Berck Bests CLMA Field at Lincoln County Raceway
By Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE. (July 8, 2006) - A big crowd showed up for the Colorado Late Model Association Topless race at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte on July 8. The Late Models went without roofs, but had all of the horsepower under the hoods they could take, and then some. Kyle Berck of Marquette went home with the $1,500.00 winners check. Zach Schultz of North Platte and Toph Harmon of Holbrook were also A Feature winners in their classes.

The 21 CLMA Late Models were divided up into three heat races. Rookie driver Zeke Hanger of Henderson, Colo. showed Kyle Berck and the rest of the field the fast way around the track in the ten lap event. In the second heat race, Jim Beaman of Henderson, Colo. topped the likes of Aurora’s Mike Wiarda and defending CLMA champion Jim Clifton of Fort Morgan, Colo. The third heat race was a wild affair, and less than half of the field finished the race. John Kuchar continued the Henderson, Colo. winning streak by being the first survivor across the finish line, ahead of Valentine’s Ron Lee and Kerry Grandstaff of Brighton, Colo.

The top two cars in each heat race went to the cash dash. Zeke Hanger started on the pole and led the entire race. His Colorado cohorts Beaman and Kuchar finished in second and third place, while the three Nebraska drivers, Berck, Wiarda, and Lee, finished in the back. After the race, the six drew for positions, and the tables were turned, with Wiarda drawing the pole for the 40 lap feature, Berck drawing the outside front row spot, and Lee drawing number three. The rest of the CLMA drivers then came out and were introduced to the crowd.

All 21 cars started the main event. Kyle Berck jumped to the lead early, followed by Wiarda and Kuchar. At times, Berck’s car seem to jerk away from its projected path going around the corner as Berck would apply a heavy foot on the brakes to get him aligned for the straightaway, and that kept him within eyesight of Wiarda. The leaders got into lap traffic on lap twenty, and that proved the end of Wiarda, as he ran into the back of a slower car and broke a spindle. Behind them Beaman and Kuchar were joined in battle with Milliken, Colo., driver Dave Garmann and Kearney favorite Bo Egge. After the caution on lap twenty, that became a battle for second place, as Berck was able to drive away to over a straightaway lead in the last fifteen unabated laps. Garmann would be able to work his way to the second place finish, ahead of Kuchar. Egge finished in fourth, despite fuel pickup problems, and Beaman finished in fifth. Zeke Hanger hung around to finish in sixth place, ahead of Craig Baukema of Elizabeth, Colo., and Clifton. Chris Cox of Northglenn, Colo. made the biggest jump of the night, starting in nineteen, and finishing in ninth place. Rick Lieser of Commerce City, Colo. Rounded out the top ten.

The IMCA Stock Cars ran a fast twenty lap race, despite four quick cautions. The lead changed twice in the first three laps when heat race winner Stew Holmes of North Platte took the lead from Dan Eller on lap two, and heat winner Zach Schultz took it from Holmes on lap three. Holmes ran with Schultz for a while, and the two were joined by Bryan Hagan of Culbertson and Kenny McCarty of North Platte. McCarty was out of contention after he jumped the gun on a restart on lap sixteen. He did salvage eighth place. Heat winner Todd Chrisman of North Platte joined the fray at the top four, and got by Holmes and Hagan. Schultz was too strong and took the Stock Car win for the second straight week. Chrisman was followed by Hagan and Holmes, who made his first trip to the claim area in a Stock Car. Mikey Dancer of North Platte danced to a fifth place finish.

The Mini-Sprints pulled a topless surprise of their own, and ran without their top wings. They pulled another when they clicked off their twenty lap A Feature without a caution, and with all thirteen starters running at the finish. Toph Harmon, who won his first ever A Feature at Dawson County Raceway two weeks ago, jumped on the accelerator at the start of the race and took off with the lead. Point leader Rick Putnam of Gothenburg had to work some traffic to move up to second place with about five laps to go, but by then, Harmon had checked out and got the elusive Lincoln County Raceway win he has sought for at least the last three years. Jamey Kennicutt of Gothenburg finished the race in third place, ahead of Arden Myers of McCook and Jeremy Herbst of North Platte. Putnam and Cozad driver Meddie Cote won the Mini-Sprint heat races.

The next night of racing at Lincoln County Raceway will be on Saturday, July 15, with a 7 PM start time. The IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Hobby Stocks will be back on the card, along with the IMCA Stock Cars and Mini-Sprints.



July 8 Results
CLMA Late Models
Heat 1
72-Zeke Hanger
14-Kyle Berck
4-Dave Garmann

Heat 2
20-Jim Beaman
15W-Mike Wiarda
1C-Jim Clifton

Heat 3
02-John Kuchar
31X-Ron Lee
45-Kerry Grandstaff

Cash Dash
72-Zeke Hanger

A Feature
14-Kyle Berck
4-Dave Garmann
02-John Kuchar
1X-Bo Egge
20-Jim Beaman
72-Zeke Hanger
R24-Chris Baukema
1C-Jim Clifton
48C-Chris Cox
24L-Rick Lieser
86-Sten Johnson
21D-Shane Lewis
25-Scott Cimfl
85-Nick Murdock
6-Chad Whipple (DNF)
45-Kerry Grandstaff (DNF)
31X-Ron Lee (DNF)
15W-Mike Wiarda (DNF)
16B-Jason Schobinger (DNF)
20B-Andrew Blakemore (DNF)
3-Gary Long (DNF)

IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1
11-Todd Chrisman
64-Kenny McCarty
45-Mikey Dancer

Heat 2
18-Stewart Holmes
25H-Bryan Hagan
75-Dan Eller

Heat 3
55Z-Zach Schultz
5S-Shane Stout
7-Jeremy Halouska

A Feature
55Z-Zach Schultz
11-Todd Chrisman
25H-Bryan Hagan
18-Stewart Holmes
45-Mikey Dancer
4K-Kent Lower
8-Jeff Ward
64-Kenny McCarty
7-Jeremy Halouska
47jr-Russ Small, Jr.
69-Adam Kackmeister
12J-Kerry Jones
5S-Shane Stout (DNF)
75-Dan Eller (DNF)
24KC-Casey Werkmeister (DNF)
42KC-Kyle Werkmeister (DNS)

Mini-Sprints
Heat 1
1-Meddie Cote
15-Jamey Kennicutt
23S-Josh Sabin

Heat 2
4-Rick Putnam
28-J. R. Way
25-Toph Harmon

A Feature
25-Toph Harmon
4-Rick Putnam
15-Jamey Kennicutt
42-Arden Myers
20-Jeremy Herbst
9-Trent Hansen
28-J. R. Way
23S-Josh Sabin
1-Meddie Cote
2X-John Webster
5-Randy Miller
7-Tom Koster
3H-Bobby Houser
14-Troy Douglas (DNS)