Battling until the bitter end, the competitors all were at their best in hopes of taking home the coveted hardware at the 5th Annual Connie Jewett Memorial Championship Night at Dawson County Raceway on Sunday evening with many special guests coming from far and wide in hopes of taming the dirt oval in Lexington, Nebraska.
Earning rave reviews for their efforts by punching their ticket to the Coca-Cola Winners Circle was: Kenny Schrader, Blaine Walt, Mike Nichols, Luke Wassom and Brianna Maughlin.
Starting on the inside of the third row of the IMCA Modified Feature, it didn’t take long for Nascar Legend Kenny Schrader of Dittmer, Missouri to be among the leaders while challenging for the lead. Schrader was able to garner the lead and never look back just past the halfway point of the twenty-lap feature event to earn the victory. Making his first appearance at the Lexington dirt oval of the season, Daniel Gottschalk of Ellis, Kansas showed no rust on driving his way to the runner-up finish, numerous times putting heavy pressure on Schrader during the waning laps. Earning the hard charger accolades for the IMCA Modifieds, was Clay Money of Penokee, Kansas as he weaved through traffic swiftly to get his ‘monies’ worth in driving to a third place finish after starting the feature in the seventh row. Jeremy Frenier of Ft. Morgan, Colorado and Anthony Roth of Columbus, Nebraska rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth overall.
When all the smoke cleared, Blaine Walt of Collyer, Kansas was declared the victor in the IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature. Walt was able to earn the victory despite being involved in a last lap incident that took out the leaders in the yellow-flag plagued feature event. Walt started the feature in the fourth row and was able to work his way into contention and grab the lead during the final laps before the last lap incident. Benefitting greatly from the last lap incident, was Ty Rogers of Somerton, Arizona; who was in the right place at the right time as he earned runner-up honors after starting in the seventh row of the feature when the green flag was dropped. Mr. Consistency, Cade Richards of Lincoln bided his time and stayed out of trouble to the tune of a podium finish in third place overall. Richards started next to Rogers in the seventh row at the onset of the feature. Staying out of trouble and being rewarded for their efforts was early leader Jamey Kennicutt of Gothenburg and Robbie Thome of Spalding, Nebraska, as they finished fourth and fifth overall.
Starting up front Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa led every lap of the IMCA Stock Car feature on his way to tying the All-Time, All divisions career wins record in IMCA history with his 557th feature victory. The Harlan Hustler was able to hold the lead and build up some breathing room throughout the feature after restarts to cruise to the victory. Keeping Nichols in his sights, Casey Woken of Norton, Kansas was able to stay with striking distance for much of the feature in the case that a bobble happened. Woken drove his way into the runner-up position early in the feature, and was forced to settle with runner-up accolades as Nichols didn’t bobble and Woken was running out of real estate on catching Nichols. Kyle Pfeifer of Hills City, Kansas returned to his old ways in having a good draw that put him in the third row of the lineup for the feature. Pfeifer was able to work his magic to get within the lead group during the second half of the feature to earn third place honors. Staying among the leaders for much of the feature, Kearney’s Bo Egge and Colin Heim of Hoxie, Kansas saw their efforts pay off dearly by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Taking advantage of the opportunity that presented itself, Luke Wassom was able to grab the lead and then do his best to hold onto the lead and win the IMCA Hobby Stock Feature. Wassom of Broken Bow was among the leaders, when brothers Jacob Olmstead and Zach Olmstead , both of Overton made contact and lost momentum and Wassom was able to rocket past them and never look back after starting on the inside of the second row at the onset of the feature. Putting the pressure on Wassom during the final laps was Jason Fusselman of Avoca, Iowa and Zach Olmstead, of Overton. The trio nearly passed the finish line side by side as they came out of corner four door-to-door to take the checkered flag. Fusselman came to the front after starting in the fifth row when the green flag was waved. Tyler Barribo of Grand Island and Jacob Olmstead of Overton were close behind the leaders and earned fourth and fifth place accolades for their efforts.
Brianna Maughlin was a force to be reckoned with as she set a blistering pace and was able to finish strong and win the IMCA Sport Compact feature event. Maughlin of Dighton, Kansas saw her first trip to Dawson County Raceway, a rewarding experience as she started in the second row and was able to garner the lead early on her way to winning the feature. Heavy hitter Rileigh Flohrs of Blue Hill has been ‘en fuego’ at Dawson County Raceway and had the opportunity to continue to play the hot hand, but it wasn’t enough to trump Maughlin and Flohrs was forced to settle with runner-up accolades. Coming from deep in the field, Jacob Schwab of Crete, Nebraska nearly drove the wheels of his hot rod as he drove from his eighth row starting position to finish third overall. Joe Nelson of Henderson and Steve Moock of Grand Island were able to keep their cars clean and out of harm’s way to earn fourth and fifth place accolades.
(Unofficial Results)
–IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 9-Kenny Schrader; 2. 3d-Daniel Gottschalk; 3. 7-Clay Money; 4. 17j-Jeremy Frenier; 5. 60iv-Anthony Roth; 6. 33by-Braxton Yeager; 7. 50c-Colton Osborn; 8. 20b-Brandon Clough; 9. 12a-Ayden Steffens; 10. 1000-Jimmy Reeves.
–IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 14w-Blaine Walt; 2. 8t-Ty Rogers; 3. 1r-Cade Richards; 4. 15k-Jamey Kennicutt; 5. 1t-Robbie Thome; 6. 6-Tony Gregg; 7. 88j-Jacob Olmstead; 8. 15d-Jacob Slough; 9. 24t-Thomas Etherton; 10. 69z-Zane Turner.
–IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 63-Mike Nichols; 2. 35jw-Casey Woken; 3. 54p-Kyle Pfeifer; 4. 1x-Bo Egge; 5. 6-Collin Heim; 6. 85-Robert Leonard; 7. 5d-Travis Demilt; 8. 66-Mike Vondrak; 9. 71-Andrew Dillenburg; 10. 19-Dana Morgan.
–IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 2w-Luke Wassom; 2. 55-Jason Fusselman; 3. 98z-Zach Olmstead; 4. 14jr-Tyler Barribo; 5. 45r-Jacob Olmstead; 6. 04-Sal Hernandez; 7. 77-Cody Williams; 8. 12t-Tanner Jones; 9. R89-Nate Refior; 10. 20-Tanner Clough.
–IMCA Sport Compact Feature: 1. 17m-Brianna Maughlin; 2. 14-Rileigh Flohrs; 3. 19j-Jacob Schwab; 4. 2ez-Joe Nelson; 5. 56-Steve Moock; 6. 85-Justin Smallcomb; 7. L2-Lonnie Lenser Jr., 8. 84d-Kaden Dady; 9. 23en-Jordan Encinger; 10. 47L-John Lee.
