Manchester; 4. 21 Layne Meyer, West Union; 5. 41P Keith Pittman, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Myer; 2. Duffy; 3. Ryan; 4. Bohr; 5. Kevin Pittman; 6. Schulte; 7. Keith Pittman; 8. Meyer; 9. Schaefer; 10. King; 11. Burbridge.



STOCK CAR

Heat – 1. 20 Dan Trimble, Fairbank; 2. 20W Shane Weller, Agency; 3. 22X Lance Deal, Fort Dodge; 4. 11R Roger Samec, New Hartford; 5. 9er Adam Speicher, Fredericksburg; 6. 121G Arlen Hoy, Marble Rock; 7. R31 Ryan Leeman, Roland; 8. 3W Chris Webb, McCallsburg; 9. F5 Travis Storm, Stratford; 10. 17X Jason Niedert, Fairbank.

Feature – 1. Deal; 2. Weller; 3. Speicher; 4. Trimble; 5. Hoy; 6. Leeman; 7. Samec; 8. Webb; 9. Storm; DNS Niedert.



HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. 70 Chris Hovden, Cresco; 2. 64 Brandon Leeman, Roland; 3. 6JR Mick Meyers, Mason City; 4. 8J Andy Altenburg, Truman; 5. 15 Mitch Hovden, Decorah; 6. 25 Chris Munson; 7. 20J Jeremy Grantham, Allison.

Second heat – 1. 2S Brad Schipper, New Hartford; 2. 50 Heath Tulp, Belmond; 3. 62 Ryan Bochmann, Greene; 4. 04M Tim Marzen, Dougherty; 5. 19 Greg Jones, Aplington; 6. 6B Shane Barnett, Allison.

Feature – 1. Meyers; 2. Leeman; 3. C. Hovden; 4. Altenburg; 5. Munson; 6. Jones; 7. Marzen; 8. Schipper; 9. Bochmann; 10. Tulp; 11. M. Hovden; 12. Grantham; DNS Niedert.



B MODIFIED
First heat – 1. 61X Tim Moody, Fredericksburg; 2. 64W Mitch Grummitt, Aplington; 3. 91X Doug Bishop, Manchester; 4. 31 Kyle Roose, Bristow; 5. 29 Kyle Everts, Parkersburg; 6. 76 Matt Eberline, Bristow.

Second heat – 1. 7X Nate Caruth, Ames; 2. 19 Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown; 3. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 4. 18J Mike Jaeger, Charles City; 5. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 6. 32 Matt Feltus, Allison.

Feature – 1. Docekal; 2. Gustin; 3. Caruth; 4. Moody; 5. Bishop; 6. Feltus; 7. Grummitt; 8. Roose; 9. Eberline; 10. Everts; 11. Siems; DNS Jaeger.