Auringer, Temeyer, Koch, Bentley score Mother's Day wins at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (May 13) - Seven drivers had an extra reason to celebrate this Mother's Day by making trips to the winner's circle at Benton County Speedway. A pit area full of 90 cars offered fans exciting wheel-to-wheel action in the six racing divisions.

In the I.M.C.A. modified feature, Todd Jensen assumed the early command from his pole position start. Jensen paced the field through a trio of early cautions while Ed Thomas and Troy Cordes battled side-by-side for second. Following a restart on lap eight, Jensen remained out front until Thomas shot to the inside of the leader and Cordes worked the high groove, forcing a three-wide race for the lead.

Scott Hogan, J.D. Auringer and Scott Hogan shuffled back and forth right behind the lead trio as the front six cars entered a thrilling battle at the front of the pack.

Thomas took the lead on the ninth circuit until Cordes worked around him one lap later. Auringer then worked the middle line to perfection, rocketing through the handful of front-runners and into the lead on lap 11. Auringer pulled away from the pack to score the exciting win. Thomas and Hogan edged past Cordes at the line to finish second and third, respectively.

Justin Temeyer took the lead at the drop of the green in the 15-lap I.M.C.A. stock car feature. As Temeyer led, Brett Mather, Brian Irvine and Curtis Roster waged a three car war for the runner-up position.

Mather gave way to Irvine and Roster with only four laps remaining and the pair then went to work on Temeyer. The three drivers remained nose to tail over the final laps, but Temeyer held on to score the win, his first of the year. Irvine held off Roster at the line for second.

Chad Koch took the lead on the third lap of the I.M.C.A. hobby stock 15-lapper. He passed pole sitter Rod Grother for the point and built a sizeable lead while Chris Luloff worked on Grother for second.

Luloff made his way past Grother on lap 11 and then attempted to cut into Koch's straightaway lead. Luloff gained ground on the race leader and pulled onto his rear bumper in the waning moments, but Koch held on for the win, his first of the year. Grother ran third.

Jeremy Schaufenbuel led the pack for much of the I.M.C.A. sportmod main event. He paced the field with Joel Cox and Kyle Bentley in pursuit. Bentley worked his way into second just prior to a lap seven caution.

When racing resumed, Bentley chased Schaufenbuel until lap nine when he made a slingshot move for the lead exiting turn four. Bentley held on to score the win ahead of Kurt Hogan and Jim Buhlman.

Jena Barthelmes made her way around Randy Van De Vegt on the third lap of the I.M.C.A. sport compact feature and coasted to victory lane for her second win of the season. Van De Vegt and Gary Peiffer completed the top three.

Mike McDonald and George Lewis held the early lead in an entertaining cruiser feature. The duo held the top spot throughout the event while receiving heavy pressure from the No. 07 of Jacob Keiser and Harley Schmuecker, along with the No. 23 of Chad Albert and Adam Happel.

A bold move by the Albert/Happel tandem briefly allowed them to lead until a fracas ensued exiting the final turn on the checkered flag lap. Contact from Keiser and Schmuecker sent both cars into a spin, allowing McDonald and Lewis to sneak by for the win.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 1. 85 Johnathan Thimmesch, Aurora; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo; 4. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 5. 6E Don Erger, Brandon; 6. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; DNS 1RM Jeff Hogan, Vinton.
Second heat - 1. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 2. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 5. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 6. 7S Robert Schmuecker, Vinton; 7. 54 Jeff Sampson, Evansdale.
Third heat - 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 3 Dan Kohls, Waterloo; 4. W12 Don Wharton, Central City; 5. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 6. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha.
Feature - 1. Auringer; 2. Thomas; 3. S. Hogan; 4. Cordes; 5. Luloff; 6. Kohls; 7. Pate; 8. Krall; 9. Glass; 10. Jensen; 11. Thimmesch; 12. Fisher; 13. Trefz; 14. Schmuecker; 15. Sampson; 16. Erger; 17. Flannagan; 18. Wharton; 19. Olson (DNS); DNS J. Hogan.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 09M Brett Mather, Lamont; 2. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 3. 21 Jason DeShaw, Hopkinton; 4. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 5. 3T Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 6. 75 Ron Tharp; 7. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo.
Second heat - 1. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 2. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 3. 77M Jeff Mueller, New London; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 5. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 6. 71 Dan Krug, La Porte City.
Feature - 1. Temeyer; 2. Irvine; 3. Roster; 4. Mather; 5. Dulin; 6. Rose; 7. DeShaw; 8. Chesmore; 9. Tharp; 10. Shepherd; 11. Quail; 12. Mueller; 13. Krug (DNS).

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 2. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 5 Chad Koch, Marshalltown; 4. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 5. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 6. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 7. 8 Billy Koepke, Garrison; 8. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; DNS 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo.
Second heat - 1. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. 67 Justin Stander, Vinton; 3. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 5. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 6. 115 Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; 7. 11 Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 8. 76N Adam Streeter, Walker.
Feature - 1. Koch; 2. Luloff; 3. Grother; 4. Pippert; 5. Stander; 6. Wilson; 7. Forbes; 8. Ballard; 9. Quail; 10. Hilmer; 11. A. Sweerin; 12. Irvine; 13. Damme; 14. Koepke; 15. Streeter; 16. N. Sweerin; DNS Lichty.

I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD
First heat - 1. 34 Jeremy Schaufenbuel, New Hampton; 2. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 3. 8 Brad Iverson, Grinnell; 4. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton; 5. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 6. 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton; 7. 7T Jim Tompkins, Newhall; 8. 2 Rob Coleman, Urbana.
Second heat - 1. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank; 2. MR09 Kurt Hogan, Vinton; 3. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 4. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana; 5. 49 Justin Hempstead, Manchester; 6. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 7. 52E Ryan Englekes, Dike; 8. 7R Michael Roster, Vinton.
Third heat - 1. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 2. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 3. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 4. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 5. 22 Dan Wiley, Vinton; 6. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 7. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax.
Feature - 1. Bentley; 2. Hogan; 3. Buhlman; 4. T. Olson; 5. Dvorak; 6. Higdon; 7. Smith; 8. Wiley; 9. Englekes; 10. Krall; 11. Van Wechel; 12. Ebaugh; 13. K. Olson; 14. Berstler; 15. Kuhn; 16. Roster; 17. Cox; 18. Schaufenbuel; 19. Tompkins; 20. Hempstead; 21. McDonald; 22. Iverson; 23. Coleman (DNS).

I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT
Heat - 1. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 2. 6 Randy Van De Vegt, Manchester; 3. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 4. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 5. 11 Brian Bries, Norway; 6. 25 Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 7. 166 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo; 8. 03 Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 9. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison.
Feature - 1. Barthelmes; 2. Van De Vegt; 3. Peiffer; 4. Chipp; 5. Bries; 6. Laughridge; 7. Heim; 8. Nabholz; 9. Mike Mitchell; 10. Goodenbaur.

CRUISER
Heat - 1. 23 Chad Albert/Adam Happel, Cedar Rapids/Mt. Auburn; 2. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schmuecker, Marengo; 3. 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 4. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 5. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 6. 36DD Gary Peiffer/Adam Finger, Troy Mills; 7. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids.
Feature - 1. McDonald/Lewis; 2. Mazur/Miller; 3. Albert/Happel; 4. McDonald/Lewis; 5. Kruse/Kimm; 6. Peiffer/Finger; 7. Steggall/Lewis.