Always the innovator, Van Genderen also introduced a new qualifying procedure for the Modifieds and Stock Cars on this night where no more than eight cars at a time would take to the track for hot laps that would also serve as two laps of qualifying. The three heat races were then lined up with a six car invert where, for example, quick qualifier Casey Shelliam would start sixth in heat one and he would then need to finish in the top four to "earn" his qualifying spot for the feature. That he did by finishing second, thus putting him on the pole position for the twenty lap main event.
This definitely produced more action in the heat races and I would have to think that drivers found it to be fair as it definitely placed more of their fate in their own hands rather than the draw/redraw process. Sure a few of the fast guys will always lobby to qualify and then start straight up while the rest of the group will act like that is what they want even though you know that secretly they would like to see some type of a handicapping process that starts the faster cars farther back in order to give them a fighting chance. Just goes to show that the minority rules when it comes to setting the qualifying process in the major touring series. Or as the line says "money talks", and I do not see that changing anytime soon despite the fan-unfriendly-follow-the-leader heat races that so often comes from that.
That wasn't the case on this night in Independence though and it made good use of the technological advances that nearly all tracks now have with MyRacePass.
The penultimate event of the night, the Stock Car feature was a good one with Kodey Miles using the high line to take the lead over Shelliam at the drop of the green and when Miles slipped high off turn two the second time around, Shelliam went back to the front just as Adam Streeter's car went for a couple of rollovers in turn one. Miles would retain the lead for the restart and second row starters Tom Schmitt and John Oliver Jr. would take up the chase until lap fourteen when Jack Hockaday spun in turn one just ahead of the trio. All three would take evasive action wile two of the soon to be lapped cars were collected in the mishap.
As the cars were retrieved by the tow trucks, drivers were forced to go above the cushion in turns one and two to give them room, so on the restart the wily veteran Schmitt used that now even higher line to get a big run off of turn two and then drive to the bottom of turns three and four. Kodey was able to ward off each challenge though before the red flag waved with three laps to go when Vern Jackson tumbled off the top of turns one and two.
As they lined up for the restart I was surprised to see that Schmitt had chosen the inside of the first double row and, having only seen him to his inside in turns three and four, Miles went straight to the bottom at the return of the green to try to take away the line of his primary challenger. This was like a gift to John Oliver Jr. who had been consistently using a more middle groove approach to stay in contention and he would now use that line to take second away from Schmitt and then drive by Miles coming to the white flag to take the lead by inches. Then, in a drag race to the checkers, the two-time and defending All Iowa Points champion would edge out Miles by .051 seconds to take win! Schmitt was right there in third as well while Gage Neal finished fourth and Tanner Allen came from row eight to take fifth.
With thirty-one Modifieds on hand, four heats were run with the six car invert meaning that a driver had to get in the top three to earn their qualifying spot while the top five finishers all advanced to the feature. This was great in that just one eleven-car B-Main would then be needed to qualify the final four starters because if you are new to the Back Stretch, multiple B-Mains suck......imho.
Kollin Hibdon was on a rail from qualifying, to his heat race where he was the first driver to really get the bite off the bottom, to the feature where the Pahrump, Nevada, native who is now based in Waterloo went green to checkers to take the win. It wasn't a walk in the park though as Joel Rust kept him within striking distance throughout the twenty lap distance and, once lapped traffic was involved, Ethan Braaksma closed quickly to make it a three car chase. Hibdon would post the win while Braaksma slipped by Rust in the final set of turns to steal second. Spencer Diercks and Troy Morris III filled out the top five.
Once again the experimental qualifying procedure produced some great heat race action and while there were some glitches as the scoring staff tired to sort things out, it was not that noticeable to the crowd, other than when the Crown Vic feature was called to the track ahead of the Modified heats.
This would be the first ever Crown Vic main event at Independence and it would be a runaway for Derrick Dean who at one point enjoyed a half lap advantage over the drivers racing for second and he would lap all but the second, third and fourth place finishers in the thirteen car field. Michael Lamer held off Rob Culbertson to finish second, David Culbertson was fourth and Jacob Tuttle took fifth.
Zach McNeese would lead the first ten laps of the Hobby Stock feature until he slipped wide in turn two and that allowed Karter Miles to take the point and bring along his teammate Carson Butt into second. Things went from bad to worse for McNeese as he would limp to the infield with a flat tire a few laps later just before the checkers waved over Miles and Butt. Briar Kriegel drew the twelve after winning his heat race and he would race his way up to third. Joren Fisher came out of nowhere in the closing laps to finish fourth after a DNF in his heat dropped him to the back of the twenty-five car field and Leah Wroten closed out the top five.
Will Wolf set a quick pace in the Sport Mod feature, so quick that he slowed on lap thirteen and then ducked to the infield to the water hose to cool his engine before rejoining the field at the back for the restart. Cole Suckow would assume the lead from there and he would hold back Ben Chapman to take the victory in the twenty lapper. Tony Olson slipped off the back stretch while running third on the final lap allowing Austin Kemp to join the podium after starting from nineteenth, Jackson Carey finished in fourth while Olson recovered to salvage a top five.
Traveler Tyler Fiebelkorn would pace the first two of fourteen laps for the Sport Compacts before Dyllan Bonk slipped by on lap three. Fiebelkorn would now stay close in second even though he was being challenged by Mike Peyton and contact between the two would leave Peyton's front bumper cover on the racing surface with four laps remaining. On the restart Bonk, who made the 210 mile tow from Hannibal, Missouri, would maintain his lead and take the win while contact again from Peyton in turn three of the final lap would loosen up Fiebelkorn enough to allow Drew Stanek to come from fourth to second at the checkers. Fiebelkorn would hold off Peyton for third while Devin Coghlan finished out the top five.
It was a great night of racing that was enjoyed with good friends Gary Lee and my Positively Racing colleague Ed Reichert, and it was also good to see another of our favorite Super Fans through all these years Bob Litton in attendance as well. Thanks to Dana, Mike and the entire Race Indee staff for their hospitality and remember that they will be in action next Tuesday night as well, April 28th, with the World of Outlaws Late Models headlining. While I may return for that show as well, I am definitely looking forward to working with my goof friend Jeff Kropf when the IMCA Summer Nationals comes to Independence on May 31st, June 1st, 2nd and 3rd!
Thanks for visiting the Back Stretch and we hope to see you at season openers at both Quincy and Oskaloosa in the week ahead.
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