Cordes, Olson pick up where they left off in 2014

VINTON — As racers prepare to head into a new season, sometimes they can only hope all the preparation that's gone into their racing program pays off right away. The annual IMCA Frostbuster provides hundreds of racers the chance to do so — 135 from 12 different states and one from Canada on Thursday night at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, to be exact.

Sometimes the results come immediately, as is the case for Cedar Rapids native Tony Olson, sometimes it takes a couple nights to work out some kinks.

Dunkerton native Troy Cordes dominated in Eastern Iowa last season. On Night 1 of the four-night Frostbuster at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, he struggled to an 11th-place finish. But back in familiar territory, Cordes got back to his winning ways. Through a heated battled with Hunter Marriott and Todd Shute, Cordes got that fast start everyone wants — winning by a nose in a three-wide finish in IMCA Modifieds.

'We'll take that any day of the week,' Cordes said. 'You've got to have a little luck to get started like this, and your maintenance program has to be pretty good.

'It's a huge confidence booster to get the first one out of the way. Hopefully we can click one or two off here in a row.'

Cordes had a solid lead halfway through the race, but lapped traffic got heavy in the back half of the event. Forty-eight IMCA Modifieds were entered — including NASCAR veteran Kenny Schrader, who failed to qualify for the A-Main — and half that ran for the win. As soon as Cordes got bottled up by those lapped cars, Marriott and Shute caught up.

With nowhere to go, as lapped cars were in both lanes of traffic, Cordes said all he could do was pray for the white flag.

'It was horrible. They were blocking the whole track, you couldn't hardly try to do anything or get pushed into them and get a flat or something like that,' Cordes said through a smile. 'I was just hoping for the white flag and for the damn thing to be over.

'You've just got to do whatever you can and hope it all works out.'

For Olson, the offseason work has shown through in a big way, too. He and his crew completely rebuilt his IMCA SportMod over the winter months, and it's turned into a win last weekend at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson and a third-place finish Thursday night at Benton County Speedway.

He started eighth in the A-main, but couldn't quite make it to the battle for the lead between Frostbuster Night 1 winner Lucas Lamberies and eventual winner Sam Wieben.

'I haven't run this car with this setup enough here to know exactly. It was still fast, I'm happy with it. Just a couple tweaks, loosen it up a little bit and we'll be good,' Olson said. 'I guess I don't know the exact reason for the start. Just came out and started having fun right away again.'

Olson, who said he's likely to run for points in Vinton on Sundays and cast a wide net of various tracks on Fridays and Saturdays.

Once he got to third after a hairy start to the race that saw a handful of cautions among drivers in the back of the pack, Olson said he was biding his time to catch the front two, waiting to catch the back of the field. Unfortunately for him, a caution spoiled that plan.

'I was waiting for the lapped traffic, I figured that was going to come into play, so I was trying to save my tires,' Olson said. 'After that restart I just had nowhere to go. That kind of gave them a little distance. I was better in Turn 1 and 2, they were better in 3 and 4. Like I said, just a few tweaks and we'll be good.'

Conversely to Olson, he start to the season got a sharp turnaround for the SportMod winner in the Dysart native Wieben.

In season-opening races in Beatrice, Neb. and that same Lee County Speedway event Olson won, Wieben said his car had severe handling issues and he and his crew struggled to find the balance.

But a good restart early in the A-main Thursday night propelled him to his first win of the season. It was a welcome turnaround from a dismal early start to the season. To get it done against the winner of the first Frostbuster race and area top guns in Olson and Jenae Gustin, who finished fourth, made the rebound mean just a little bit more.

'We had bad handling issues in Nebraska and fuel issues in Donnellson, but she was tuned in tonight,' Wieben said. 'There were 40 SportMods here. Being able to compete at this level is awesome.

'Tony Olson and Jenae Gustin are the best of the best. Means a lot to get a win against them.'

Three other classes competed in Night 2 of the IMCA Frostbuster. Chelsea's Damon Murty won in IMCA Stock Cars, Benji Irvine of Oelwein won IMCA Hobby Stock and Don Erger, of Brandon won Micro Mod.

RESULTS

IMCA Modified

1. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 2. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 3. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 4. Jason Wolla, Ray, N.D.; 5. Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 6. Cole Ferguson, Dexter; 7. Josh Most, Red Oak; 8. Mitch Morris, Long Grove; 9. Ronn Lauritzen, Jesup; 10. Travis Hagen, Williston, N.D.; 11. Justin Medler, Minot, N.D.; 12. Scott Hogan, Vinton; 13. Mike Mullen, Seymour, Wis.; 14. Brian Mullen, Seymour, Wis.; 15. Josh Gilman, Earlham; 16. Jon Snyder, Ames; 17. Eddie LeMay, Milwaukee, Wis.; 18. Tony Wedelstadt, Fremont, Wis.; 19. Joe Docekal, Dysart; 20. J.D. Auringer, Waterloo; 21. Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 22. Vern Jackson, Waterloo; 23. Brad Theys, Kewaunee, Wis.; 24. Richie Gustin, Gilman.

IMCA Stock Car

1. Damon Murty, Chelsea; 2. Brett Koehler, Two Rivers, Wis.; 3. Nathan Wood, Sigourney; 4. Brendon LeBatte, Saskatchewan, Canada; 5. Rick Mahlberg, Denmark, Wis.; 6. Norman Chesmore, Rowley; 7. Justin Temeyer, Independence; 8. Austin Edens, Independence; 9. Erick Knutsen, Cedar Rapids; 10. Jim Lynch, Kahoka, Mo.; 11. Tim Fobian, Dike; 12. Scooter Dylin, Cedar Rapids; 13. Russell Damme Jr., Waterloo; 14. Jason Purvis, Boone; 15. Jay Schmidt, Tama; 16. Beau Deschamp, West Hope, N.D.; 17. Scott Pippert, Elberon; 18. Mike Pierrard, Green Bay, Wis. 

IMCA SportMod

1. Sam Wieben, Dysart; 2. Lucas Lamerlies, Clintonville, Wis.; 3. Tony Olson, Cedar Rapids; 4. Jenae Gustin, Marshalltown; 5. Clint Luellen, Minburn; 6. Jon Schultz, Waunakee, Wis.; 7. Hunter Parsons, Green Bay, Wis.; 8. Tracy Wassenberg, Shawano, Wis.; 9. Colby Heishman, Brooklyn; 10. Ryan Besaw, Omro, Wis.; 11. Jeff Steenberge, Watertown, Wis.; 12. Shawn Pitter, Keystone; 13. Tyler Soppe, Sherrill; 14. Kurtis Pihk, Salinas, Kan.; 15. Dawn Krall, Evansdale; 16. Ryan Wolla, Tioga, N.D.; 17. Kip Siems, Cedar Falls; 18. Jayme Duinink, Pella; 19. Curt Killmer, Dysart; 20. Danny Dvorak, Vinton; 21. Kevin Bethke, Nennah, Wis.; 22. Nathan Chukuske, Sherburn, Min.; 23. Rich Paulicek, Casselton, N.D.; 24. Zach McKinnon, Wausau, Wis.

IMCA Hobby Stock

1. Benji Irvine, Oelwein; 2. Austin Luellen, Minburn; 3. Nathan Ballard, Norway; 4. Eric Stanton, Carlisle; 5. Justin Wacha, Vinton; 6. Jeremy Auten, Clarinda; 7. Justin Lichty, Waterloo; 8. Jamie Sonler, Ankeny; 9. Tyson Overton, Carlisle; 10. Jacob Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 11. Dave Schmidt, Casco, Wis.; 12. Adam Petrzelka, Norway; 13. Kyle Dulin, Brandon; 14. Zach Swanson, Waterloo; 15. Shannon Anderson, Des Moines.

MicroMod

1. Don Erger, Brandon; 2. Brandon Maitland, Denver; 3. Jeff Davis, LaPorte City; 4. Brad Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 5. A.J. Witten, Cedar Rapids; 6. Brody Willett, Alburnett; 7. Cole McNeal, Dysart; 8. Tristan Cordes, Dunkerton; 9. Matt Post, Walker; 10. Robby Decker, Waterloo; 11. Russ Smith, Cedar Rapids.

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