Daniels wins BST mod feature at Wakeeney
By Mike Hughes

WAKEENEY, KS (April 29)—Wakeeney (KS) Speedway kicked off the 2007 season in a big way Sunday evening, April 29, as over 70 race teams gathered for competition.

Forty IMCA Modifieds checked in, including several cars from the BST Modified tour from Colorado. After 5 heat races and two B-features, the 20-car field was set for the 20-lap main event. Wichita’s Bryan Lariviere led the first 2 laps before Dustin Daniels of Zurich took over a lead he would not relinquish. Three caution flags kept the field close, but each time Daniels was able to slowly pull away. Lariviere, David Murray, Nate Schaben and Jerry Phillips chased Daniels but could not catch him. Late in the race however, after Murray passed Lariviere for the runner-up spot, he slowly reeled in the leader but ran out of laps and had to settle for second. Lariviere, Schaben and Phillips rounded out the top five. Heat race winners were John Fabrizius, Daniels, Jason Schoenberger, Corey Lagroon, and Lariviere. Oklahoma’s Cody Gearhart and Murray were victorious in the two B-features.

Josh Hudson and Tyler Hahn battled early for the top spot in the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature. But Rexford’s Ryan Wark worked his way from 8th to first on lap 8, trailed by Hudson, Hahn and Cory Struckhoff. A late race caution on lap 17 when Galen Waggoner had a motor let go bunched the field up for the finish, but Wark held on to the checkers, trailed by Struckhoff, Hudson, Dan Lauer, and Hahn. Wark and Struckhoff won the 2 heat races.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks made their debut at Wakeeney with 18 cars checking in. Gene Sneath took the lead on the opening lap, but was passed one lap later by B.J. Dauer. But Dauer’s night ended on lap 9 of the 15-lap feature when he came to a stop. Jerry Hudson then took the lead, followed by Kelly Karnopp, Brian Conness and Josh Latka. The final caution flag waved on lap 14 when Conness and Duane Wahrman made contact on the backstraight, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Hudson held off the field for the victory, followed by Wahrman, Latka, Shannon Maughlin and Brian Hilbert. But Wahrman, Latka and Maughlin were all DQ’d in post-tech, moving Hilbert up to second and Adam Balthazor, Sneath, and Deric Funk to the top five. Heat race winners included Karnopp, Balthazor and Hudson.

Ron Watson of Junction City and Tony Driscoll of Russell teamed up to win the Cruiser/Econo feature. The duo took the lead on lap 11 of the 12-lap race when leaders John McGuire & Alfred Emmons got high coming out of turn 4, making contact with the outside guardrail. Joe & Jim Carter also got by and placed second with McGuire & Emmons recovering to finish third. Watson & Driscoll also won the heat race.

Racing action returns to Wakeeney Speedway Sunday evening, May 13, with the regular 4 divisions in action. The green flag waves at 6:00 p.m.



RESULTS

IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Kelly Karnopp, 2. Chris Lohrey, 3. Gene Sneath, 4. Joe Couse.

Heat 2: 1. Adam Balthazor, 2. Jay Hrabe, 3. Brett Glassman, 4. Deric Funk.

Heat 3: 1. Jerry Hudson, 2. B.J. Dauer, 3. Brian Conness, 4. Brian Hilbert.

Feature: 1. Hudson, 2. Hilbert, 3. Balthazor, 4. Sneath, 5. Funk, 6. Michael Lauber, 7. Couse, 8. Cody Zimmerman, 9. Conness (DNF), 10. Glassman (DNF), 11. Karnopp (DNF), 12. Hrabe (DNF), 13. Dauer (DNF), 14. Lohrey (DNF), DQ’d – Duane Wahrman, Josh Latka, Shannon Maughlin.

IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1: 1. Ryan Wark, 2. Travis Towns, 3. Willie Wynn, 4. Tyler Hahn.

Heat 2: 1. Cory Struckhoff, 2. Josh Hudson, 3. Travis Sherfick, 4. Jason Rogers.

Feature: 1. Wark, 2. Struckhoff, 3. Hudson, 4. Dan Lauer, 5. Hahn, 6. Rogers, 7. Terry Cunningham, 8. Sherfick, 9. Towns, 10. Galen Waggoner (DNF), 11. C.J. Pfannenstiel (DNF), 12. Wynn (DNF).

IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. John Fabrizius, 2. Jeremy Zorn, 3. John Fose, 4. Randy Porter.

Heat 2: 1. Dustin Daniels, 2. Mike Petersilie, 3. David Murray Jr., 4. Mark Zorn.

Heat 3: 1. Jason Schoenberger, 2. Jerry Phillips, 3. Ronnie Hill, 4. Clifford Lawson.

Heat 4: 1. Corey Lagroon, 2. Nate Schaben, 3. Jeff Tubbs, 4. Kevin Christenson.

Heat 5: 1. Bryan Lariviere, 2. Matt Fabrizius, 3. Robby Haines, 4. Nick Tubbs.

B-Feature #1 (top 5 transfer): 1. Cody Gearhart, 2. Haines, 3. David Garman, 4. Fose, 5. Hill, 6. M. Zorn, 7. Christenson, 8. Don Shepard, 9. Mike Keiter, 10. Jim Bell, 11. Marty Clark, 12. Wes O’Bannon, 13. Kenny Schmidt, 14. Milo Lippelmann, 15. Bill Brack (DNF).

B-Feature #2 (top 5 transfer): 1. Murray, 2. Lawson, 3. Will Brack, 4. Darrick Klima, 5. N. Tubbs, 6. Craig Colgin, 7. Joe Mullins, 8. Rob Day, 9. Porter, 10. Dick Brack, 11. John Lashell, 12. Kyle Rohleder (DNF), 13. Barry Maupin (DNF), 14. J. Tubbs (DNF), 15. Jeremy Frenier (DNS).

A-Feature: 1. Daniels, 2. Murray, 3. Lariviere, 4. Schaben, 5. Phillips, 6. J. Zorn, 7. Klima, 8. Haines, 9. Schoenberger, 10. Lagroon, 11. J. Fabrizius, 12. W. Brack, 13. Gearhart, 14. M. Fabrizius, 15. Hill, 16. Lawson, 17. Petersilie, 18. Fose, 19. Garman, 20. N. Tubbs (DNF).

Cruisers/Econos
Heat: 1. Tony Driscoll/Ron Watson, 2. Joe Carter/Jim Carter, 3. Alfred Emmons/John McGuire, 4. Travis Blide/Daniel Ernin.

Feature: 1. Driscoll/Watson, 2. Carter/Carter, 3. Emmons/McGuire, 4. Todd Lutters, 5. Blide/Ernin, 6. Don Strecker.