Olson having ‘most fun we’ve ever had’ in IMCA Sport Mod

INDEPENDENCE - Cedar Rapids driver Tony Olson hasn't ever had a start to the season quite like this one.

A veteran of both IMCA Modified and Sport Mod, it usually takes until about midseason for he and his team to get a hold of the car and get it working like they want. But through 13 races in 2015, Olson has seven wins - the latest of which Saturday night at Independence Motor Speedway.

'It's absolutely my best start. I didn't even think this was possible,” Olson said. 'I think if we can keep this up, it can definitely be a great year - it already has been. This is the most fun we've ever had. I just hope it stays this way.”

Olson runs weekly at Davenport Speedway, Independence Motor Speedway and Benton County Speedway in Vinton this year, a shift from years previous. In the past, he was at West Liberty Raceway on Saturday nights.

The shift in his weekly focus was from larger tracks - West Liberty is a ½-mile - to shorter tracks. The ¼-mile (Davenport, Vinton) and 3/8-mile (Independence) similarities have made for smaller changes to his car and a more consistent handle. Being able to fine-tune instead of make wholesale changes has proved invaluable.

'We're really trying to dial in these short tracks,” Olson said. 'Last year we were going from ¼-mile to ½-mile, and we'd have to change our setup every week. We were fast, but we were inconsistent. This year it seems like we can dial our car in and keep it consistent, week-in and week-out. It's really staying the same. We're getting comfortable with the car finally.”

As for the race itself, Olson started mid-pack and had to work his way through a competitive field of IMCA Sport Mods.

He may have made the pass for the win on a restart with just less than 10 laps to go, but the real winning move came a lap before the final caution. Olson entered Turns 1 and 2 on the high side in fifth place, and turned hard left in the middle of the corner. He left Turn 2 with a head of steam and was on leader Matt McCahen's rear bumper by Turn 3.

Once he got that caution, he knew the win was his to lose.

'I knew they were all sliding up and that's why I dove to the bottom. I think I got three positions out of it,” Olson said. 'I'd say that was the move of the race because that got me to second. (McCahen) was strong for a while, but he was losing a lot of bite off four. I figured if I could get by him, I had more in four. One and two was amazing, you could run top, bottom, middle. Three and four, the top looked real crumbly up there. It was a really fun track.”

CORDES GETS BACK TO BACK IN MODIFIEDS

There's no place like home. Well, home track, at least.

Dunkerton driver Troy Cordes got IMCA win No. 100 last Saturday at Independence, and made it 101 this Saturday. He, like Olson, went from fifth to the win in the final five laps. A pass of leader Tony Snyder coming to the white flag sealed the win.

'We had to drive our butts off tonight, and everything kind of worked out for us,” Cordes said. 'My car was pretty good; it worked all over the place. There were cars everywhere and I was trying to do the right thing and be patient; not screw up or run into anybody or something like that. It worked out for us.

'It's our home track, we race here all the time. A lot of laps helps.”

Those moves weren't met with total positivity, as fourth-place finisher Vern Jackson was none-too-pleased with a slide-job Cordes put on him to take over second with just three laps remaining.

Cordes acknowledged he slid in, but chalked it up to racing for the win. That late in the game, risky moves are necessary, he said.

'I slid in a little bit, but it's a little give and take out there. He's done it to me before,” Cordes said. 'If he's mad, he's mad. We don't come here to make friends, but we don't come here to make enemies, either. Everybody's going for the win - I am and he is.”

Cordes bounced back from a nightmarish Friday night at Farley Speedway in getting the win in Independence, too.

He shredded a rear gear a handful of laps into his heat race that night, and the replacement gear he had in the trailer was for a ½-mile track, not the 3/8-mile that is Farley Speedway. As a result, he didn't finish the A-main Friday night because the car just would not work.

He was able to get everything turned around overnight and got back to his winning ways at his regular stomping grounds.

'It was redemption from last night,” Cordes said in Victory Lane. 'We were a little unprepared with our gears and stuff there. But it was ready and all worked out tonight.”

TOP-FIVE FINISHERS

INDEPENDENCE MOTOR SPEEDWAY

IMCA Late Model

1. Rick Wendling, Hazelton; 2. Tyler Bruening, Decorah; 3. Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 4. Sean Johnson, Independence; 5. Curt Martin, Independence.

IMCA Modified

1. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 2. Tony Snyder, Readlyn; 3. Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 4. Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 5. Brennan Chipp, Waterloo.

IMCA Hobby Stocks

1. Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 3. Vince Buchholz, Tama; 4. Rodney Grother, Cedar Rapids; 5. Shawn Kuennen, Hazelton.

IMCA Sport Mod

1. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 2. Kevin Hurst, Janesville; 3. Alex Zwanziger, Nashua; 4. Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 5. Kyle Betley, Independence.

IMCA Stock Cars

1. Chris Luloff, Independence; 2. Jesse Brown, Nashua; 3. Jared Weepie, Dunkerton; 4. Tom Schmitt, Independence; 5. Scooter Dulin, Cedar Rapids.

MicroMod/IndeeCars

1. Brody Willett, Alburnett; 2. Don Erger, Brandon; 3. Jeff Davis, LaPorte City; 4. Matt Post, Walker; 5. Jamie Whitaker, Oelwein.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com