Bristol Motor Speedway
DeFrance wraps up second consecutive IMCA weekly crown
By Bill Martin
IMCA Sunoco Late Models
Darrel DeFrance (Jeff Bylsma)
His 10th feature win of the year gave Darrel DeFrance of Marshalltown his third career IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship.
That victory, earned Aug. 25 at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa, was the tie-breaking difference after DeFrance and Terry Neal of Ely both ended the regular season with 803 points.
Neal had nine victories, after seeing his Aug. 24 finale at Davenport Speedway rained out, running third Aug. 25 at Jackson County Speedway in Maquoketa and ending in 13th on Aug. 26 at Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Ill.
Both drivers won a pair of track championships, with the highest average car count of the two determining bonus points. The title at Davenport gave Neal 21 bonus points while the crown at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway in Des Moines added 17 points to DeFrance’s total.
Neal also paced the standings at Maquoketa. DeFrance, the 1993 and defending national king, led the way at Webster City as well.
Mark Burgtorf was champion at his hometown Quincy (Ill.) Raceway en route to third place nationally. Rob Toland of Bettendorf swapped the top spot in the national standings five times with DeFrance over the course of the season before finishing fourth.
Quincy’s Lonnie Bailey, track champion at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, rounded out the top five.
DeFrance is the second driver to win back-to-back titles, and the first to win three crowns since IMCA resumed sanctioning the Late Models in 1987. The next step in breaking the tie for the 2007 championship would have been second place finishes, in which DeFrance held a 6-5 edge.
Both DeFrance and Burgtorf now have 10 career IMCA Late Model track titles to their credit, tied for second on the all-time list for the division behind only the 11 earned by Todd Cooney of Des Moines.
Adam Larson of Ames was national rookie of the year and 14th overall in standings for the Late Models.
Also winning track titles were Darren Ackerman of Readlyn at Independence Motor Speedway, Tom Darbyshire of Morning Sun at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Jason Bahrs of Colona, Ill., at Quad City Raceway and Barry Sorensen of Avoca at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan.
