Hogan victorious in I.M.C.A. modifieds in Memorial Day special at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (May 28) - An extra night of points racing in all six divisions highlighted a second straight day of racing at Benton County Speedway. Following the regular weekly racing program on Sunday night, fans were provided with another night of exciting wheel-to-wheel action on Monday night to close out the Memorial Day weekend.

In the I.M.C.A. modified division, Troy Cordes was looking to make it two wins in two days. From his inside second row starting position, Cordes quickly went to the front of the pack and was followed by Scott Hogan who started right behind him.

Cordes worked the high side of the speedway into the lead while Hogan made his way through traffic running the bottom. Once out front, Cordes moved to the bottom groove as Hogan followed. J.D. Auringer, Shawn Fisher and Jerry Luloff entered the mix midway through the 20-lapper.

As Cordes paced the field, his trio of followers jockeyed for position behind him. With laps winding down, Cordes, Hogan and Auringer pulled away from the field and engaged in an exciting three-car battle at the front of the pack. Hogan went to work on the high side of the speedway, creating a wheel-to-wheel frenzy among the top three drivers.

With five laps to go, Hogan pulled to the high side of Cordes and the two ran side-by-side for the lead. One lap later, Auringer, running the bottom groove, briefly pulled alongside Hogan, just a car-length behind Cordes. He was unable to hold the position as Hogan mastered the high side of the speedway.

As the waving green was displayed Hogan worked around Cordes and led the final two circuits on his way to the victory. Cordes held off Auringer to finish second.

Just like the night before, Nathan Ballard took the early lead in the I.M.C.A. hobby stock feature. Ballard paced the field for the first lap until Scott Pippert pulled under the race leader and made his way to the front one lap later.

Once out front, Pippert slid to the high groove and attempted to put some distance on the field, however Ballard shot to the inside as the leaders raced door-to-door over the next few laps.

As the leaders battled, Curt Hilmer cut into their advantage running the low side of the speedway. He snuck under Pippert and Ballard to make it a three-wide fight for the lead at the race's midway point. Hilmer edged ahead and led two laps until Pippert charged back into the lead with only a handful of laps remaining.

Pippert led the remainder of the event to take the victory, his first of the season. A flat tire forced Hilmer to the pits with only three laps remaining, allowing Ballard to come home second.

Brian Irvine made his second consecutive trip to the winner's circle in the I.M.C.A. stock car division. From his outside front row start, Irvine assumed the early lead as Curtis Roster settled into the second position.

Slowed twice for caution, Roster restarted the event on Irvine's rear bumper, but was not able to overtake the leader as Irvine drove to the win. Justin Temeyer worked through traffic from a sixth row start to take third.

Tony Olson scored the win in the I.M.C.A. sportmod main event. From his third row start, Olson worked around the high side of pole-sitter Doug Smith on the fifth lap. Olson held off Smith's persistent challenges en route to the win. Dan Higdon chased the leaders to the checkers for third.

Gary Peiffer took home the hardware in the I.M.C.A. sport compact feature. He took the lead from Doug Laughridge as laps wound down to score his second straight victory. Laughridge and Brennen Chipp completed the top three.

Making up from their misfortune the night before, the team of Jacob Keiser and Harley Schumacher drove to victory in the cruiser feature. The pair passed Shane Mazur and Rob Miller just past the race's midway point to take the win.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
First heat - 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 2. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 3. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 4. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 5. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 6. 6E Don Erger, Brandon.
Second heat - 1. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 2. 18 Jerry Luloff, Independence; 3. 7SS Brandon Savage, Keokuk; 4. 1RM Jeff Hogan, Vinton; 5. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 6. W12 Don Wharton, Central City.
Third heat - 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 2. 17 Brian Krall, Waterloo; 3. 45 Mitch Higdon, Fort Madison; 4. 35 Rob Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 7S Robbie Schmuecker, Vinton; 6. 54 Jeff Sampson, Evansdale; 7. 007 Dan Arp, Traer.
Feature - 1. S. Hogan; 2. Cordes; 3. Auringer; 4. Krall; 5. Luloff; 6. Erger; 7. Jensen; 8. Savage; 9. Flannagan; 10. Higdon; 11. Pate; 12. J. Hogan; 13. Olson; 14. Schmuecker; 15. Fisher; 16. Wharton; 17. Sampson; 18. Trefz; 19. Arp (DNS).

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
First heat - 1. 8R Sean Johnson, Independence; 2. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 3. 26 Brian Irvine, Oelwein; 4. 21 Jason DeShaw, Hopkinton; 5. 75 Ron Tharp, Vinton; 6. 56T Justin Temeyer, Independence; 7. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo.
Second heat - 1. 99D Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 3. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 4. 15 Norman Chesmore, Quasqueton; 5. 3T Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids; 6. 71 Dan Krug, La Porte City; 7. 17 Jason Niedert, Fairbank.
Feature - 1. Irvine; 2. Roster; 3. Temeyer; 4. Chesmore; 5. Shepherd; 6. Johnson; 7. Dulin; 8. Rose; 9. DeShaw; 10. Tharp; 11. Murty; 12. Niedert; 13. Krug (DNS); 14. Quail (DNS).

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
First heat - 1. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 2. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 3. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 4. 11 Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 5. 88S Joe Sprague, Independence; 6. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 7. 115 Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; 8. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale.
Second heat - 1. 78 Matt Brown, Dysart; 2. 35 Josh Irvine, Oelwein; 3. 18 Chris Luloff, Independence; 4. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 5. 47 Scott Pippert, Elberon; 6. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 7. 8 Billy Koepke, Garrison; 8. 5N Shane Norton, Monticello.
Feature - 1. Pippert; 2. Ballard; 3. Irvine; 4. A. Sweerin; 5. Brown; 6. G. Sweerin; 7. Grother; 8. Forbes; 9. Sprague; 10. Koepke; 11. N. Sweerin; 12. Hilmer; 13. Wilson; 14. Luloff; 15. Norton; 16. Quail.

I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD
First heat - 1. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 2. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 3. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 4. 86 Rod McDonald, Manchester; 5. 52E Ryan Englekes, Dike; 6. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 7. 8 Brad Iverson, Grinnell.
Second heat - 1. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 3. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana; 4. 00C John Van Wechel, Vinton; 5. 5 Bob Ebaugh, Raymond; 6. 2 Rob Coleman, Urbana; 7. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax.
Third heat - 1. 34 Jeremy Schaufenbuel, New Hampton; 2. 26 Joel Cox, Waterloo; 3. 17 Dawn Krall, Waterloo; 4. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton; 5. 7T Jim Tompkins, Newhall; 6. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 7. 7R Michael Roster, Vinton; 8. 35 Kyle Bentley, Fairbank.
Feature - 1. T. Olson; 2. Smith; 3. Higdon; 4. K. Olson; 5. Bentley; 6. Trefz; 7. Buhlman; 8. B. Ebaugh; 9. Dvorak; 10. Krall; 11. McDonald; 12. Englekes; 13. Cox; 14. Kuhn; 15. Roster; 16. Berstler; 17. Doyle; 18. Van Wechel; 19. Schaufenbuel; 20. Tompkins; 21. Iverson; 22. Coleman (DNS).

I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT
Heat - 1. 166 Brennen Chipp, Waterloo; 2. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 3. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 4. 25 Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 5. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 6. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison; 7. 03 Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 8. 3 Mike Mitchell, Fairfax; 9. 17 Scott Welsh, Cedar Rapids.
Feature - 1. Peiffer; 2. Laughridge; 3. Chipp; 4. Mitchell; 5. Welsh; 6. Heim; 7. Nabholz; 8. Goodenbaur; 9. Barthelmes.

CRUISER
Heat - 1. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schumacher, Marengo; 2. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 3. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 4. 81 Jesse Belez/Steven Keiser, Marengo; 5. 505 Josh Monternach/Tommy Norton, Monticello; 6. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids; 7. 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids.
Feature - 1. Keiser/Schumacher; 2. Mazur/Miller; 3. Belez/Keiser; 4. Kruse/Kimm; 5. McDonald/Lewis; 6. Monternach/Norton (DNS); 7. Steggall/Lewis (DNS).