Wolla makes 14-hour trip for Hawkeye Dirt Tour win

VINTON - It's 847 miles to Benton County Speedway in Vinton from Ray, N.D., the home of IMCA Modified racer Jason Wolla.

The 14-hour drive will feel like a breeze on the way home for Wolla and his crew, though, because he'll be headed back with a trophy and $1,000 check for taking the Hawkeye Dirt Tour season-opener on Tuesday night.

'It seems to be all right for us down here, against all odds,” Wolla said in Victory Lane. 'We come down here with the dogs and run with them. Man, that was fun.

'We have another used Rage sitting in West Union, and we had to go and get it. So we were like, ‘Perfect timing.' This track was pretty good to us last time, so we took a shot at it.”

This isn't the first win in Iowa for Wolla, who won a Frostbuster main event at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa in April. But it is the first stretch in which he's run well down here.

Wolla said in the past he's come to Iowa for IMCA Supernationals and other high-paying shows, but has never touched the kind of success he's had here early this season. He credited a switch to Rage Chassis from his longtime brand Harris Chassis as the biggest reason.

'We'd been in Harris cars for a long time, and the guys over there treated us good, but we got in this (Rage) and it's like putting a glove on,” Wolla said. 'I don't know, it's just perfect.”

As for the race itself, the 40-lap main event was full of passing from front to back.

Wolla started 11th in the main event, and had to avoid wrecking racecars and cars running in all three grooves in front of him. He eventually made it to the lead on a restart with around 15 laps to go and kept the lead for good.

He didn't just cruise home, though. Defending Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion Mike Van Genderen ran him down in lapped traffic, but could never quite close the gap completely. Wolla had no idea he was there, but knew the line he had would keep him relatively safe.

'I had no idea it was him. When you get into those lapped cars, you don't know if it's them (behind you) or if it's a car that's chasing you,” Wolla said. 'I knew I was pretty good on the bottom, so it'd be pretty hard to pass once we were down there.”

Van Genderen, who is the race director for all the non-IMCA Modified classes at Benton County Speedway on a weekly basis, jokingly said before the race he wish it was 30 laps instead of 40.

Afterward he was wishing it was 50 instead of 40 so he'd have had time to catch and maybe pass Wolla for the win.

'Lapped traffic, I was hoping would come to my favor, but he got through it,” Van Genderen said. 'He's fast. I'm happy to keep up with him.

'The car came on a little better towards the end and I was happy to have the car so good late in a 40-lap race.”

Van Genderen may have been coming, but Wolla said he never felt rattled.

While some drivers may get anxious or feel a certain level of tension in the waning laps while leading, Wolla said he felt the opposite effect. That composure carried him to victory.

'I think you actually get calmer as the race goes,” Wolla said. 'Personally, I settle into a rhythm and when you're out front you can really focus on the track and find where it's fast.

'You just see the track better and start clicking laps off.”

WILD FINISH IN STOCK CARS

Damon Murty is no stranger to Victory Lane, especially at Benton County Speedway.

But the win he got on Tuesday night was far from conventional and for that reason all sweeter. The 'Chelsea Charger” went from ninth on a restart with eight laps to go and took the victory with a three-wide pass on the outside coming off the final turn.

He had been fourth at the white flag, and knew if the front three gave him the high side, he had it in the bag.

He entered Turn 3 on the final lap and took to the high side while Norman Chesmore was low and Scott Pippert was in the middle. The car settled in and the rest was history.

'It's been a while since I've done something like that,” Murty said. 'I knew if I got it in (the corner) nice and smooth and didn't jump the cushion I had a pretty good chance.

'Once I got in there (in 3 and 4) and got back on the gas I knew I had it because the bottom was too greasy yet and the middle was starting to slick off. There was a big cushion on the outside and I was right on it.”

Murty had been racing for the lead in the first half of the race, and but an incident on the caution that prompted the final restart sent him and another car to the tail. He was ninth of 10 cars on the track for the final green flag.

Heading to the back like that is usually a death sentence in terms of winning for most drivers, but Murty often relishes the chance – at least when there's enough laps left to make it up. Getting wins that way is far more rewarding anyway.

'Usually when I go to the back like that or start in the back I'm way better because I can find where I'm faster and they're not running,” Murty said. 'I'd rather get them like that than start on the front row any day.”

RESULTS

HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR IMCA MODIFIED

1. Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D.; 2. Mike Van Genderen, Newton; 3. J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 4. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 5 Joe Docekral, Dysart; 6. Mark Elliott, Webster City; 7. Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 8. Cayden Carter, Oskaloosa; 9. Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 10. Kyle Brownn, Kellogg; 11. Scott Hogan, Vinton; 12. Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 13. Mitch Morris, McCausland; 14. Ryan Maitland, Denver; 15. Nick Roberts, Des Moines; 16. Dennis Betzer, Central City; 17. Cole Ferguson, Dexter; 18. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 19. Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 20. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 21. Brian Irvine, Olewein; 22. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 23. Zach Less, Manchester; 24. David Brown, Kellogg.

IMCA STOCK CARS

1. Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 3. Scott Pippert, Elberon; 4. Nathan Wood, Sigourney; 5. Roger Ciesielski, Waterloo; 6. Cole Mather, Fairbank; 7. Justin Stander, Shellsburg; 8. Austin Evens, Independence; 9. Lon Mercer, Urbana; 10. Jay Schmidt, Tama; 11. Mike Galli, Urbana; 12. Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo.

IMCA HOBBY STOCK

1. Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 3. Justin Wacha, Vinton; 4. Jeremiah Wilson, Waterloo; 5. Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 6. Billy Rhoades, Maynard; 7. Matt Brown, Dysart; 8. Brett Vanous, Quasqueton; 9. C. J. Dall, Marshalltown; 10. Adam Petrzelka, Norway; 11. Andrew Torkelson, Lisbon; 12. Neal Miller, Waterloo; 13. Zach Swanson, Waterloo; 14. Matt Pohlman, Keystone; 15. Cody Swanson, Waterloo.

IMCA SPORT MOD

1. Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 2. Brayton Carter, Oskaloosa; 3. Sam Wieben, Dysart; 4. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 5. Clint Luellen, Minburn; 6. Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 7. Matt Petrzelka, Norway; 8. Joey Schaefer, Waterloo; 9. Ryan King, Montour; 10. Curt Hilmer, Dysart; 11. Kyle Olson, Cedar Rapids; 12. Tyler Soppe, Sherrill; 13. Dan Drury, Eldora; 14. Dave Schulze, Keystone; 15. Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids; 16. Troy Burkhart, Urbana; 17. Lucas Lundry, Maynard; 18. Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 19. Nate Smith, Cedar Falls; 20. Kyle Bentley, Independence; 21. Lee Rouse, Atkins; 22. Mike McNeal, Vinton; 23. Kurt Hogan, Vinton; 24. Matt McCahen, Waterloo.

BCS MICROMOD

1. Brody Willett, Alburnett; 2. Jeff Davis, La Porte City; 3. Brandon Maitland, Denver; 4. Buster Pate, Hiawatha; 5. Cole McNeal, Dysart.

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