TBJ Dominates In Inaugural Summer Challenge Series Event at Independence

For the second time in fourteen years the Independence Motor Speedway served as the host for the inaugural race of a new regional touring series for the IMCA Modifieds. In 2010 it was a yet to be well known Josh Foster who surprised a stacked field of fifty-nine drivers to take the first event of the Hawkeye Dirt Tour on a May evening in Independence. Fourteen years later, with Foster scoring his first career feature victory in an IMCA Late Model at 34 Raceway this past Saturday night, we were again in the stands at Indee on Monday for another "first" as the Farley's Wholesale Tire & Quick Lube IMCA Modified Summer Challenge presented by Mesa Muffler debuted with another talent laden field of forty-five drivers on hand looking for the $2,000 top prize and a leg up on the competition in the six event schedule that will later go to Spencer, Stuart, Marshalltown, Interstate and Park Jefferson.

Passing points from the five qualifying heat races would set the field for the thirty lap headliner and let's just say that tonight's winner earned his paycheck with a thrilling performance in the fourth qualifier. Starting seventh and with studs such as NASCAR Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, IMCA Modified National Champion Jeff Larson and IMCA Stock Car king Dallon Murty ahead of him in the first two rows, Tom Berry Jr. steadily picked his way toward the front using some aggressive, but clean slide jobs until he was behind the leader Murty in the final three laps.

We were all anticipating another slide job as he had perfectly executed on both Cole Czarneski and Larson, but instead Berry did not come all the way up to the top in his first attempt at the lead. Murty now knew that he was there and started to protect the lower line entering turns one and three only to have Berry stay up top and let him wonder where he might be coming from next. After the white flag waved the challenger again showed his nose to the leader in turns one and two and he was able to keep it there racing down the back stretch. Murty would then drive deep into turn three and when he drifted to the top in four, his momentum was too much for the slim cushion to hold him and Berry slipped by him on the bottom to take the win.

Tom Berry Jr. at speed - Barry Johnson photo

A former IMCA Modified National Champion himself, Berry would then start from the pole of the thirty lap feature and while he would lead each and every one of those laps, there would be plenty of action behind him to satisfy this race fan. Ethan Braaksma would try to maintain the pace early until he was overtaken by the 2023 Super Nationals champion Tim Ward who had started third. Cautions on laps four and twenty-two for drivers slipping off the top of the track would group the field and on that second restart a two car crash involving Trevor Fitz and Brennen Chipp would see both drivers have their evening come to an early end.

Barry Johnson photo

On the final restart Joel Rust would make a nifty move to get to second briefly after starting from seventh, only to have Braaksma get back to where he had started from earlier. As the checkers waved over Berry with Braaksma not far behind, Rust would slip the right rear off the top of turn four just enough to allow Ward to get back to third. Spencer Diercks, who had started eleventh would fill out the top five while the hard charger of the race would be Cody Laney who wheeled Timmy Current's #12T from twenty-first to to eighth. 

The Modified feature was the third of five main events to be contested on the night and the Sport Compacts would start off the list with a sixteen lap affair that was peppered with some good ol' fashioned door banging to determine the winner. The race would also feature five lead changes across four different drivers with just one caution flag when the field stacked up exiting turn four on the second circuit leaving behind a field of debris as a bumper cover was stripped off of one of the cars.

Jake Anderson had led the first lap and just nipped Christopher Mannion at the line before that caution waved and once back to action it would be Chris Pittman who would take the point. Oliver Monson had started fifth, but he was there to swipe the lead on lap four only to have the seventh starting Stephen Randall sweep by him two laps later.

Monson was not about to go away though as he would stalk Randall riding the top line until the wave of the green indicating just two laps remaining. Racing through turns three and four coming to the white flag, Monson would dive low and when he slid up the track the side-by-side contact would allow him to take the lead with one to go. At that point Randall felt that he could also play it in that manner so as they went into three and four for the final time, Stephen used the exact same tactic to regain the lead and take the win much to the delight of the crowd. Jaice Tuttle, who had started from twelfth was right there in third and ready to pounce if the lead duo roughed each other up too much, although a check of the results this morning list him as a DNF(?). Pittman and Mannion were next in line.

Oliver Monson (5) and Stephen Randall (47) battle it out - Barry Johnson photo

The Stock Cars were up next and they would go twenty laps of non-stop racing with pole-sitter Tom Schmitt leading the way. Cayden Carter in Michael Petersen's #1x started sixth and made his way up to second before gradually reeling in the leader. The final five laps would have Carter glued to the rear bumper of Schmitt waiting for a mistake from the veteran hometown racer and, with two laps to go, Carter was able to pull even with Schmitt in turns one and two.

The momentum off the top side was just too good though and there would be no stopping Schmitt from taking the victory ahead of Carter. Cole Mather held off an eighth starting Rowdee Van Genderen to finish third while Vern Jackson advanced from twelfth to fifth at the checkers.

Tom Schmitt on his way to victory - Barry Johnson photo

Following the Modified feature, the IMCA Northern Sport Mods would also knock off twenty laps of racing with no cautions with another pole-sitter warding off a strong challenge to take the win. With two-time All Iowa Points Champion Brayton Carter going from the pole, one would have figured this one to be a race for second, but young Taylor Kuehl had something else in mind as she quickly moved from fifth to second and then reeled in the leader.

Kuehl's line through the middle was definitely faster than Carter's high line through turns three and four, but she would give up any ground that she had gained as they raced those same line's through turns one and two. Taylor would draw even with the leader just shy of the mid-race point, but in the closing laps "Speedy Bray" would start to pull away as he captured his 100th career IMCA sanctioned Sport Mod victory. The personable young driver from Oskaloosa has tallied up those wins in a short period of time in both sanctioned and unsanctioned events as this was already his sixth of this season after winning thirty-one times in 2023, fifteen times in 2022, eighteen times in 2021 and twenty-three times in 2020. Kuehl would have to settle for second, Cole Suckow made an impressive run from tenth to third, Shane Paris finished fourth while Jarrett Franzen took fifth.

Taylor Kuehl (2) puts the pressure on Brayton Carter (01) - Barry Johnson photo

The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening for eighteen laps with Calvin Dhondt grabbing the lead at the drop of the green from his outside front row starting position. My eyes were on the twelfth starting Nathan Ballard who has been on a tear this year already with eight feature wins on the season coming at Memphis, Bloomfield, Marshalltown, Davenport and Vinton. The high line was definitely the place to be and passing would take precision as Ballard steadily made his way to the front.

Following a caution on lap nine he would restart from the fifth spot and when two drivers ahead of him made contact in turn two, Ballard slipped to the inside of them at the perfect moment in order to get to second. The caution would wave again a lap later and the leader would now have Ballard knocking on the back door trying to cause a mistake.

The challenger would slip his nose just under the left rear of Dhondt on several occasions and even appeared to have a run on him coming to the white flag before Jim Ball's spin created another caution. The green, white, checkers finish would give Ballard one last opportunity to perhaps force the issue, but he played it clean and Dhondt made no mistakes in taking the victory. Tyler Ball's third place run would be wiped out by a disqualification so that would make the rest of the top five look like this; Bradly Graham, Shawn Kuennen and Jacob Floyd.

I was surprised to look at my phone and see that it was 10:45 just after the final checkers flew as it did not seem to be that long of an evening. Perhaps it was made more enjoyable by sitting with Ed Reichert, Gary Lee and Dustin Jarrett, or it could be the fact that I had just watched five feature races with 104 laps of action slowed by only seven cautions compared to Friday night where I watched Super Late Models alone cause ten cautions in the first nineteen laps of their feature.

As always it was an enjoyable trip to Independence as I had the opportunity to catch up with my good friend Kevin Kemp and to get a quick word in with two of my favorite promoters Dana Benning and Mike Van Genderen. I know for sure that I will be back up to Indee on Tuesday, July 16th, for the return of the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders and there are some other events on their 2024 schedule that may coax me back again as well. I won't be able to attend, but don't forget that Independence will host the SLMR Late Models this coming Saturday night May 11th.

I will be checking the weather on Wednesday for a possible trip to Oskaloosa before a Mother's Day weekend full of events will keep me away from the tracks. Here's hoping that we see you again soon here on the Back Stretch!