Opening night checkers at Indee are record tying third for Cordes

Hobby Stock, Modified, Northern SportMod, Results, Sport Compact, Stock Car

Troy Cordes raced to a record-tying career third opening night Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win Saturday at home track Independence Motor Speedway. (Photo by Black Hat Photography)

INDEPENDENCE, Iowa (April 13, 2024) – Troy Cordes was quick to put a tough 2023 season in the rearview.

Cordes won the opening night feature for Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds for the record-tying third time Saturday at Independence Motor Speedway. The checkers were also his career 143rd in the class dating back to 1996.

“Last year we struggled pretty hard and only won once, at Columbus Junction,” said the Dunkerton driver. “Hopefully we’ll be back on track this season.”

Cordes already had opening night trophies from 2000 and 2020 on his mantle. In addition to matching Vern Jackson’s mark with his third opening night Modified win, he also put an end to the streak of 19 different opening night winners in the division at Indee.

“It’s a good way to start the year. Independence is 20 minutes from home and it’s where I grew up,” said Cordes, who leads all Modified drivers at Independence with seven career track titles and 53 feature wins. “We’ve been coming here every Saturday night since I started racing.”

Modifieds have run at Independence for 42 years. Other than Cordes and Jackson, Steve Droste is the only other driver with multiple opening night wins – two – in those four plus decades.

Now tied with Michigan’s Myron DeYoung for 27th place on the all-time IMCA Modified wins list and a 16-time track champ over the course of his career, Cordes will also be a regular at Benton County Speedway in Vinton this season.

He’ll also hit select specials and follow the Dakota Classic Tour. He’d been champion of the 17th annual tour in 2006.

Also winning IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing opening night features at Independence were Tom Schmitt in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars; Joren Fisher in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks; Brandon Tharp in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods; and Devin Jones in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts.

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