AURORA, Mo. (Aug. 31) – Justin Wells joined some pretty lofty company in winning his second consecutive I.M.C.A. Sunoco Late Model national championship.
The Aurora, Mo., driver is the first to win back-to-back Late Model titles since I.M.C.A. resumed sanctioning the division in 1987. He’s also the first Late Model driver to win two straight crowns since Ernie Derr of Keokuk, Iowa, completed an incredible string of seven in a row in 1971.
Wells’ 20 feature victories this season also matched the record Kyle Berck of Marquette, Neb., set enroute to the 1996 title. He’ll receive a $5,500 share of the $21,300 point fund to be paid out to the top 20 drivers.
“Going into this season, I really didn’t give any thought to winning the national championship two years in a row. The first thing you have to do is win races,” Wells said. “Late in the season when I was getting close, it crossed my mind about 300 times a day.”
The bookend title came with Wells back in a GRT car equipped with a new shock package from QA1. He figures that any bid for a third trophy will depend on sponsorship, good crew help and luck.
“Some years it seems like you just can’t do anything wrong. We’ve had two seasons in a row like that,” Wells said. “Other years it seems like you can’t do anything right, and we’ve had those kind of seasons, too.”
National standings are based on drivers’ best 15 feature finishes during the point season that ran from April 23 through Aug. 29. Runner-up Rob Toland of Hillsdale, Ill., the 2001 champ, had 13 wins, adding two track championship bonuses to also finish with the maximum possible 600 points.
Rounding out the top five were 1997 and 2002 national king Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Kevin Blum of East Moline, Ill., and Lonnie Bailey of Quincy, Ill.
National rookie of the year Barry Sorensen of Avoca, Iowa, was sixth.
2004 track champions include Brenton Slocum at 34 Raceway; Sorensen at Crawford County Speedway and Shelby County Speedway; Toland at Davenport Speedway and Quad City Speedway; Bo Egge at Dawson County Raceway; Ryan Griffith at Hamilton County Speedway; Cooney at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway; Terry Neal at Jackson County Speedway; Ken Essary at Joplin 66 Speedway; Bailey at Lee County Speedway and at Quincy Raceway; Kenny McCarty at Lincoln County Raceway; and Wells, at Monett Speedway.
Curt Martin and Darren Ackerman were co-champions at Independence Motor Speedway.
Track officials have until Sept. 24 to make any corrections to weekly race results submitted to I.M.C.A. before the point standings announced today become official.
Top 25 I.M.C.A. Sunoco Late Model Point Standings
1. Justin Wells, Aurora, Mo. 600 (20 wins and one track championship bonus)
2. Rob Toland, Hillsdale, Ill. 600 (13 wins and two track championship bonuses)
3. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, Iowa 598
4. Kevin Blum, East Moline, Ill. 597 (12 wins, seven second-place finishes)
5. Lonnie Bailey, Quincy, Ill. 597 (10 wins and two track championship bonuses, and six second-place finishes)
6. Barry Sorensen, Avoca, Iowa 594
7. Terry Neal, Ely, Iowa 591
8. Ken Essary, Cape Fair, Mo. 590
9. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa 586
10. Mike Smith, Jewell, Iowa 584
11. Brenton Slocum, Burlington, Iowa 582
12. Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa 580
13. Mark Burgtorf, Quincy, Ill. 577
14. Jim Fulp, Aurora, Mo. 575
15. Gary Russell, Biggsville, Ill. 573
16. Fred Remley, Blue Grass, Iowa 570
17. Jim Sandusky, Coal Valley, Ill. 567
18. Craig Jacobs, Urbandale, Iowa 565
19. Ray Guss, Aledo, Ill. 561
20. Ron Gustaf, Moline, Ill. 560
21. Tony Moro, Polk City, Iowa 559
22. Chuck Mayerhofer, Dixon, Iowa 554
23. Steve Borts, Ames, Iowa 550
24. Tom Darbyshire, Morning Sun, Iowa 549 (3 wins at 40 points)
25. Ron Lee Valentine, Neb. 549 (1 win at 40 points)
The Aurora, Mo., driver is the first to win back-to-back Late Model titles since I.M.C.A. resumed sanctioning the division in 1987. He’s also the first Late Model driver to win two straight crowns since Ernie Derr of Keokuk, Iowa, completed an incredible string of seven in a row in 1971.
Wells’ 20 feature victories this season also matched the record Kyle Berck of Marquette, Neb., set enroute to the 1996 title. He’ll receive a $5,500 share of the $21,300 point fund to be paid out to the top 20 drivers.
“Going into this season, I really didn’t give any thought to winning the national championship two years in a row. The first thing you have to do is win races,” Wells said. “Late in the season when I was getting close, it crossed my mind about 300 times a day.”
The bookend title came with Wells back in a GRT car equipped with a new shock package from QA1. He figures that any bid for a third trophy will depend on sponsorship, good crew help and luck.
“Some years it seems like you just can’t do anything wrong. We’ve had two seasons in a row like that,” Wells said. “Other years it seems like you can’t do anything right, and we’ve had those kind of seasons, too.”
National standings are based on drivers’ best 15 feature finishes during the point season that ran from April 23 through Aug. 29. Runner-up Rob Toland of Hillsdale, Ill., the 2001 champ, had 13 wins, adding two track championship bonuses to also finish with the maximum possible 600 points.
Rounding out the top five were 1997 and 2002 national king Todd Cooney of Des Moines, Kevin Blum of East Moline, Ill., and Lonnie Bailey of Quincy, Ill.
National rookie of the year Barry Sorensen of Avoca, Iowa, was sixth.
2004 track champions include Brenton Slocum at 34 Raceway; Sorensen at Crawford County Speedway and Shelby County Speedway; Toland at Davenport Speedway and Quad City Speedway; Bo Egge at Dawson County Raceway; Ryan Griffith at Hamilton County Speedway; Cooney at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway; Terry Neal at Jackson County Speedway; Ken Essary at Joplin 66 Speedway; Bailey at Lee County Speedway and at Quincy Raceway; Kenny McCarty at Lincoln County Raceway; and Wells, at Monett Speedway.
Curt Martin and Darren Ackerman were co-champions at Independence Motor Speedway.
Track officials have until Sept. 24 to make any corrections to weekly race results submitted to I.M.C.A. before the point standings announced today become official.
Top 25 I.M.C.A. Sunoco Late Model Point Standings
1. Justin Wells, Aurora, Mo. 600 (20 wins and one track championship bonus)
2. Rob Toland, Hillsdale, Ill. 600 (13 wins and two track championship bonuses)
3. Todd Cooney, Des Moines, Iowa 598
4. Kevin Blum, East Moline, Ill. 597 (12 wins, seven second-place finishes)
5. Lonnie Bailey, Quincy, Ill. 597 (10 wins and two track championship bonuses, and six second-place finishes)
6. Barry Sorensen, Avoca, Iowa 594
7. Terry Neal, Ely, Iowa 591
8. Ken Essary, Cape Fair, Mo. 590
9. Darrel DeFrance, Marshalltown, Iowa 586
10. Mike Smith, Jewell, Iowa 584
11. Brenton Slocum, Burlington, Iowa 582
12. Ryan Griffith, Webster City, Iowa 580
13. Mark Burgtorf, Quincy, Ill. 577
14. Jim Fulp, Aurora, Mo. 575
15. Gary Russell, Biggsville, Ill. 573
16. Fred Remley, Blue Grass, Iowa 570
17. Jim Sandusky, Coal Valley, Ill. 567
18. Craig Jacobs, Urbandale, Iowa 565
19. Ray Guss, Aledo, Ill. 561
20. Ron Gustaf, Moline, Ill. 560
21. Tony Moro, Polk City, Iowa 559
22. Chuck Mayerhofer, Dixon, Iowa 554
23. Steve Borts, Ames, Iowa 550
24. Tom Darbyshire, Morning Sun, Iowa 549 (3 wins at 40 points)
25. Ron Lee Valentine, Neb. 549 (1 win at 40 points)
