Story by Kelly Ninas
Doing their best to brighten the skies and keep the storms away were the competitors that lit up the race track on Sunday evening at Dawson County Raceway in Lexington, Nebraska. Stepping into the spotlight after driving into the winners circle as feature victors were the quartet of Brandon Clough, Jacob Olmstead, Mike Nichols and Luke Wassom.
Lining up on the outside of the front row was just the starting position that Brandon Clough of Wallace needed to run away and hide by riding the cushion with great success on his way to winning the IMCA Modified Feature event. Clough was able to build up a lead and have breathing room between him and the rest of the field during the non-stop action of the modified feature. Wasting no time at all to make it into the lead group, Anthony Roth of Columbus was able to work from his third row starting position to the podium in the early going. Roth was doing his best to dent the deficit that he faced while chasing Clough, but it wasn’t enough in the end as Roth settled with a runner-up finish. Veteran wheelman David Murray Jr of Oberlin, Kansas started on the outside of the second row and was able to work around the bottom of the track as well as on the cushion in the final circuits to earn the third place accolades in the feature. Rounding out the top five finishers in the feature were Eddyville Flyer Chuck Stryker and Cale Osborn of Cozad in fourth and fifth place overall.
Stepping to the forefront was Jacob Olmstead as a result of winning his third straight feature in the IMCA Northern Sport Modified division at Dawson County Raceway. Olmstead of Overton was on the inside of the third row when the green flag dropped. Olmstead was able to garner the lead in the early going of the feature and cruise to the feature victory. Starting on the pole and leading the early circuits of the feature event was Cozad’s Jacob Wolsleben. Wolsleben was able to remain up on the wheel after losing the lead to be rewarded with a second place finish. Having one of his best finishes to date in the open wheel division, Eric Kackmeister of North Platte started on the outside of the second row and finished quite strong with a third place finish.
No stranger to the winners circle, Harlan Hustler Mike Nichols continues to be a force to be reckoned with in winning yet another IMCA Stock Car feature. Nichols started on the inside of the fifth row and found the low groove around the berm to be the fastest route to the front for his hot rod. Nichols was able to hold off any and all charges to claim the checkers. Flexing his muscle on the loud pedal, Jeff Whiting of Gothenburg was able to get to a podium position in lightning quick fashion. Whiting started on the inside of the fourth row, but it was very soon after the drop of the green flag that he was near the front where he would stay for the remainder of the feature to finish as the runner-up. Doing his best to work the cushion, it took a few circuits for the cushion to come around to the fast lane, and the benefactor was Mikey Dancer of North Platte. Dancer started the feature event on the outside of the fourth row and was able to flip the script in the final laps to finish third overall.
Putting on a dominating performance, Awesome Luke Wassom of Broken Bow lived up to his name and more in winning the IMCA Hobby Stock feature in fine fashion. Wassom was on the inside of the fourth row when the green flag dropped. Recovering quite nicely from an early lap incident, Tanner Clough of Wallace was able to cash in on opportunities presented to him to finish second overall. Clough was on the outside of the second row on the starting grid prior to the green flag being waved. Making a late charge to contend with Clough during the final laps was Allyn Myers of Broken Bow. Myers was on the outside of the third row when the feature started. He was able to work through traffic with authority to finish with third place accolades.
(Unofficial Results)
–IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 20b-Brandon Clough; 2. 60iv-Anthony Roth; 3. 97m-David Murray Jr; 4 19-Chuck Stryker; 5. 6c-Cale Osborn; 6. XII-Jay Steffens; 7. 50-Scott Smith; 8. 0hp-Bryan Herrick; 9. 50s-Kale Smith.
–IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 88j-Jacob Olmstead; 2. 01-Jacob Wolsleben; 3. 88-Eric Kackmeister; 4. 68-Craig Howard; 5. 59-Tyler Radjl; 6. 8-Andrew Rayburn; 7. 24j-Dennis Price Jr, 8. 15d-Jacob Slough.
–IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 63-Mike Nichols; 2. 16w-Jeff Whiting; 3. 45-Mikey Dancer; 4. 11k-Kyle Clough; 5. 84-James Sheldon; 6. 2x-Travis Kernick; 7. 53e-Tyler Easterday; 8. 19-Dana Morgan; 9. 57x-Scott Stoll; 10. 57-Dan Stoll.
–IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 2w-Luke Wassom; 2. 1-Tanner Clough; 3. 99m-Allyn Myers; 4. 12t-Tanner Jones; 5. 20b-Brady Henderson; 6. 88k-Jeremy Kinsey; 7. 5-Chuck Ledbetter; 8. 88m-TC McKain; 9. 96k-Sean Miller; 10. 88-Morgan Olmstead.
