Van Dee Buries Field in Knoxville Enduro 200
Monday, September 12, 2005
By Bob Wilson
Knoxville, Iowa (September 10)(delayed) - Darin Van Dee of Deep River, Iowa ran away with the Enduo 200 at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night and finished twelve laps ahead of his nearest rival. The event was scheduled to be 200 laps or have a time limit of two hours. Time won out over distance.
Van Dee survived a record nine red-flag stoppages to capture the $1,000 to win event. Early leaders Darwin Himmerich of West Des Moines and Kenny DeGoey of Knoxville did not figure into the top twenty finishers. Van Dee took the lead just prior to the fifty-lap mark and was never challenged after that point. Both Van Dee and runner-up Rob Akers of Walnut began the race in the back two rows of the starting line up.
Chris Metz, Melcher-Dallas, who finished fifteenth, was Van Dee's closest challenger at the 100-laps distance. A red flag at that point for a gas tank laying on the track brought the cars to an on-track halt and showed only thirty cars out of a starting field of 70 were still running.
The final red of the event came out as Travis Branson, Melcher-Dallas, whose car was stalled on the front stretch, signaled to track officials that his car was on fire. That was just prior to Van Dee's 150-lap mark with only 19 cars left running.
Driver Car Number Laps
1. Darin Van Dee, Deep River (11) 174
2. Rob Akers, Walnut (218) 162
3. Ron Meinders, Rose Hill (1R) 162
4. Mark Kiltner, Morning Sun (41) 162
5. Blake Miller, Des Moines (10) 160
6. Kevin Smith, Knoxville (1) 158
7. Brennan Ford, Milo (4) 153
8. Jay Kime, Pella (34) 150
9. Mitch Enfield, Melcher-Dallas (23) 148
10. Mike McGill, Knoxville (OWI) 147
11. Joe Reed, Knoxville (3A) 146
12. Coady Clark, Knoxville (44) 146
13. Jerad Bingham, Melcher-Dallas (07J) 137
14. Scott Burns, Knoville ((78) 137
15. Chris Metz, Melcher-Dallas (31m) 129
16. AJ Vander Meiden, Oskaloosa (49) 129
17. Daron Hubler, Columbia (81) 125
18. Carl Walter, Hamilton (46) 122
19. Travis Branson, Melcher-Dallas (84T) 120
20. Brad Branson, Melcher-Dallas (6) 118
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