Cordes collects bonus money on championship night at Benton County Speedway
by Ryan Clark

VINTON, Iowa (Sept. 2) - Track champions were decided in six divisions as season championship racing was held at Benton County Speedway.

In the I.M.C.A. modified division, the top four drivers in points who were in attendance elected to start the feature from the rear hoping to earn a double payday with a feature win. Troy Cordes, Brian Krall, Patrick Flannagan and points leader J.D. Auringer all tried their chances from the back of the pack in the 25-lap feature event.

At the drop of the green flag, outside pole-sitter Todd Jensen assumed command. He quickly put distance on the field and built a straightaway lead by the time the first caution flag waved on lap eight. Prior to the yellow, Cordes had worked his way through traffic and settled into third place for the restart.

When racing resumed, Cordes made his way around Shawn Fisher and set his sights on the leader. Cordes nosed under Jensen on lap 15 and drove away from the field to score the impressive win. Jensen and Flannagan rounded out the top three. Auringer, who already had the track title locked up entering the night, enjoyed a top-10 finish driving a borrowed car.

Curtis Roster held the early advantage in the I.M.C.A. stock car feature. From his pole position start, Roster took the quick lead and was immediately pursued by Kevin Rose. Running nose to tail throughout much of the event, contact from Rose with only five laps remaining sent the leaders sideways in front of the pack.

Although both were able to collect their machines, Ron Tharp was able to sneak by for the lead. He paced the field for the final five laps to score the win, his first-ever in the division. Quail and Rose ran second and third. By virtue of his fourth place finish, Roster earned track championship honors by a single point ahead of Brian Irvine.

Heading into the night, I.M.C.A. hobby stock driver Scotty Pippert sat second in the division standings, nine markers behind points leader Brad Forbes. By the time the 15-lap main event saw checkers, a pair of flat tires created a dramatic swing at the top of the standings.

At the start of the event, Pippert took control from his outside front row start as Forbes settled into second. Pippert continued to pace the field as Nathan Ballard, Rod Grother and Justin Stander made a charge to the front.

With six laps in the books, Stander entered a three-wide battle with Grother and Forbes down the front straightaway. Running the bottom groove, Stander pushed up into Grother who, in turn, made contact with Forbes. The contact forced Forbes into the wall and resulted in two flat tires.

Forbes continued to run in the top seven as the race stayed green, however a spin by Stander on lap 11 forced Forbes to the pit area when the race went to caution.

When racing resumed, Pippert held off the challenges of Ballard to win the feature and clinch the track championship by four points over Forbes.

In the I.M.C.A. sportmod division, Tony Olson entered the night with an 11 point cushion in the standings over defending national champion Danny Dvorak. His runner-up finish to Dvorak in the feature event clinched Olson the title by 10 points in the final standings.

Dvorak held off late pressure from Olson to come away with the victory. Kyle Olson, who elected to start the 20-lapper from the rear, made an impressive run through the field to finish third.

Jena Barthelmes added more cushion to her I.M.C.A. sport compact national championship run as she took home the championship night feature and track points title. Barthelmes assumed command on the third lap of the 15-lapper when leader Doug Laughridge suffered a flat tire. She led the remainder of the event to take the win.

The cruiser teams of Jake Keiser/Harley Schumacher and Mike McDonald/George Lewis entered the final night tied atop the division standings. The two cars engaged in an exciting bumper-to-bumper battle throughout much of the winner-take-all contest.

After running second for the first nine laps of the event, Keiser and Schumacher made a pass for the lead as the field took the white flag. They led the final circuit to edge McDonald and Lewis for the win and the track championship by a single point.

RESULTS
I.M.C.A. MODIFIED
Feature - 1. 71 Troy Cordes, Raymond; 2. 7 Todd Jensen, Waterloo; 3. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 4. 14H Tom Hanson, Vinton; 5. 25 Shawn Fisher, Garrison; 6. 12T Ty Glass, Cedar Rapids; 7. 17 Brian Krall, Readlyn; 8. 8 Tony Snyder, Sumner; 9. 07 Scott Boyea, Green Bay, Wis.; 10. 00 J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 11. 3X John Schaefer, La Porte City; 12. 111 Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 13. 14 Randy Trefz, Vinton; 14. W12 Don Wharton, Central City; 15. 069 Mike Krall, Waterloo.

I.M.C.A. STOCK CAR
Feature - 1. 75 Ron Tharp, Vinton; 2. 4Q Richard Quail, Waterloo; 3. 22 Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 4. 8 Curtis Roster, Vinton; 5. 21 Jason Deshaw, Hopkinton; 6. 6 Rick Mahlberg, Denmark, Wis.; 7. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 8. 31S Paul Shepherd, Marengo; 9. 99LM Mike Galli, Urbana.

I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCK
Feature - 1. 47 Scotty Pippert, Elberon; 2. 29 Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 3. 77 Rod Grother, Cedar Rapids; 4. 62G Adam Gebel, Dysart; 5. 166 Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 6. 64JR Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 7. 73 Quinton Miller, Independence; 8. 11 Al Sweerin, Waterloo; 9. 2 Robert Quail, Waterloo; 10. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 11. 1S Greg Sweerin, Evansdale; 12. 67 Justin Stander, Vinton; 13. 115 Nathan Sweerin, Waterloo; 14. 09 Brad Forbes, Waterloo; 15. 4 Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 16. 8M Ed Murray, Waterloo; 17. 20B Matt Burmeister, Waterloo.

I.M.C.A. SPORTMOD
Feature - 1. 45 Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 2. T23 Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 3. K3 Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 1L Max Leonard, Ladora; 5. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 6. 99 Erick Knutsen, Center Point; 7. 49 Justin Hempstead, Manchester; 8. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 9. 18 Doug Smith, Center Point; 10. 45B Jeremy Berstler, Fairfax; 11. 111 Jason Pate, Hiawatha; 12. 14 Shane Ebaugh, Evansdale; 13. 34 Mike Mitchell, Fairfax; 14. 2C Ryan Coleman, Urbana; 15. 3 James Kuhn, Urbana; 16. 23 Dan Higdon, Vinton.

I.M.C.A. SPORT COMPACT
Feature - 1. 48J Jena Barthelmes, Marion; 2. 3X Nate Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 3. 37 Shane Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 4. 88 Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 5. 74 Jeremy Heim, Marion; 6. 25 Doug Laughridge, Garrison; 7. 3 Mike Mitchell, Fairfax; 8. 48 Bryce Bailey, Cedar Rapids; 9. 11 Brian Bries, Norway; 10. 03 Neil Nabholz, Waterloo; 11. 36DD Gary Peiffer, Troy Mills; 12. 07 Joe Goodenbaur, Garrison; 13. 25M Mandy Fisher, Garrison; 14. 1 Brad Chandler, Cedar Rapids.

CRUISER
Feature - 1. 07 Jacob Keiser/Harley Schumacher, Marengo; 2. M-00 Mike McDonald/George Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 3. 11 Greg Long/John Bratton; 4. 81 Jesse Belez/Steven Keiser, Marengo; 5. 21 Shane Hanson/Russell Klein; 6. 9-11 Doug Steggall/Mitch Lewis, Cedar Rapids; 7. 95 Shane Mazur/Rob Miller, Vinton; 8. 29M Aaron Reeves/Craig Reeves; 9. 28 Micky Mitchell/Dave Mitchell; 10. 078 Carl Purvis/Troy Maldrem; 11. 19 Ben Beer/Ryan Coleman, Urbana; 12. 6H Dustin Choplick/Jamie Choplick, Atkins; 13. 85 Myron Widmer/Steve Thompson; 14. 5W Roy Walters/Kevin Walters; 15. 37 John Kruse/Michael Kimm, Cedar Rapids.