Wallace, Schultz, Koch, and Putnam Ignite Lincoln County Raceway
By Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE (July 1, 2006) - The humidity was high at Lincoln County Raceway on July 1, and so was the quality of racing. Ronnie Wallace and Zach Schultz of North Platte, Jason Koch of Cambridge, and Rick Putnam of Gothenburg were high on the finishing order, as they took the four A Feature wins. Before the races, IMCA Stock Car driver Todd Chrisman of North Platte had his long locks cut to honor his promise that he would do that if he was able to raise $1,100 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. His total was over $1,400. The hair went to Locks of Love.

Promoter Gary Herbst set off the fireworks as the IMCA Modifieds began their 20 lap A Feature. Ronnie Wallace zipped to the lead from row three on the first lap and began to drive away. A caution on lap three bunched the field back up, putting Robby Haines of Benkelman and David Murray of Oberlin, Kan., on his tail. Murray got by Haines and then set his sights on Wallace. Both Haines and Murray were working the brakes on their cars hard, and you could see the rotors glow red. Despite a caution on lap 14 to cool things down, Murray’s brakes were gone, and his car shot off the track trying to avoid a stalled car on the next lap and ended up in the cable fence. Murray was uninjured and said the front bumper took most of the damage. When the race resumed, Wallace continued his dominance of the race to the end. Haines remained in second place, despite a challenge from Andrew Dillenburg of North Platte. Jim Mlady and Jay Steffens of North Platte rounded out the top five. Four heat races were run earlier in the night, and were won by Murray, Steffens, Charley Brown of Maxwell, and Jeremy Eatherton of Gibbon.

The IMCA Stock Cars put on a show for the crowd. Stewart Holmes of North Platte paced the first two laps of the A Feature, then was teamed up upon by North Platte drivers Mikey Dancer and Zach Schultz. Dancer took the lead on lap three, but was hounded by Schultz for the next seven laps. Zach took command on lap ten and would not be knocked from his post. Cash Dash winner Todd Chrisman moved up late in the race to garner second place, while Bryan Hagan of Culbertson got by Dancer in the waning laps to take third. Kenny McCarty of North Platte finished in fifth place. The top three finishers were also the three heat race winners.

Jason Koch took the lead on the opening lap of the IMCA Hobby Stock A Feature and never looked back. Heat race winner Austin Davis of Benkelman had some sparks coming out of the rear end of his car, during the race, but after the problem was deemed not dangerous by officials, drove his car to a second place finish. Thomas Lower of North Platte finished in third place, ahead of Eric Picquet of North Platte and Bruce Hagan, Sr. of Culbertson.

The Mini-Sprint A Feature had some good mini sprints towards the front of the field. Jeremy Herbst of North Platte captured the lead on the opening lap and set the pace for six laps. On lap seven, Josh Sabin of North Platte found his way from row four to take over. It looked as though Sabin would have his way with the event, until Rick Putnam hit the rocket booster and caught Josh in the waning laps. With just a little more than one lap to go, Putnam zoomed by Sabin on the backstretch and drove on for the A Feature win. Sabin was followed at the line by Herbst and the North Platte duo of Trent Hansen and Troy Douglas. Herbst and Hansen were the heat race winners.

Next week, Lincoln County Raceway will host the Colorado Late Model Association in the first of their topless mini-series. It will be the first time this Super Late Model group has run in North Platte. The IMCA Stock Cars and Mini-Sprints will run as well, with the other two regular classes getting the night off. Admission for this special show will be $12 for adults, $6 for children 6 - 12, and children under 6 will be allowed in for free. It will also be Military night, so people showing their military I. D. at the gate will be allowed in for $6. The gates open at 5 PM, and the races will start at 7 PM.

July 1 Results
IMCA Modified
Heat 1
4C-Charley Brown
19J-Jim Mlady
94H-Don Hagan, Jr

Heat 2
12J-Jay Steffens
9-R. C. Heil
83C-Chris Stevens

Heat 3
97M-David Murray, Jr.
9R-Robby Haines
3RW-Ronnie Wallace

Heat 4
1GE-Jeremy Eatherton
29S-Mike Saathoff
71-Andrew Dillenburg

A Feature
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
9R-Robby Haines
71-Andrew Dillenburg
19J-Jim Mlady
12J-Jay Steffens
9-R. C. Heil
4C-Charley Brown
69-Brad Turner
29S-Mike Saathoff
94H-Don Hagan, Jr
99-Bob Aspenleiter
A19-Art Porter
83C-Chris Stevens
20K-Kyle Clough
1GE-Jeremy Eatherton (DNF)
97M-David Murray, Jr. (DNF)
14-Jason Gallentine (DNF)
4P-Dave Pedersen (DNF)
4KJ-Terry Houchin (DNF)
20-Jeremy Herbst (DNS)
31-Dan Carl (DNS)

IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1
11-Todd Chrisman
7-Jeremy Halouska
64-Kenny McCarty

Heat 2
25H-Bryan Hagan
4K-Kent Lower
18-Stewart Holmes

Heat 3
55-Tony Schultz
69-Adam Kackmeister
47-Russ Small

Cash Dash
11-Todd Chrisman

A Feature
55Z-Zach Schultz
11-Todd Chrisman
25H-Bryan Hagan
45-Mikey Dancer
64-Kenny McCarty
5S-Shane Stout
18-Stewart Holmes
1R-Bill Dover
69-Adam Kackmeister
4K-Kent Lower
7-Jeremy Halouska
42KC-Kyle Werkmeister
47-Russ Small
8-Jeff Ward
47jr-Russ Small, Jr.
75-Dan Eller (DNF)
12J-Kerry Jones (DNS)

IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat
22-Austin Davis
74KO-Jason Koch
X5-Eric Picquet

A Feature
74KO-Jason Koch
22-Austin Davis
3T-Thomas Lower
X5-Eric Picquet
23H-Bruce Hagan, Sr.
33-Shane Klockman (DNF)
5-John Huffman (DNF)

Mini-Sprints
Heat 1
20-Jeremy Herbst
4-Rick Putnam
23S-Josh Sabin

Heat 2
9-Trent Hansen
3H-Bobby Houser
42-Arden Myers

A Feature
4-Rick Putnam
23S-Josh Sabin
20-Jeremy Herbst
9-Trent Hansen
14-Troy Douglas
42-Arden Myers
20X-Justin Mallo
7-Tom Koster
25-Toph Harmon
3H-Bobby Houser
16-Cory Mallo
8-Blaze Bennett (DNF)
28-J. R. Way (DNF)
2-Denny Hansen (DNF)