Auto racing: Bruening starts season strong

Tyler Bruening is putting together one of his best seasons.

The IMCA late model driver from Decorah has ascended the ranks and sit atop the points standings at Independence Motor Speedway and second in the IMCA national points rankings.

Bruening has four wins at Independence, owning a 46-point lead. Only two other drivers have one late-model feature win at the track. He also stands second in points at Farley Speedway, trailing Luke Goedert by one.

"Looking back, some guys, even myself, struggled a lot of years just to try to get one win," Bruening said in an interview with www.dirtcast.com. "It's been a great year so far. We look to continue."

Bruening has run a full schedule this season, competing at Farley, Independence and Dubuque Speedway, in addition to the Deery Brothers Summer Series and other special events. The goal was to compete three nights a week and it has put him in contention for a national title.

"We wanted to get a lot of racing in this year and let the chips fall where they may," Bruening told the racing website. "Years come and go, but now that we've had such a good solid start  to the year it'd be huge for my career and our team. It'd be a huge success and a huge accomplishment."

Bruening is a former punter and defensive player for Loras College football team, demonstrating his competitive nature. He is chasing Nick Marolf, who owns a six-point lead over him in IMCA national points. They compete head to head at Farley and Dubuque.

"He's a darn good runner, too," Bruening said of Marolf. "He's real consistent as well. It's going to be a battle all year."

Bruening led the points for a period. Consistency has been key and will make a big impact as the season progresses. Bruening has nine IMCA wins already.

"We have a ton of wins and a ton of second-place finishes," Bruening said. "I think that's what it's going to boil down to in the end, who has those best 20 nights."

TRUCKS SPONSOR ANNOUNCED

Iowa Speedway announced Monday that Enogen Corn will be the presenting sponsor for its next big race weekend. The Newton track will host the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series American Ethanol 200 July 13.

“We are thrilled to welcome Syngenta as the newest member in our family of promotional partners," Iowa Speedway Vice President of Sales and Marketing Chuck Spicer said in a news release. “We are especially proud that, given Enogen's initial success in the Ethanol production marketplace, Syngenta has chosen our ‘American Ethanol' event to promote their unique brand of seed corn.”

It is the first of two NASCAR Trucks races at the track this season and the third of five major race weekends this year. The second NASCAR Trucks race is Sept. 7-8 and the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns for the second time this season with the U.S. Cellular 250 on Aug. 2-3.

BECKER LEADS FARLEY SPORTMODS

According to points standings provided by Simmons Promotions, Inc., which oversees races at Farley Speedway, West Liberty Race and Dubuque Speedway, Cedar Rapids driver Aric Becker leads the Sportsmod division of Friday night racing.

Becker sits atop the class with 149 points, four more than second-place Austin Heacock. Mark Schulte and Matt gansen are tied for the lead in IMCA modifieds. Luke Goedert leads Tyler Bruening by one point in IMCA late models. Chris Luloff leads the IMCA hobby stocks, while John Emerson is first in IMCA stock cars. Dave Fangman owns a 29-point lead over Bob Taggart in IMCA Sport Compacts.