Irvines shine with pair of wins at Benton County Speedway
By Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (April 29) – Not to be outdone by his cousin Josh’s first career I.M.C.A. hobby stock victory, Brian Irvine made it a family affair with a win of his own in the I.M.C.A. stock car division at Benton County Speedway.

Josh Irvine took the first of two trophies back to Oelwein in the 15-lap hobby stock headliner. At the drop of the green, it was front-row starter Micheal Smith who took the early lead. As he paced the field, Irvine battled Greg Sweerin for second.

Following the race’s second and final caution on the sixth lap, Irvine took advantage of the restart and shot to the inside of Smith for the lead. Irvine led the final nine laps uncontested to score his first career win. Smith and Brad Forbes completed the top three.

Norman Chesmore held the point at the start of the 15-lap stock car feature. He received heavy pressure from second row starter Brian Irvine who took the lead one lap later.

Irvine pulled away from the field to drive to victory ahead of Chesmore and Damon Murty.

In the 20-lap I.M.C.A. modified feature, pole-sitter Johnathan Thimmesch took the early advantage. That lead, however, was short-lived as contact between Thimmesch and Don Erger allowed Brian Krall to lead the first lap before the caution came out for Erger’s spinning No. 6E.

On the restart, Krall continued to pace the field as Scott Hogan battled Thimmesch for second. In the meantime, Jerry Luloff worked through the pack from a fifth row start and settled into third on lap nine.

Luloff passed Hogan one lap later and quickly went to work on Krall. He reeled in the leader and chased Krall for a handful of laps before making the pass for the lead exiting turn two on lap 16. Luloff led the remainder of the event to score the win. Hogan and J.D. Auringer made their way around Krall to finish second and third, respectively.

Tony Olson scored a hard fought victory in the I.M.C.A. sportmod 15-lapper. Dan Higdon took the early lead as Olson settled into second on the first lap following a second row start.

Olson disposed of Higdon on the fourth lap and attempted to put some distance on the field as Danny Dvorak maneuvered through traffic from a fourth row start. Dvorak settled in the second position on the sixth lap and set his sights on Olson.

Dvorak reeled in the leader and attempted to duck under Olson numerous times, however all of his advances were denied as Olson drove to the win. Dvorak and Higdon chased Olson to the checkers.

Gary Peiffer took charge midway through the 10-lap I.M.C.A. sport compact feature and dominated the event for the apparent victory. He was later disqualified in victory lane for failing to sport a complete fire suit. This handed the win to Jenna Barthelmes. The opening night winner, Doug Laughridge, was scored second.

The team of Chad Albert and Adam Happel dominated the cruiser feature to take their second straight win in the division. Doug Steggall and Mitch Lewis finished second.

RESULTS

I.M.C.A. MODIFIED

First heat – 1. Scott Hogan, Vinton; 2. J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. Don Erger, Brandon; 4. Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 5. Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 6. Buster Pate, Hiawatha.

Second heat – 1. Brian Krall, Readlyn; 2. Randy Trefz, Vinton; 3. Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 5. Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 6. Dan Kohls, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 2. Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. Troy Cordes, Raymond; 4. Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 5. Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 6. Tony Snyder, Sumner.

Feature – 1. Luloff; 2. Hogan; 3. Auringer; 4. Krall; 5. Flannagan; 6. Cordes; 7. Thomas; 8. Thimmesch; 9. Schmuecker; 10. Fisher; 11. Kohls; 12. Trefz; 13. Glass; 14. Pate; 15. Jensen; 16. Erger; 17. Snyder; 18. Olson (DNS).



I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat – 1. Justin Temeyer, Independence; 2. Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 3. Jason DeShaw, Hopkinton; 4. Richard Quail, Waterloo; 5. Dan Krug, La Porte City; 6. Curtis Roster, Vinton.

Second heat – 1. Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 3. Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 4. Damon Murty, Tama; 5. Brett Mather, Lamont; 6. Ron Tharp, Vinton; 7. Andy Huffman, Waterloo.

Feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Chesmore; 3. Murty; 4. Temeyer; 5. Dulin; 6. Quail; 7. Rose; 8. Krug; 9. Tharp; 10. Mather; 11. DeShaw; 12. Huffman; 13. Roster (DNS).



I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK

First heat – 1. Justin Stander, Vinton; 2. Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 3. Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 4. Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 5. Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 6. Al Sweerin, Waterloo.

Second heat – 1. Micheal Smith, Marshalltown; 2. Chris Luloff, Independence; 3. Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 4. Scott Pippert, Elberon; 5. Robert Quail, Waterloo; 6. Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo.

Third heat – 1. Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Chad Koch, Marshalltown; 3. Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 4. Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 5. Adam Streeter, Walker; 6. Billy Koepke, Garrison.

Feature – 1. Irvine; 2. Smith; 3. Forbes; 4. Stander; 5. G. Sweerin; 6. Wilson; 7. Hilmer; 8. Ballard; 9. Quail; 10. A. Sweerin; 11. Grother; 12. N. Sweerin; 13. Luloff; 14. Pippert; 15. Streeter; 16. Koch; 17. Damme; 18. Koepke.



I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD

First heat – 1. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. Kurt Hogan, Vinton; 3. Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 4. Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 5. Dan Wiley, Vinton; 6. Justin Hempstead, Manchester; DQ Jeremy Schaufenbuel; DNS Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids.

Second heat – 1. Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 2. Dan Higdon, Vinton; 3. Doug Smith, Center Point; 4. Ryan Englekes, Dike; 5. Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 6. Rob Coleman, Urbana; 7. John Van Wechel, Vinton; 8. Michael Roster, Vinton.

Third heat – 1. Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 2. Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 3. James Kuhn, Urbana; 4. Brad Iverson, Grinnell; 5. Dustin Filloon, Tama; 6. Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax; 7. Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; DNS Rod McDonald, Manchester.

First B feature – 1. B. Ebaugh; 2. Iverson; 3. McDonald; 4. Hempstead; 5. S. Ebaugh; 6. Berstler; 7. Coleman.

Second B feature – 1. K. Olson; 2. Wiley; 3. Van Wechel; 4. Filloon; 5. Roster; DNS Schaufenbuel; DNS Doyle.

A feature – 1. T. Olson; 2. Dvorak; 3. Higdon; 4. Wiley; 5. Buhlman; 6. K. Olson; 7. McDonald; 8. Krall; 9. Kuhn; 10. Filloon; 11. Van Wechel; 12. Smith; 13. B. Ebaugh; 14. S. Ebaugh; 15. Bentley; 16. Englekes; 17. Hempstead; 18. Hogan; DNS Iverson; DNS Roster.



I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT

Heat – 1. Jenna Barthelmes, Marion; 2. Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 3. Brian Bries, Norway; 4. Randy Van De Vegt, Manchester; 5. Jeremy Heim, Marion; 6. Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 7. Joe Goodenbower; DQ Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills.

Feature – 1. Barthelmes; 2. Laughridge; 3. Van De Vegt; 4. Bries; 5. Heim; 6. Goodenbower; 7. Nabholz; DQ Peiffer.



CRUISER

Heat – 1. Chad Albert/Adam Happel, Cedar Rapids/Mt. Auburn; 2. Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 3. Gary Peiffer/Adam Finger, Troy Mills; 4. Jacob Keiser/Harley Schmuecker, Marengo; 5. Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 6. Joe Burmeister/John Spink, Mt. Auburn; 7. Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids.

Feature – 1. Albert/Happel; 2. Steggall/Lewis; 3. Keiser/Schmuecker; 4. Mazur/Miller; 5. McDonald/Lewis; 6. Burmeister/Spink; 7. Peiffer/Finger.