VINTON, Iowa – Who are the best drivers in track history at Benton County Speedway “The Bullring?”
Race fans are about to have their say.
An interactive competition will pit the best drivers in track history head-to-head throughout the entire off-season, allowing race fans their chance to vote on who they feel are the best racers in speedway history.
Drivers in the Modified, Stock Car, SportMod, Hobby Stock and Sport Compact divisions were compiled based on their achievements in weekly racing history on the Vinton oval. One point was awarded for each feature win and five points were awarded for each track championship.
The drivers were then seeded based on those point totals and bracketed for competition.
Due to the longer histories the Modifieds and Hobby Stocks have had at the speedway, more drivers were included in those divisions. The range of accomplishments in those divisions led to 28 drivers in each qualifying for the single elimination tournament.
The Stock Cars produced 16 qualifiers, SportMods 14 and Sport Compacts 12.
All track champions automatically qualified for the competition.
New match-ups will be posted each Monday on the track’s Facebook page @BCSBullRing. Fans will have from Monday through the following Sunday at noon CST to cast their votes. A driver bio will be included with each match-up to highlight their career accomplishments at the speedway as fans consider who they think is worthy of moving on to the next round.
Voting will be completed by using the react emojis on the Facebook post that includes each match-up. At the time of the noon Sunday deadline, the driver with the most votes will automatically move on to the next round.
The competition kicks off Monday, September 27, with first round voting in Hobby Stocks. New head-to-head battles will be posted every Monday through the first day of voting for the final main event on Monday, March 28. A complete schedule of the competition is listed below.
The final four drivers remaining in each division will qualify for their respective feature event. Voting for those five main events will be conducted over the final month of the competition. Overall champions will be recognized next spring when the speedway opens for the 2022 season.
SPORT COMPACT
COM1 – 11/8 – 8 Brad Chandler vs 9 Steve Miedke
COM2 – 11/8 – 5 Merv Chandler vs 12 Neil Nabholz
COM3 – 11/8 – 7 Adam Gates vs 10 Cristian Grady
COM4 – 11/8 – 6 Jena Barthelmes vs 11 William Michel
COM5 – 1/17 – 1 Nathan Chandler vs COM1 winner
COM6 – 1/17 – 4 Jake Benischek vs COM2 winner
COM7 – 1/17 – 2 Gary Peiffer vs COM3 winner
COM8 – 1/17 – 3 Bill Whalen Jr. vs COM4 winner
FEATURE – 2/28 – COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8 winners
SPORTMOD
SM1 – 10/25 – 8 Drew Fish vs 9 Kurt Hogan
SM2 – 10/25 – 4 Kyle Olson vs 13 Joel Rust
SM3 – 10/25 – 5 Joe Docekal vs 12 Brett Lowry
SM4 – 11/1 – 7 Curt Hilmer vs 10 Nick Roberts
SM5 – 11/1 – 3 Austin Kaplan vs 14 Kyle Bentley
SM6 – 11/1 – 6 Ben Chapman vs 11 Racer Hulin
SM7 – 1/10 – 1 Danny Dvorak vs SM1 winner
SM8 – 1/10 – SM2 winner vs SM3 winner
SM9 – 1/10 – 2 Tony Olson vs SM4 winner
SM10 – 1/10 – SM5 winner vs SM6 winner
FEATURE – 3/7 – SM7, SM8, SM9, SM10 winners
HOBBY STOCK
HS1 – 9/27 – 16 Dan Krug vs 17 Matt Brown
HS2 – 9/27 – 9 Paul Shepherd vs 24 Chad Koch
HS3 – 9/27 – 8 Kaden Reynolds vs 25 Danny Dvorak
HS4 – 10/4 – 13 Benji Irvine vs 20 Ron Tharp
HS5 – 10/4 – 12 Steve Meyer vs 21 Steve Kesl
HS6 – 10/4 – 5 Brett Vanous vs 28 Joren Fisher
HS7 – 10/11 – 15 Justin Wacha vs 18 Todd Temeyer
HS8 – 10/11 – 10 Jerry Luloff vs 23 Leah Wroten
HS9 – 10/11 – 7 Brian Happel vs 26 Kyle Parizek
HS10 – 10/18 – 14 Frankie Dulin vs 19 Jerry Dedrick
HS11 – 10/18 – 11 Scooter Dulin vs 22 Curtis Roster
HS12 – 10/18 – 6 Brad Forbes vs 27 Max Leonard
HS13 – 12/27 – 1 Vince Buchholz vs HS1 winner
HS14 – 12/27 – HS2 winner vs HS 3 winner
HS15 – 12/27 – 4 Chris Luloff vs HS4 winner
HS16 – 12/27 – HS5 winner vs HS6 winner
HS17 – 1/3 – 2 Scott Pippert vs HS7 winner
HS18 – 1/3 – HS8 winner vs HS9 winner
HS19 – 1/3 – 3 Nathan Ballard vs HS10 winner
HS20 – 1/3 – HS11 winner vs HS 12 winner
HS21 – 2/14 – HS13 winner vs HS14 winner
HS22 – 2/14 – HS15 winner vs HS16 winner
HS23 – 2/14 – HS17 winner vs HS18 winner
HS24 – 2/14 – HS19 winner vs HS 20 winner
FEATURE – 3/21 – HS21, HS22, HS23, HS24 winners
STOCK CAR
SC1 – 11/15 – 1 Damon Murty vs 16 Jarod Weepie
SC2 – 11/15 – 8 Jay Schmidt vs 9 Phil Holtz
SC3 – 11/15 – 4 Norman Chesmore vs 13 Nathan Wood
SC4 – 11/15 – 5 Dan Trimble vs 12 John Emerson
SC5 – 11/22 – 2 Justin Temeyer vs 15 Brian Irvine
SC6 – 11/22 – 7 Scooter Dulin vs 10 John Oliver Jr.
SC7 – 11/22 – 3 Curtis Roster vs 14 Tom Schmitt
SC8 – 11/22 – 6 Dallon Murty vs 11 Scott Pippert
SC9 – 1/24 – SC1 winner vs SC2 winner
SC10 – 1/24 – SC3 winner vs SC4 winner
SC11 – 1/24 – SC5 winner vs SC6 winner
SC12 – 1/24 – SC7 winner vs SC 8 winner
FEATURE – 3/14 – SC9, SC10, SC11, SC12 winners
MODIFIED
MOD1 – 11/29 – 16 Jeff Aikey vs 17 Kevin Pittman
MOD2 – 11/29 – 9 Jerry Luloff vs 24 Jeff Barkdoll
MOD3 – 11/29 – 8 Robbie Schmuecker vs 25 Kyle Brown
MOD4 – 12/6 – 13 Patrick Flannagan vs 20 Tim McBride
MOD5 – 12/6 – 12 Ronn Lauritzen vs 21 Jim Schmuecker
MOD6 – 12/6 – 5 Corey Dripps vs 28 Tom Bartholomew
MOD7 – 12/13 – 15 Darin Duffy vs 18 Mike Burbridge
MOD8 – 12/13 – 10 Vern Jackson vs 23 Don Erger
MOD9 – 12/13 – 7 J.D. Auringer vs 26 Joey Schaefer
MOD10 – 12/20 – 14 Todd Jensen vs 19 Timm Jensen
MOD11 – 12/20 – 11 Joe Docekal vs 22 Joel Rust
MOD12 – 12/20 – 6 Dave Burrell vs 27 Mike Sampson
MOD13 – 1/31 – 1 Troy Cordes vs MOD1 winner
MOD14 – 1/31 – MOD2 winner vs MOD3 winner
MOD15 – 1/31 – 4 Arlo Becker vs MOD4 winner
MOD16 – 1/31 – MOD5 winner vs MOD6 winner
MOD17 – 2/7 – 2 Scott Hogan vs MOD7 winner
MOD18 – 2/7 – MOD8 winner vs MOD9 winner
MOD19 – 2/7 – 3 Jack Mitchell vs MOD10 winner
MOD20 – 2/7 – MOD11 winner vs MOD12 winner
MOD21 – 2/21 – MOD 13 winner vs MOD 14 winner
MOD22 – 2/21 – MOD 15 winner vs MOD16 winner
MOD23 – 2/21 – MOD17 winner vs MOD18 winner
MOD24 – 2/21 – MOD 19 winner vs MOD20 winner
FEATURE – 3/28 – MOD21, MOD22, MOD23, MOD24 winners