With features to be made up from July 11 and a draw-redraw event for the regular show for the four classes made for plenty of action for the fans that came to watch the races during the Dawson County Fair. David Murray, Jr. of Oberlin, Kansas, Casey Werkmeister of Maywood, Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa, Vince Leibert of Lexington, Bryan Herrick of Curtis, and Jim Rayburn of Gibbon had the best seats in the house for the action, as they were the A Feature winners of the night.
The main event for the night was the IMCA Modified A Feature, promoted also as a Blood, Sweat, and Tears Modified Tour event. Jeremy Frenier of Fort Morgan, Colorado and David Murray drew the front row for the event, and it was Murray who took the lead. Frenier would get locked into a battle with Zane DeVilbiss of Farmington, New Mexico, a driver currently in the top ten in the IMCA Modified national point standings. Will and Matt Brack of Mead, Colorado were also involved in the battles for position, although they were mainly for second on back. Matt Brack did move in close on Murray just before a lap thirteen caution slowed the race, but on that final restart, Murray buried his foot and drove on for the win. During those last seven laps, most of the drivers had moved to the bottom of the track, which aided Will Brack, who had fallen as far back as seventh, to use the high line and finish in second place. Matt Brack defeated Frenier to the line for third place. Zach Schultz of North Platte ran mid-pack most of the race, but charged up to as high as third before dropping to fifth at the finish. Murray and Bo Egge of Kearney were the heat race winners.
In the early feature, it was Egge who paced the first half of the race. Unfortunately for him, three early cautions kept the field close and aided Murray, who started in row five, to move forward. Murray passed Egge after the half way point to pick up that feature win as well. Jeremy Herbst of North Platte was credited with third place after Frenier was scored lower after a couple of incidents on the track. Steve Aitken of Cozad and Josh Sabin of North Platte rounded out the top five.
Casey Werkmeister worked to the lead in the early IMCA Stock Car A Feature. He was followed closely by Cale Osborn of Cozad until the rear end gear in his car blew up. That moved Mike Nichols into second place, but that was all the farther he would advance. Ozzie Romero of Cozad charged at the end for a third place finish. Brothers Brandon and Kyle Clough of Wallace finished behind him in fourth and fifth places.
Nichols, Werkmeister, and Osborn were at the front of the pack again in the second Stock Car main event. Nichols drew the pole, and was ahead of Werkmeister and Osborn when they got together. Cale was able to resume, but the night was over for Casey. Nichols stayed ahead of Osborn and everyone else for the later feature win. Josh Grape of Bellwood finished in third place. Casey Woken of Ogallala got by Brandon Clough to finish in fourth place. Clough and Nichols were also able to gain heat race victories.
The first IMCA SportMod A Feature was the first event of the night, and it seemed like no one wanted to be in front. Dan Rheome of Kearney had the lap on lead one, but went too high in corner two, handing the lead over to Eric Steinmark. Steinmark did the same thing on the next lap, but a caution for someone else allowed him to return to the spot. After the next caution, Steinmark went into the pits, which put Bryan Herrick out front. Herrick enjoys being out front and showed that by pacing the remaining laps of the race. Shane Stout of North Platte, Robby Leonard of Gibbon, Colton Osborn of Cozad, and Brandon Leonard of Gibbon rounded out the top five.
After two qualifying heat races, won by Steinmark and Robby Leonard, the SportMods aligned again for the regularly scheduled A Feature. Shane Stout had the lead until the fifth lap when some wires shorted, the car lost power, and a fire ignited underneath the hood. Needless to say, his night was over. (And yet, I felt the need to say it anyway) Vince Leibert inherited the lead, but had to get there from the third row. When the race continued, he continued his nice drive and kept it in the groove to earn his second win of the year. Colton Osborn bettered his earlier finish by two spots, Herrick finished two spots further back, Robby Leonard finished in fourth, and Brandon Leonard fifth.
For the second time in three weeks, the IMCA Hobby Stock was not all that it appeared to be. Heat race winner Dillon Thompson of Campbell drew the outside front row for the event and pulled away from the field at the start. One caution halfway through the event brought the field back up to him, but when the green came back out, away he went and crossed the finish line in first place. Upon post-race inspection, tech officials found neoprene bushings that are not approved , and credited him with a fifth place finish. The win was given to Jim Rayburn of Gibbon. Rayburn started in row four and was using the high line to get towards the front while other drivers were fighting for lower ground. Jim has missed most of the racing season after breaking several bones in his face by an errant softball during a game. Michael Zerr of Ravenna, the other heat race winner, finished in second place. Jim Buss of Blue Hill came back from a flat tire on the final caution to earn third place, and Hunter Cantrall of Lexington, in his first race of the year, was credited with fourth.
The action of Dawson County Raceway can be seen again next Sunday, July 25. The regular four classes will return for action, and they will pit outside the track as they do every other race night other than during the fair race. That night will also be night eight of the Burger King Nine For Nine Challenge for the Modifieds. The gates will open at 5 p.m., and the races will start at 6:30 p.m.
July 18 Results IMCA Modified Makeup A Feature 97M-David Murray, Jr. 2-Bo Egge 20-Jeremy Herbst 7A-Steve Aitken 23S-Josh Sabin 4P-Dave Pedersen 13-Ethan Johnson 25-Toph Harmon 17J-Jeremy Frenier 19-Charles Stryker (DNF) 55Z-Zach Schultz (DNF) 15K-Jamey Kennicutt (DNF) XII-Jay Steffens (DNF) Heat 1 97M-David Murray, Jr. 15W-Will Brack 17J-Jeremy Frenier Heat 2 2-Bo Egge 16M-Matt Brack 4P-Dave Pedersen A Feature 97M-David Murray, Jr. 15W-Will Brack 16M-Matt Brack 17J-Jeremy Frenier 55Z-Zach Schultz 2-Bo Egge 87D-Chad Dolan 18Z-Zane DeVilbiss 4P-Dave Pedersen XII-Jay Steffens 23S-Josh Sabin 19-Charles Stryker 7A-Steve Aitken (DNF) 15K-Jamey Kennicutt (DNF) 13-Ethan Johnson (DNF) 25-Toph Harmon (DNF) 20-Jeremy Herbst (DNS) IMCA Stock Car Makeup A Feature 24W-Casey Werkmeister 63-Mike Nichols 33OZ-Ozzie Romero 20B-Brandon Clough 11K-Kyle Clough 35JW-Casey Woken 00-Sara Powers 12J-Kerry Jones 57-Dan Stoll 09H-Bob Hoing 57X-Scott Stoll (DNF) 24-Dan Walker (DNF) 6C-Cale Osborn (DNF) 42W-Kyle Werkmeister (DNS) 18-Jason Smidt (DNS) Heat 1 20B-Brandon Clough 72H-Jim Hagan 24W-Casey Werkmeister Heat 2 63-Mike Nichols 35JW-Casey Woken 12J-Kerry Jones A Feature 63-Mike Nichols 6C-Cale Osborn 14J-Josh Grape 35JW-Casey Woken 20B-Brandon Clough 33OZ-Ozzie Romero 12J-Kerry Jones 00-Sara Powers 57-Dan Stoll 09H-Bob Hoing 11K-Kyle Clough (DNF) 72H-Jim Hagan (DNF) 24W-Casey Werkmeister (DNF) 24-Dan Walker (DNF) 50-Colton Osborn (DNS) 57X-Scott Stoll (DNS) IMCA Hobby Stock Heat 1 89-Michael Zerr 29E-Jim Buss 93m1-Hunter Cantrall Heat 2 11-Dillon Thompson 72H-Kevin Hagan 76-Ben Hobbs A Feature 80-Jm Rayburn 89-Michael Zerr 29E-Jim Buss 93m1-Hunter Cantrall 11-Dillon Thompson 76-Ben Hobbs 99H-David Easterday 32-Lonnie Greuter 30pk-Ethan Kenney 72H-Kevin Hagan (DNF) 9A-Anthony Martin (DNF) 30A-Adam Morgan (DNF) 5-Chuck Ledbetter, Jr.(DNF) 66-Terry Eatherton (DNF) IMCA SportMods Makeup A Feature 0-Bryan Herrick 5S-Shane Stout 85-Robby Leonard 50-Colton Osborn 88-Brandon Leonard 68-Craig Howard 41-Kyle Vohland 1-Ted Kutsch 7R-Vince Leibert (DNF) 00-Eric Steinmark (DNF) 40-Dan Rheome (DNF) Heat 1 00-Eric Steinmark 50-Colton Osborn 68-Craig Howard Heat 2 85-Robby Leonard 7R-Vince Leibert 0-Bryan Herrick A Feature 7R-Vince Leibert 50-Colton Osborn 0-Bryan Herrick 85-Robby Leonard 88-Brandon Leonard 00-Eric Steinmark 41-Kyle Vohland 1-Ted Kutsch 68-Craig Howard 40-Dan Rheome 5S-Shane Stout (DNF) Source: Darin Racek |