Pippert Remains Unbeaten At Vinton for 2011

You can start him in the tenth row of a fifteen-lap feature and there is still no stopping Scott Pippert in the Hobby Stock division at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton. After dropping out of his heat race with two laps remaining Sunday night the defending track champion found himself lined up on the inside of row ten for the main event with several capable drivers starting well ahead of him.

The race got off to a rocky start with three cautions before the second lap could be scored and this was a big help to Pippert who already found himself in the fifth position as Rodney Grother took the lead on lap three. Pippert continued his march to the front and drove past Grother on lap eight to take the lead and then survived two more cautions to take his fourth win in four nights at the quarter-mile speedway. Vince Bucholz started eighth and finished in the second spot, Nathan Ballard came from ninth to third, Doug Laughridge took fourth and early leader Justin Stander finished fifth.

Scott Pippert (47) works under Nathan Ballard (29) enroute to his fourth straight win at Vinton - Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

Most of the cautions in the Hobby Stock main involved the big implement tire marking the infield at the apex of turns three and four. Both Russell Damme Jr. and Bill Bonnett found the front end of their cars perched atop the tire as they drove it out into turn four during the event and the tire was just punted out onto the track on a couple of other occasions. For my point of view on these track tires that still holds true after this night, start with paragraph seven in this Back Stretch archive.

The Sport Compact feature also had a hard time getting started with a couple of early cautions, but once things got sorted out the battle up front was a good one. Brad Chandler was leading the field with his father Merv Chandler moving in to challenge and the two ran side-by-side for three laps before Merv snared the lead with three laps remaining. The kid tried to fight back and poked a nose under Dad as the white flag waved, but Merv held his line and maintained the advantage to the checkers for the win. Brad was the runner-up with Brett Vanous edging out Bryce Bailey for the third spot and Adam Gates completed the top five.

Merv Chandler (2A) works under his son Brad (2nd) for the lead and eventual victory - Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

The thirty-two-car Sport Mod field was split into two A-Mains tonight and Corey Tharp established the pace early in the first fifteen lapper. Curt Hilmer picked up the point on the fourth circuit with Danny Dvorak following him into second and three laps later Dvorak used the inside line off of turn four to put Hilmer back to second. Hilmer did his best to keep up with the new leader, but there was no stopping Dvorak from picking up another victory at his hometown track. Hilmer was second, one of last week’s winners Kyle Olson finished third, Dave Schulze was fourth and the other winner from last week Dave McCalla was fifth.

Danny Dvorak works lapped traffic late in the first Sport Mod feature - Scott Tjabring, Action Track Photography

As Dvorak was being interviewed in victory lane the ambulance left the facility with its lights on and the siren blaring to answer a local call bringing a halt to the action. With it being 8:30 and with the temperature dropping quickly I decided to call it a night since there was no guessing how long this delay might last. A phone call with Ryan Clark as I neared Cedar Rapids confirmed that they were back to racing after a twenty-five minute delay and, while I regretted missing the remaining three features (the second Sport Mod A, the Stock Cars and the Modifieds), I was thrilled to be home just in time to watch President Obama deliver the groundbreaking news of the evening. It was interesting to listen to the radio media speculate on what the announcement would be before the AP and Fox News broke the story about forty-five minutes before the President’s official announcement.

I love going to Vinton as it could serve as a prototype on how to become “the place to be” on a weekly basis for a small community and its surrounding area. Do they pay a big purse? No. Do they get a good car count? Yes. Do they do a lot of extra stuff as a sideshow? No. They serve good food, cold beer and they put on good racing with a solid crowd fully involved cheering on their favorites, just what every track promoter would like to see at their own facility.

I enjoyed hanging out with scorer and long lost “brother” Kevin Kemp as he checked in the 103 cars and drivers and it was also nice to visit with track manager Dana Benning. Sounds like the three of us will have a high stakes golf game soon. A big thanks to announcer Bucky Doren for his mention of Positively Racing and don’t forget that Bucky’s Hawkeye Dirt Tour for IMCA Modifieds will kickoff its 2011 schedule at Vinton on Tuesday night May 10th. Hope to see you there!