Bruce sweeps Wakeeney sprint car field
By Mike Hughes

WAKEENEY, KS (May 14, 2006) - Fans at Wakeeney (KS) Speedway were treated to some top-notch sprint car racing Sunday evening, May 14, as 36 cars under the NCRA/ASCS banner checked in for competition, with Liberal’s Tony Bruce Jr. sweeping the field.

After winning the second heat race, Bruce won the first pole dash to earn the right to start the 25-lap main event on the pole. C.J. Johnson lined up outside of Bruce, with Garry Lee Maier and Steve King in row two. Bruce took the lead at the drop of the green with Johnson in second, who gave way to King on lap 2. The lone caution of the race flew on lap 3 when Mark Walinder spun down the backstretch. Bruce led the field back to green, with King, Johnson, Maier and Jake Martens in tow. Bruce encountered lapped traffic on lap 9 but weaved his way through the field the rest of the way to make his way to victory lane and a clean sweep. King finished second, followed by Billy Alley, Maier and Johnson. Nick Haygood won the ‘B’ feature, while Jake Pierson won the ‘C’. Other heat race winners included Martens, Michael Woodruff, and Maier.

Salina’s Corey Lagroon found his way to the winner’s circle in the IMCA Modified division. John Fose led the first three laps before the first caution flag flew. On the restart, the second and third place cars of Ronnie Hill and Rob Day tangled, causing the yellow flag to fly once again. Fose led the field back to green but Lagroon passed Fose for the lead on lap 4 and led the remaining distance to the checkers. Jerry Phillips, Jeff Tubbs, Nick Tubbs and Fose rounded out the top five. Barry Maupin topped a 10-car B-feature field, while Jason Schoenberger, Jeremy Zorn, Day and Fose were victorious in the four heat races.

Jason Schoenberger of Gorham led all 20 laps of the IMCA Stock Car feature that went caution free with the exception of a four car tangle on the opening lap. Dan Lauer of Norton chased Schoenberger most of the race but could not get close enough to make the pass. Cory Struckhoff finished third, followed by Josh Hudson and Jason Rogers. Heat race winners were Schoenberger and Jason Davis.

Clinton Hockersmith of Oakley was victorious in the 15-lap Bomber main event. Hometown driver Kyle Rohleder led the first 9 laps before Hockersmith made the pass for the lead on the outside on lap 10. A caution on lap 12 bunched the field the final few laps but Hockersmith held on for the win, trailed by Rohleder, Tom Rosendahl, Brent Moss and Paul Fabrizius. Heat race included Tyler Kraus and Jeremy Blackwill.

The most exciting feature finish of the night was in the Cruiser division. After leading the first 8 laps of the 15-lap feature, heat two winners Kenny Cain & Jerry Bates of Lucas were passed by heat one winners Joe & Jim Carter of Russell. But as the leaders came out of turn 4 on the final lap, they tangled with a lapped car and spun, going across the finish line sideways. They were still the first ones to cross the line for the win, with Brett & Travis Glassman finishing second and Cain & Bates third.

The regular four divisions return to action at the 3/8-mile oval for the 6th Annual 2-day Memorial Challenge on Sunday and Monday, May 28-29. Race time each evening is 6:00 p.m.



RESULTS
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Jason Schoenberger, 2. Mitch Kline, 3. Jerry Teel, 4. Mike Petersilie.

Heat 2: 1. Jeremy Zorn, 2. Nick Tubbs, 3. Craig Colgin, 4. Rick Schwab.

Heat 3: 1. Rob Day, 2. Ronnie Hill, 3. Jeff Tubbs, 4. K.B. Murphy.

Heat 4: 1. John Fose, 2. Corey Lagroon, 3. R. Alan Dix, 4. Jerry Phillips.

B-Feature (top 4 advance): 1. Barry Maupin, 2. Marty Clark, 3. Jim Bell, 4. Doug Shearer, 5. Kenny Schmidt, 6. Lane Linthacum, 7. Milo Lippelmann, 8. Hunter Hembree, 9. Tim Leiker (DNF), 10. Kevin Hoeme (DNS).

A-Feature: 1. Lagroon, 2. Phillips, 3. J. Tubbs, 4. N. Tubbs, 5. Fose, 6. Teel, 7. Day, 8. Schoenberger, 9. Hill, 10. Kline, 11. Maupin, 12. Murphy, 13. Colgin, 14. Schwab, 15. Petersilie, 16. Bell, 17. Clark, 18. Shearer, 19. Dix (DNF), 20. Zorn (DNF).

IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1: 1. Jason Schoenberger, 2. Josh Hudson, 3. Tyler Hahn, 4. Jason Rogers.

Heat 2: 1. Jason Davis, 2. Cory Struckhoff, 3. Caleb Peters, 4. Travis Towns.

Feature: 1. Schoenberger, 2. Dan Lauer, 3. Struckhoff, 4. Hudson, 5. Rogers, 6. Towns, 7. Peters, 8. Davis, 9. Mike Giesenhagen, 10. Jay Hachmeister, 11. C.J. Pfannenstiel, 12. Hahn (DNF), 13. Terry Cunningham (DNF).

Bombers
Heat 1: 1. Tyler Kraus, 2. Brent Moss, 3. Clinton Hockersmith, 4. Paul Fabrizius.

Heat 2: 1. Jeremy Blackwill, 2. Kyle Rohleder, 3. Tom Rosendahl, 4. Josh Latka.

Feature: 1. Hockersmith, 2. Rohleder, 3. Rosendahl, 4. Moss, 5. Fabrizius, 6. Blackwill, 7. Latka, 8. Galen Waggoner, 9. Tyler Flax, 10. Kraus (DNF), 11. Don Strecker (DNF).

Cruisers
Heat 1: 1. Joe Carter/Jim Carter, 2. John Rhudolph/Amanda Maupin, 3. Darin Honeyman/Clinton Hockersmith, 4. Norman Wiechman/Milo Lippelmann.

Heat 2: 1. Kenny Cain/Jerry Bates, 2. Brett Glassman/Travis Glassman, 3. Tony Driscoll/Travis Vonfeldt, 4. Mary Nicks/Phil Nicks.

Feature: 1. Carter/Carter, 2. Glassman/Glassman, 3. Cain/Bates, 4. Honeyman/Hockersmith, 5. Rhudolph/Maupin, 6. Wiechman/Lippelmann, 7. Driscoll/Vonfeldt, 8. Brett Stokes/Jesse Herrman, 9. Nicks/Nicks, 10. Mike Wilson/?, 11. Brandon Hauptman/Travis Blide (DNS).

NCRA/ASCS 360 Sprint Cars
Heat 1: 1. Jake Martens, 2. C.J. Johnson, 3. Steve King, 4. Jeff Heffner, 5. Luke Cranston.

Heat 2: 1. Tony Bruce Jr., 2. Gary Taylor, 3. Nick Haygood, 4. Brian Herbert, 5. Shane Howard.

Heat 3: 1. Michael Woodruff, 2. J.D. Johnson, 3. A.J. Selenke, 4. Roger Sundquist, 5. Josh Fellows (DNF).

Heat 4: 1. Garry Lee Maier, 2. Jason Danley, 3. Patrick Bourke, 4. Billy Alley, 5. Marc Robe.

C-Feature: 1. Jake Pierson, 2. Jon Freeman, 3. Keith Rauch, 4. John Jacobs, 5. Chad Corken.

B-Feature: 1. Haygood, 2. Bourke, 3. Greg Schaefer, 4. Cranston, 5. Heffner.

A-Feature: 1. Bruce, 2. King, 3. Alley, 4. Maier, 5. C.J. Johnson, 6. Martens, 7. Danley, 8. J.D. Johnson, 9. Bourke, 10. Taylor, 11. Woodruff, 12. Haygood, 13. Cranston, 14. Rauch, 15. Pierson, 16. Herbert, 17. Selenke, 18. Walinder, 19. Eric Miller, 20. Heffner.