The Independence Motor Speedway was the scene Thursday night for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour and the World of Outlaws Late Models. Radar showed a threat of rain moving from the northwest, but it didn't scare away the fans. The stands were packed! Thirty-one IMCA Modifieds and 25 WoO Late Models competed. The Late Model winner came away with a perfect night, and over $10,000 to pocket. The HDT winner had to work for his win, with the help of a late yellow thrown in the mix.
Four heat races and two B mains narrowed the starting field to 24 for the Hawkeye Dirt Tour 30-lap feature. Two HDT provisionals were tagged on the tail. Those were Jacob Murray and Tim Ward.
Last year's HDT Champion Ronn Lauritzen was looking strong, leading the pack of cars convincingly through the halfway mark of the 30-lap event. There was a battle brewing for second place as Vern Jackson, Adam Johnson and Troy Cordes duked it out, and Jeff Waterman close at hand. A yellow flew at lap twenty-two when Jacob Murray came to a halt in turn one....leaving the smell of rear end grease lingering in the air. When the race got back underway, it was Lauritzen still at the helm and Troy Cordes had made it to the runner up spot. Cordes, who had started back in the sixth row, had been picking off cars left and right. It was but a few laps after the restart when Cordes completed his march to the front, passing Lauritzen for the lead. Another yellow would fly with two laps remaining, when Nick Roberts slid off of turn four. This was no problem for Cordes, as he drove off on the restart and took the double checkers. Lauritzen finished as the runner up, Vern Jackson was third, fourth went to Jeff Waterman, and Adam Johnson rounded out the top five. Current point leader of the series, Mike VanGenderen came from ninth starting spot, to finish sixth, seventh was Scott Hogan, Jesse Sobbing came from a B main to finish eighth, Jeremy Mills was ninth and Cayden Carter was tenth. The next scheduled HDT race is on August 7, at Britt's Hancock County Speedway's Night of a 1,000 Stars.
There were 25 of the World of Outlaws Late Models in town. All eleven of the drivers who had run all 22 races so far this season, were in the pits. Those drivers represented the states of Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas, Georgia, Kansas and Illinois. They ran time trials which determined their starting spot in the three heats. A B main was run with four cars tagging the field. Only one car did not make the A main, that being the #2 of Rory Metcalf. We are thinking that the WoO rules state that only 24 cars start their A mains.
The starting top six drivers had their spot determined when youngsters assigned to them, drew a ball from the pot. Frank Heckenast, Jr., who is leading rookie points in the series, had his young fan draw the #1.....even though confessing their favorite was Billy Moyer, Jr.....who was still waiting for his draw. Point leader Darrell Lanigan, got the #2 to start along side Heckenast on the front row for the 50-lap main event.
Lanigan immediately shot to the lead when the green dropped. Tussling behind him were Heckenast and Tim "T-Mac" McCreadie for the second position. The only yellow of the race flew at lap fifteen, Lanigan still easily in command, McCreadie had taken over second from Heckenast and Billy Moyer, Jr. was riding in fourth. Lanigan maneuvered through lap traffic smoothly, not missing a beat as he passed the lap cars. Lanigan took the win by a comfortable margin, for the third year in a row at Independence. Heckenast finished as the runner up, Rick Eckert passed McCreadie as they finished third and fourth in that order. Billy Moyer, Jr. rounded out the top five. Further back in the field, some cars had made some good movement toward the front. Jimmy Mars started twelfth and finished sixth, Tim Fuller came from thirteenth to finish seventh, Shane Clanton was eighth, and making the hard charge was Eric Wells. Wells started ninteenth and finished ninth. Morgan Bagley was tenth and Iowa's popular Brian Birkhofer was eleventh.
Somehow the big blob on radar missed Independence last night---drifting off to the south and then dissipating. Much to the relief of the Speedway and all the drivers and fans in attendance! We enjoyed our evening at Indee last night. It's great to see some of the drivers from the "big leagues" that seldom are in our area, and we always enjoy the IMCA Modifieds and the Hawkeye Dirt Tour series! The show was run through in a timely, professional manner and we were heading for home shortly after 10 p.m......after the parking lot cleared!
Thanks for reading and happy racing!
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