Opening night boosts many at Independence Motor Speedway

April 27--INDEPENDENCE -- On opening night at race tracks across the country, the feeling in the pits always has an overt tone of optimism.

It's a new year, a blank slate and a chance to chase another track championship. And last night at Independence Motor Speedway, it was the start of that effort for Jesup'sRonn Lauritzen, who finished second in season points last year.

Lauritzen dominated the 20-lap IMCA Modified main event to take the win ahead of Vinton'sScott Hogan in second and Joe Doeckal in third.

"It's been a good few nights for me, and a good start to the year here, that's for sure," said Lauritzen, who had five wins at Independence last season. "It means a lot. The only bad part is it means I get to start from the back of the heats and feature from now on.

"It's ok though. I got chased all night, and now I can be the chaser instead of the chasee."

In the IMCA Late Model feature, Joel Callahan used Indee's opening night to give his season an early boost as well.

Callahan is chasing points in the Deery Brothers Summer Series, and like many drivers, uses weekly racing to help find what does and doesn't work. Last night, he and his team found what worked, and it gave him his first win overall in 2014.

"First win of the year, so that's good to get under our belt," Callahan said. "I know we've been pretty good, and we were fortunate to start up front.

"We were good late last year, so we should be back on track now. Every night you learn, and tonight we definitely did that."

While the first night is a joy for drivers, it can be a stressful endeavor for those in charge.

And when Mother Nature adds in a wrinkle or two, pressure on organizers ratchets up even higher. Independence Motor Speedway was dealt that hand two weeks ago, when lightning struck a light pole at the track, blowing out breakers on five other poles.

With no working lights, opening night at the speedway was pushed back a week to last night. And while it certainly was unexpected, repairs were made and races went off without a hitch.

"Like any first race, you get out here and find out what does and doesn't work," said co-promoter Todd Summers of S&B Promotions. "When the lightning struck, it messed with a lot of things, but we got it up and going. The track laid down good, and it's good to be going."

Summers said they had to replace 24 breakers to lights at the track, including the caution lights, scoreboard and concession stand.

The Buchanan County Fair Board was able to put in an insurance claim, saving the board and the track thousands of dollars in repairs. Summers said even though they were able to run last night, more repairs are still ahead.

Despite the initial hiccup to the season, all indications were that it would be another strong year for Independence Motor Speedway, with a full grandstand and 120 cars signed in on a windy, chilly night.

"Our car count has been going up, and the people in the grandstand have been going up, so that's always a good sign," Summers said. "We bring the World of Outlaws (late models), and that's been working. And the Sprint Invaders were rescheduled (due to the lightning strike), so they'll be back, too (on May 30)."

On the track, drivers who love Independence were happy to get the season started again.

Last year's IMCA Modified champion Tyler Droste returned to defend his title, but also will be running the full schedule at Independence in an IMCA Late Model.

The new season brings exciting challenges for the 17-year old, who graduated in January from Waterloo West High School.

"I had a guy who wanted to put me in a late model, and I wasn't going to turn that down," said Droste, who finished fifth in the Modifieds, and 12th in late models. "This is our home track, it's where a lot of our sponsors come because it's close to home, and it's probably one of my favorite tracks.

"We're going to focus on running here weekly, and if we're running good we might hit a couple (Deery Brothers Summer Series) shows."

Fellow late model racer and defending track champion in the class, Tyler Bruening, was back last night as well, finishing second in the IMCA Late Model feature to Callahan.

Bruening, who is running for the championship in the Deery Brothers Summer Series this year as well, isn't sure yet if he'll chase points at Indee. Regardless, he too was excited to get back racing at what he calls his home track, even if they had to wait an extra week.

"Basically tonight (was) about keeping it all in one piece," Bruening said. "With the obstacles we had to overcome tonight in the feature alone, I think we did a great job.

"This place is like a gold mine for racers. It could be bad weather, good weather, some random night -- the drivers just come here. The field that's here, all the guys are really competitive.

"This is where I grew up racing ... I've seen a lot of races here. I enjoy getting around this place."

FEATURE RESULTS

IMCA LATE MODEL

1. 40 Joel Callahan, Dubuque; 2. 16 Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 3. 88 Drew Johnson, Belle Plaine; 4. 73 Greg Kastli, Waterloo; 5. 51 Ryan Dolan, Lisbon; 6. 2P Jon Passick, Waterloo; 7. 2 Rory Metcalf, West Union; 8. 99 Luke Pestka, Robins; 9. 53 Darren Ackerman, Readlyn; 10. 45 Curt Martin, Independence; 11. 31 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 12. 70 Jerry King, Waterloo; 13. 12 Ron Klein, Sherrill; 14. 60 Dean Wagner, Evansdale; 15. 11 Lyle Klein, Sherrill; 16. 4 Leon Thomsen, Waverly; 17. 32 Chris Snyder, Raymond; 18. 5W Scott Welsh, Cedar Rapids; 19. 87 John Emerson, Waterloo; 20. 145 Dale Hackwell Jr., Washburn; 21. 77 Dirk Hamilton, Jesup; DNS 83 Russell Hesse, Waterloo; DNS 21B Joel Brasch, Dunkerton.

IMCA MODIFIED

1. 10K Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 2. 33D Scott Hogan, Vinton; 3. 12D Joe Docekal, Dysart; 4. 71 Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 5. 92 Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 6. 00J J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 7. 64 Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 8. F7 Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 9. 26J Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 10. 19D Darin Duffy, Urbana; 11. 27M Mark Schulte, Delhi; 12. 98 Jason Snyder, Dunkerton; 13. 24R Adam Johnson, Independence; 14. 5 Jason Morehouse, Evansdale; 15. 10 Kaleb Bentley, Fairbank; 16. 57B Dennis Betzer, Central City; 17. 75 Josh Sherbon, Cedar Falls; 18. 93K Jeff Kriz, Waterloo; 19. 01 Ed Thomas, Waterloo.

IMCA STOCK CAR

1. 476X Troy Hovey, Decorah; 2. 15 Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 3. 3 Jarod Weepie, Dunkerton; 4. 17 Jason Niedert, Evansdale; 5. JR3 Jason Hocken, Independence; 6. 37C Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 7. 22K Kevin Rose, Waterloo; 8. 15T Tim Helle, Garnavillo; 9. 4 Jerry Miles, Dubuque; 10. 4JR Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 11. 6X Bob Ahrendsen, Cedar Rapids; 12. 87A Aaron Matthias, Fairbank; 13. 67 Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 14. 7C Blake Cole, Nashua; 15. 11 Jesse Brown, Nashua; 16. 11J Jerome Jacoby, Waterloo.

IMCA NORTHERN SPORTMOD

1. 7SR Shawn Ritter, Keystone; 2. 3R Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 3. 40J Jason Doyle, Cedar Rapids; 4. 96 Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 5. CH19 Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 6. 198 Sam Wieben, Dysart; 7. 32Z Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 8. S16 Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 9. J2 Dave Schulze, Keystone; 10. 4 Ryan Maitland, Waterloo; 11. 00 Jim Buhlman, Cedar Falls; 12. 49 Brandon Smith, Quasqueton; 13. 339 Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 14. 22H Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 15. 199 Dave Burrell, Dysart; 16. 24R Kevin Robinson, Dewar; 17. 80 Steve Ansel, Bellevue; 18. 7 Dave Fangman, Marion; 19. 7D Dakoda Sellers, Vinton; 20. 39 Brian Hilbert, Independence; 21. 63 Matt McCahen, Waterloo; 22. 19J Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 23. 57R Ryan King, Montour; 24. 15B Troy Burkhart, Urbana.

B feature (8 transfer) -- 1. Wieben; 2. Ansel; 3. Hilmer; 4. Smith; 5. Hilbert; 6. Maitland; 7. Burrell; 8. Fangman; 9. 36 Jacob Salisbury, Dunkerton; 10. 21J Joe Harken, Waterloo; 11. 15N Ross Neal, Marion; 12. 50H Steve Wimer, Toddville.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

1. 79 Benji Irvine, Stanley; 2. 07 Jacob Keiser, Marengo; 3. 35B Shawn Kuennen, Hazleton; 4. T64 Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. 5 Marcus Wayne, Independence; 6. 45 Justin Wacha, Vinton; 7. 95 Matt Lundry, Oelwein; 8. 14C Leah Wroten, Independence; 9. 7B Jim Ball, Independence; 10. 23 Chad Albert, Cedar Rapids; 11. 87M Milo Matthias, Cocoa, Fla.; 12. 31 David Balik, Fort Atkinson; 13. 20B Matt Burmeister, Dunkerton; 14. 25 Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein; 15. 357 Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 16. 46 Brian Happel, Vinton; DNS 19D James Sheldon, Marion.

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