Fabrizius wins on final lap at Norton
By Mike Hughes

NORTON, KS (May 26)—Colby’s John Fabrizius won a thrilling feature race, while Kensington’s Cory Struckhoff kept his winning streak intact in racing action at Elmwood Park Speedway in Norton, KS, Saturday evening, May 26.

The IMCA Modified feature saw four different leaders in the 20-lap event. Brandon Blochlinger led the opening lap before Rick Schwab took control. Schwab then gave way to Jason Schoenberger on lap 6 with Schwab and Marty Clark close behind. At the crossed flags, it was Schoenberger leading Clark, Schwab, Corey Lagroon, and John Fabrizius. Fabrizius had moved into the runner-up spot by lap 15 and slowly and steadily closed ground on the leader. Fabrizius pulled alongside Schoenberger a couple of times the last two laps, then powered around the leader in turn 4 on the final lap and beat Schoenberger to the checkers by less than a car-length. Lagroon placed third, followed by Bryan Lariviere and Clark. Heat race winners included Nate Schaben, Clark and Schoenberger.

Struckhoff kept his winning streak intact in the IMCA Stock Car division as he won his fourth feature in his last four outings. Jay Hachmeister took the lead at the drop of the green in the 20-lap main event, with Jason McCartney, Dan Lauer, Josh Hudson, Jason Davis, and Struckhoff in pursuit. The first of two caution flags waved on lap 9 when John Huffman spun and was hit by Arnold Williams. Then on the restart, Hudson spun and was tagged by both McCartney and Michael Zajic. When the green flag flew once again, Struckhoff passed Hachmeister on the restart and led the rest of the distance for the win. Heat one winner Davis finished second, followed by Hachmeister, Lauer, and Bob Rutherford. Struckhoff was victorious in the first heat.

Gene Sneath of Plainville led the first half of the 12-lap IMCA Hobby Stock feature before Marquette’s B.J. Dauer took the lead just past the halfway mark. Dauer was able to hold off Sneath to the checkers in the caution free race, with Kelly Karnopp, Dustin McClurg and Dustin Forsberg rounding out the top five. Sneath and Dauer won the two heat races.

The 4-cylinder Young Guns had a season high 8 cars check in for action. Alex Loveless led the first six laps of the 8-lap main event until the lone caution flew on lap 7 when heat one winner Donald Kleine broke and stalled. On the restart, Christopher Kleine of Las Cruces, NM, passed Loveless and led the final 2 laps for the win. Drew Eagleburger finished second, followed by Dale Heyen. Loveless won the other heat race.

The Cruisers/Econos were back in action and Josh & Chris Graczyk of Kearney, NE, passed lap one leader Hollister Jones on the second lap and drove away to the checkers. John Annon & Jeff Soderlund finished second, trailed by Jones. The Graczyks also won the heat race.

Racing action returns to the ½-mile oval on Saturday evening, June 9, with the regular five divisions. Race time is 7:00 p.m.



RESULTS

IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Gene Sneath, 2. Jerry Hudson, 3. Dustin McClurg, 4. Dustin Forsberg.

Heat 2: 1. B.J. Dauer, 2. Kelly Karnopp, 3. Frank McClurg, 4. Deric Funk.

Feature: 1. Dauer, 2. Sneath, 3. Karnopp, 4. D. McClurg, 5. Forsberg, 6. Hudson, 7. F. McClurg, 8. Phil Hinger, 9. Laura Hinger, 10. Funk, 11. Josh Latka (DNF).

IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1: 1. Jason Davis, 2. Jay Hachmeister, 3. Josh Hudson, 4. Jason McCartney.

Heat 2: 1. Cory Struckhoff, 2. John Huffman, 3. Michael Zajic, 4. Dan Lauer.

Feature: 1. Struckhoff, 2. Davis, 3. Hachmeister, 4. Lauer, 5. Bob Rutherford, 6. John Annon, 7. Arnold Williams, 8. Zajic (DNF), 9. McCartney (DNF), 10. Hudson (DNF), 11. Huffman (DNF), 12. Colton Osborne (DNS).

IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. Nate Schaben, 2. Brandon Blochlinger, 3. Corey Lagroon, 4. Jim Bell.

Heat 2: 1. Marty Clark, 2. Mike Petersilie, 3. Randy Wilson, 4. Rick Schwab.

Heat 3: 1. Jason Schoenberger, 2. John Fabrizius, 3. Bryan Lariviere, 4. Barry Maupin.

Feature: 1. J. Fabrizius, 2. Schoenberger, 3. Lagroon, 4. Lariviere, 5. Clark, 6. Schwab, 7. Schaben, 8. Blochlinger, 9. Petersilie, 10. Mark Zorn, 11. Maupin, 12. Wilson, 13. Bell, 14. Mitch Kline, 15. Gary Kline, 16. Brian Calhoon, 17. Doug Shearer, 18. Matt Fabrizius (DNS), 19. Hunter Hembree (DNS).

4-cylinder Young Guns

Heat 1: 1. Donald Kleine, 2. Dale Heyen, 3. Drew Eagleburger, 4. Tyrel Smith.

Heat 2: 1. Alex Loveless, 2. Christopher Kleine, 3. Dusty Eagleburger, 4. Elliott Conard.

Feature: 1. C. Kleine, 2. Drew Eagleburger, 3. Heyen, 4. Dusty Eagleburger, 5. Loveless, 6. Smith, 7. Conard, 8. D. Kleine (DNF).

Cruisers/Econos
Heat: 1. Josh Graczyk/Chris Graczyk, 2. Hollister Jones, 3. John Annon/Jeff Soderlund.

Feature: 1. Graczyk/Graczyk, 2. Annon/Soderlund, 3. Jones, 4. Joe Carter/Jim Carter (DNS).