The birthplace of the IMCA Modified, the Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa, celebrated the 43rd Anniversary of the division on Memorial Day Monday night, and they did it in style putting up a $4,343 top prize for the Mods and a healthy $2,000-to-win for the IMCA Northern Sport Mods. The result was a two division program boasting a total of 78 cars and drivers from all around racing on "the Bullring" that was buffeted throughout the night by a south wind often exceeding thirty miles per hour.
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| Sport Mod heat race action with Sam Wieben leading the way |
Two years ago if Tom Berry Jr. was in the field, you were pretty much racing for second. And now for the second time this season I watched Berry returned to that form as he would completely dominate the 43-lap finale for the Modifieds. Drawing the pole position Berry was on kill mode from the drop of the green driving away from fellow front row starter Richie Gustin and having more than a straightaway advantage before encountering lapped traffic. And it didn't stop there as there were at least seven lapped cars between the leader and his nearest challenger before the first caution of the race flew on lap twenty-six when Ryan Maitland spun in turn two.
On the restart Ethan Dotson would take over the second spot and while he was able to keep Berry in sight over the next five laps, he was not able to mount a challenge. Cautions on laps thirty-one and thirty-two gave us restarts that shuffled the field behind him, but each time Berry drove away from the pack and with one final stoppage with five laps remaining Dotson did his best to mount a charge.
That would not happen though as again Berry pulled away to put the icing on the Anniversary cake with an absolutely dominant performance over a stellar field. The Californian Dotson would chase in the Medford, Oregon native in second, Gustin would hold on for third, Joel Rust moved from twelfth to fourth and Cody Laney would pass Jake McBirnie on the final restart to complete the top five. A tip of the hat as well to provisional starter Troy Cordes who came from the thirteenth row to finish seventh.
There was plenty of action up front in the twenty-five lap Sport Mod feature with division rookie Braden Richards leading the opening lap. The young lady from Arizona Taylor Kuehl would power to the point on lap two before second starting Sam Wieben sailed around the outside to take the lead on lap four. The first caution of the race would fly on lap six for Brandon Tharp who had driven off the top of turn one and on the restart the battle behind Wieben would heat up involving Kuehl, Tony Olson, Austin Schrage and Logan Anderson.
The pack was hot on the heels of Wieben until the leader quickly disposed of a couple of lapped cars with six circuits remaining and the driver from nearby Dysart appeared to now have this one well in hand. Caution for a Kaylin Lopez spin turn one though with four laps to go would reset the field and on the restart Anderson would throw a big slider on the leader entering turn one. Wieben calmly crossed him over to maintain the lead down the back stretch and Kuehl would move to second a lap later just before disaster struck for Anderson. While trying to ride the cushion back to the front with two laps remaining, the defending All Iowa Points champion slipped off the top of turn three returning to the track at the back of the field and exited to the pit area as the white flag was about to wave.
Kuehl would get a nice run out of the middle groove of turn four to nose ahead with one lap to go only to have Wieben hit his marks perfectly on the final lap to ride that narrow cushion to victory by just a car length. Kuehl continues to impress with her runner-up finish with Tony Olson close behind in third. Schrage was consistent finishing where he started in fourth while Dylan Van Wyk made a big run up to fifth after starting from the outside of row ten.
The gale force winds on a warm Monday evening necessitated a couple of extra track prep sessions, but fans were still on the road for home and a short work week just before 9:30 p.m. It is always great to be entertained by the announcing duo of Ryan Clark and Jerry Van Sickel and Ryan will dazzle you with his statistics that on this night included a rundown of all of the former IMCA Modified National Champions as well as the top ten drivers in career feature wins for both the Modifieds and Sport Mods. All of that information has inspired me to share with you below the list of all of the All Iowa Points Modified champions since we started compiling the points for the division in 1979. Forty-three years of Modified state champions as a matter of fact, and four of these drivers were in action on Monday night.
Year Modified All Iowa Points Champion
2021 Jeff Larson, Freeport IL
2020 Tom Berry Jr., Des Moines
2019 Joel Rust, Grundy Center
2018 Kelly Shryock, Fertile
2017 Kelly Shryock, Fertile
2016 Chris Ableson, Sioux City
2015 Chris Ableson, Sioux City
2014 Chris Ableson, Sioux City
2013 Jesse Sobbing, Glenwood
2012 Ryan Dolan, Lisbon
2011 Ryan Dolan, Lisbon
2010 Ryan Dolan, Lisbon
2009 Jeremy Mills, Garner
2008 Todd Shute, Des Moines
2007 Mark Schulte, Delhi
2006 Mark Schulte, Delhi
2005 Jay Noteboom, Hinton
2004 Ron Barker, Dubuque
2003 Ron Barker, Dubuque
2002 Ron Barker, Dubuque
2001 Ron Barker, Dubuque
2000 Ron Barker, Dubuque
1999 Troy Folkerts, Albia
1998 Ron Barker, Dubuque
1997 Ron Barker, Dubuque
1996 Steve Droste, Waterloo
1995 Rich Smith, Davenport
1994 Rick Wages, Moline IL
1993 Rick Wages, Moline IL
1992 Wayne Larson, Ames
1991 Danny Wallace, Des Moines
1990 Bill Davis, Des Moines
1989 Kelly Shryock, Story City
1988 Dave Farren, Des Moines
1987 Greg Kastli, Waterloo
1986 Greg Kastli, Waterloo
1985 Merv Chandler, Cedar Rapids
1984 Merv Chandler, Cedar Rapids
1983 Jack Mitchell, Cedar Falls
1982 Dale Fischlein, Davenport
1981 Mike Schulte, Norway
1980 Jim Schmueker, Vinton
1979 Arlo Becker, Atkins
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