Brian Ickler Impresses In Iowa: Wins Camping World Combo Show by Penny Aicardi
Ickler Holds off Davis, Kahne & the Best from East and West
Just a few short months ago, a full season in the NASCAR Camping World Series East wasn’t even on Brian Ickler’s radar. But in October, the 22-year-old driver decided to relocate from his home in San Diego, California to the center of auto racing – Mooresville, North Carolina – in hopes of furthering his career. Sunday night, Ickler proved it was a step in the right direction when he won the US Cellular 200 at Iowa Speedway, one of the most prestigious races on the schedule. Ickler took the lead from Joe Gibbs Racing’s Marc Davis for the victory and earned a $12,000 paycheck.
“It’s huge. We came here last year and it was my first time here, and we ran decent. We ran third and then with 15 to go we blew a tire,” said Ickler. “It’s big. It’s a momentum sport, and we race in two weeks in South Boston so this is what it’s all about. Hopefully we can keep the wins going and win a championship or something.”
Ickler, who started seventh, first challenged Davis on lap 175. The two were side-by-side and they touched. Ickler got squirrley, but saved it and put the pressure right back on Davis.
“It’s just racing. You do this every weekend you know, and you just get used to it,” he said about saving the car. “(The contact) folded the right front fender under so it was rubbing. I’m not sure how much longer it would have lasted. It actually made the car push worse, but we luckily got by him.”
Ickler took the lead with 15 to go by using the top groove – a lane that Davis wanted and tried to protect.
“I knew he was coming and my car got tighter and tighter. The 15 car came up and it was really good. We got into it a couple of times and I knew as long as I was on the top we’d be all right,” said Davis. “We stayed on the top and he went to the bottom of us and then whipped right around. He finally got by me and at that point we focused on holding off Kasey and getting a second place finish. I knew it was coming, but I thought I’d be able to hold him off.”
Brian Ickler gets a champagne bath from his crew in Iowa victory lane. (NASCAR / Terry Thomas Photos)
Ickler wasn’t worried about Sprint Cup Series All Star winner Kasey Kahne, who had made his way back up through the field.
“By the time I got by Marc, Kasey wasn’t a threat. On that last lap I was just thinking of how proud of the guys I am. I’ve got seven guys on this team that work so hard to pull this all together and this is pretty awesome for them,” Ickler said.
Ickler leads the pack down the Iowa Speedway frontstretch.
Awesome indeed.
Davis held off Kahne for a runner-up finish.
“The tires were a lot different for me,” said Kahne. “I’ve never raced on these kinds of tires (bias ply). I ran a few laps on them this morning and then it was time to go. It was a fun race. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, but that’s alright. I can handle it. We passed a lot of cars. We pitted early and got back there. We pitted again because the car was so tight that we just wanted to make an adjustment on it. We got through all our pitting with the tires and did the best we could do and that was a third.”
Ickler is third in the point standings after his win at Iowa, with only 44 points separating first through third. Marc Davis took over the point lead followed by Austin Dillon in second.
Iowa Speedway is the only track that drivers from both the NASCAR Camping World Series East and West compete together in a point race. The East Series drivers dominated by earning the top nine finishing positions. The highest finisher in the West Series was Jim Inglebright in 10th.
“We pretty much finished where we qualified. We were kind of tight, so we came in put in some fuel and changed tires and then with about 50 to go the car just kind of came in. Then we just put the hammer down and the Jelly Belly car was doing great,” said Inglebright.
Austin Dillon won his first career pole for the event and led five laps of the event before finishing seventh.
RACE NOTES - US Cellular 200 at Iowa Speedway
DEI Does the Deed
Jeffrey Earnhardt’s fifth place finish was one of the most impressive in the field. The driver had to start from 40th after being forced to take a provisional starting spot. Earnhardt wrecked in the last eight minutes of Sunday morning’s practice session, and had to pull out a backup car. The team had the car ready to go for qualifying, but hadn’t tested it on the track.
Fellow DEI driver, Trevor Bayne, posted his career best finish in the series just ahead of Earnhardt in fourth.
Tough Day for the Schrader Teams
It was a rough day at Ken Schrader Racing with a 22nd place finish for former Motocross Champion Ricky Carmichael and a 33rd place finish for his team mate Jamie Hayes.
Hayes struggled all weekend long.
“We could just never find the balance at all. We were either way too loose or way too tight. We couldn’t find any kind of happy medium. It was a new car that we hadn’t ever raced before and we just kind of fought that all day,” said Hayes.
Carmichael got tangled up on lap three of the 200-lapper, but climbed back to finish 22nd.
“When we got turned around on lap three it flat spotted our best tires there so we were on used rubber all day. From there, it was an uphill battle all day. We did all right though considering,” said Carmichael.
A Long Trip Home...
The high car counts unfortunately send some good cars home sometimes. Iowa Speedway was no exception. One of the biggest surprises was that of Max Dumarey. His car owner, Mike Olsen, is a two-time Champion, but his owner points were still not enough to keep him in the field. Other drivers to go home included: John Salemi, Jody Lavender, Derek Thorn, Ryan Duff, Michael Faulk, Richard Johns and Dustin Delaney from the East Series. The West only sent one car home – Lloyd Mack.
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD SERIES-US Cellular 200 presented by Wellmark Results
Sunday
At Iowa Speedway
Newton, IA
Lap length: 0.875 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (7) Brian Ickler, San Diego, Calif., Chevrolet, 200 laps, 85.216 mph, $12,500.
2. (25) Marc Davis, Mitchelville, Md., Toyota, 200, $8,050.
3. (4) Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, Wash., Dodge, 200, $5,000.
4. (8) Trevor Bayne, Knoxville, Tenn., Chevrolet, 200, $4,315.
5. (40) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Mooresville, N.C., Chevrolet, 200, $5,500.
6. (38) Jesus Hernandez, Fresno, Calif., Chevrolet, 200, $3,000.
7. (1) Austin Dillon, Harrisburg, N.C., Chevrolet, 200, $4,000.
8. (6) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200, $2,400.
9. (26) Matt Kobyluck, Uncasville, Conn., Chevrolet, 200, $2,200.
10. (10) Jim Inglebright, Fairfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 200, $2,500.
11. (11) Rogelio Lopez, Mexico City, Mexico, Chevrolet, 200, $1,950.
12. (12) Mark McFarland, Winchester, Va., Chevrolet, 200, $1,925.
13. (2) Jeff Barkshire, Auburn, Wash., Dodge, 200, $4,265.
14. (5) Peyton Sellers, Danville, Va., Chevrolet, 200, $1,885.
15. (21) Austin Cameron, El Cajon, Calif., Toyota, 200, $1,875.
16. (30) Mike David, Modesto, Calif., Toyota, 200, $3,350.
17. (19) Jason Patison, Corona, Calif., Ford, 200, $1,825.
18. (24) Moses Smith, Tempe, Ariz., Toyota, 200, $1,800.
19. (15) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif., Ford, 200, $1,775.
20. (31) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 199, $1,750.
21. (18) James Buescher, Plano, Texas, Chevrolet, 199, $1,725.
22. (36) Ricky Carmichael, Clearwater, Fla., Chevrolet, 199, $1,710.
23. (35) Andrew Myers, Newport Beach, N.C., Ford, 199, $1,700.
24. (13) Mike Gallegos, Denver, Colo., Chevrolet, 199, $1,685.
25. (28) Jeff Jefferson, Naches, Wash., Chevrolet, 199, $1,675.
26. (34) Ben Stancill, Ayden, N.C., Chevrolet, 199, $1,650.
27. (32) Greg Pursley, Canyon Country, Calif., Chevrolet, 199, $1,635.
28. (22) Eric Holmes, Escalon, Calif., Toyota, 198, $1,625.
29. (17) Johnny Borneman, Ramona, Calif., Ford, 197, $1,610.
30. (43) Stan Silva, Jr., Castroville, Calif., Chevrolet, 197, $1,600.
31. (44) Jeff Anton, Russell, Mass., Chevrolet, 195, $1,585.
32. (14) James Warn, Aurora, Ore., Chevrolet, 189, $1,575.
33. (41) Jamie Hayes, Norlina, N.C., Chevrolet, 188, $1,564.
34. (27) Craig Goess, Greenville, N.C., Toyota, 180, $1,550.
35. (42) Darryl Harr, St. Albert, Canada, Chevrolet, 161, $1,535.
36. (39) Jamie Dick, Albuquerque, N.M., Chevrolet, 161, $1,525.
37. (37) Jonathan Smith, Beacon Falls, Conn., Dodge, 150, oil leak, $1,500.
38. (20) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 149, $1,485.
39. (33) Eric Hardin, Anaheim, Calif., Chevrolet, 130, accident, $1,475.
40. (29) Terry Henry, Bakersfield, Calif., Chevrolet, 96, brakes, $1,450.
41. (23) Brett Thompson, Jerome, Id., Chevrolet, 92, accident, $1,425.
42. (3) Alex Haase, Las Vegas, Nev., Chevrolet, 55, accident, $1,400.
43. (9) David Mayhew, Atascadero, Calif., Chevrolet, 9, engine, $1,375.
44. (16) Ryan Foster, Anderson, Calif., Ford, 2, accident, $1,350.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 2 hours 3 minutes 13 seconds
Margin of Victory: 1.254 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: A.Dillon (133.610 mph, 23.576 seconds)
Caution Flags: 9 for 44 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A.Dillon 0; J.Barkshire 1-18; K.Kahne 19-41; J.Barkshire 42-62; K.Kahne 63-71; A.Dillon 72-76; S.Park 77-94; M.Gallegos 95-125; M.Davis 126-128; M.Kobyluck 129; M.Davis 130-139; M.Kobyluck 140; M.Davis 141-184; B.Ickler 185-200.
NASCAR Camping World Series West Standings: 1. M. David, 656; 2. E. Holmes, 606; 3. J. Barkshire, 590; 4. A. Cameron, 581; 5. M. Smith, 566; 6. J. Inglebright, 553; 7. J. Jefferson, 550; 8. J. Patison, 550; 9. J. Bowles, 550; 10. M. Gallegos, 520.
NASCAR Camping World Series East Top 10: 1. M. Davis, 350; 2. A. Dillon, 336; 3. B. Ickler, 306; 4. T. Bayne, 298; 5. S. Park, 284; 6. B. Stancill, 280; 7. R. Carmichael, 273; 8. J. Hernandez, 262; 9. E. MacDonald, 260; 10. J. Hayes, 255.
