Story by Kelly Ninas
The fast paced racing action at Dawson County Raceway in Lexington, Nebraska was as good as advertised with drivers coming from Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa in attempts to punch their ticket to the winners circle on Sunday evening.
Punching their ticket to the winners circle with feature winning drives was Josh Leonard, Anthony Roth, Jacob Olmstead, Mike Nichols and Caleb Hetrick.
Blasting onto the scene with authority, the NeSmith Late Models returned to Dawson County Raceway with their own version of fireworks. Reigning NeSmith Late Model National Champion Josh Leonard of Gibbon did everything he could and more to hold off any and all challengers after gaining the lead in the early going of the feature evening. Leonard saw a slide job by Cory Dumpert on the second to last restart but it wasn’t enough to rattle Leonard, who stayed up on the wheel to score the feature victory. After being involved in the caution flag with very few laps remaining, Cory Dumpert of York was motivated to pilot his hot rod back onto the podium. In the waning laps, Dumpert was able to make it onto the podium with a runner-up finish. Coming from his fourth row starting position to the podium finish was Chris Buller of Henderson. Buller continued to gain confidence and got faster throughout the feature event to cash in with a third place finish. JJ Rodeman of Grand and and York’s Les Siebert rounded out the top five in the feature event.
Leading the laps that mattered the most was Anthony Roth of Columbus during the IMCA Modified feature. Roth started in the fourth row and got shuffled off the backstretch during the early laps of the feature. Finishing strong would be an understatement to describe on the closing speed that the Roth hot rod had during the final laps to win the feature. Starting on the outside of the second row, North Platte’s Jay Steffens was the leader from the beginning of the feature until he was passed by Roth. Steffens set a blistering pace for much of the feature and forced the rest of the competitors to stay up on the wheel. Steffens was able to record the runner-up finish for his effort. Cashing in on the opportunity and his vast experience, David Murray Jr of Oberlin, Kansas found the rhythm in the final laps to move into the lead group and finish third place overall. Justin Gregg of Doniphan and Cozad’s Colton Osborn rounded out the top five finishers of the feature.
Back in Black, Jacob Olmstead of Overton put on a dominating performance to win the IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature. Olmstead started on the inside of the second row and led from the onset to cruise to the victory. Getting off to a fast start and then staying out of trouble was rewarding for Jacob Slough of Doniphan to earn runner-up accolades., Slough displayed great consistency throughout the feature. Veteran wheelman Robert Leonard of Gibbon had a remarkable finish to earn third place honors. Leonard started the feature in the fifth row and showcased great patience working through traffic to the podium. Grand Island’s Tyler Andreasen and Ausitn Svoboda of David City crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The competition was fierce during the IMCA Stock Car feature. When all the smoke cleared on the feature event, the Harlan Hustler Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa was the victor. Nichols started the feature on the outside of the fifth row and rode the cushion into the lead early on. During the waning laps, runner-up finisher Mikey Dancer of North Platte was closing fast on Nichols. Dancer was able to gain ground on Nichols but it wasn’t enough as the checkered flag was waved and Dancer was forced to settle with runner-up honors. Norton Nightmare Casey Woken of Norton, Kansas had a great drive in his Chevy Monte Carlo to earn third place accolades after starting in the fifth row and working through traffic. Flyin’ Farmer Kyle Clough of Wallace and Gothenburg’s Jeff Whiting rounded out the top finishers in the feature in fourth and fifth place.
Being in the right place at the right time paid off dearly for Caleb Hetrick of Grand Island. Hetrick was among the leaders for much of the feature and he was within striking distance of the leaders when the white flag was waved. Awesome Luke Wassom of Broken Bow was leading the feature when he became engaged in a battle for the lead with Zach Olmstead of Overton during the final laps. It was the battle between Wassom and Olmstead that allowed Hetrick to not only get within striking distance, but take the point and lead the lap that mattered the most. Wassom was able to recover from the battle to finish in second place. Allyn Myers of Broken Bow was able to gain ground on the leaders during the battle as well to earn a third place finish after starting on the outside of the third row. Zach Olmstead of Overton was fourth place, just in front of the hard charging Tanner Clough of Wallace.
(Unofficial Results)
–NeSmith Late Model Feature: 1. 85-Josh Leonard; 2. 77-Cory Dumpert; 3. 14b-Chris Buller; 4. 25-JJ Rodeman; 5. 51-Les Siebert; 6. 23-Jacob Kubicka; 7. 83d-Denton Duncan; 8; 24-Todd Buller; 9. 5t-Tracy Harr; 10. 20v-Rece Vaught.
–IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 60iv-Anthony Roth; 2. XII-Jay Steffens; 3. 97m-David Murray Jr; 4. 7-Justin Gregg; 5. 50c-Colton Osborn; 6. 34jw-Casey Woken; 7. 39-Scott Eaton; 8. 50-Scott Smith; 9. 20b-Brandon Clough; 10. 19-Chuck Stryker.
–IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 88j-Jacob Olmstead; 2. 15d-Jacob Slough; 3. 85-Robert Leonard; 4. 13t-Tyler Andreasen; 5. 16-Austin Svoboda; 6. 8-Andrew Rayburn; 7. 12-Lukas Pohlmann; 8. 59-Tyler Rajdl; 9. 00-Jared Hackler; 10. 16j-Justin Svoboda.
–IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 63-Mike Nichols; 2. 45-Mikey Dancer; 3. 35jw-Casey Woken; 4. 11k-Kyle Clough; 5. 16w-Jeff Whiting; 6. 84-James Sheldon; 7. 2x-Travis Kernick; 8. 19-Dana Morgan; 9. 57-Dan Stoll; 10. 53e-Tyler Easterday.
–IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 44-Caleb Hetrick; 2. 2w-Luke Wassom; 3. 99m-Allyn Myers; 4. 98z-Zach Olmstead; 5. 1-Tanner Clough; 6. 12t-Tanner Jones; 7. 5-Chuck Ledbetter; 8. 88m-TC McKain; 9. 23en-Brandon Nelson; 10. 88-Morgan Olmstead.
