Gary Lee Maier Wins Again at Lincoln County Raceway
By Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE (May 26) - The National Championship Racing Association and American Sprint Car Series-Rocky Mountain 360 Sprint Cars met at Lincoln County Raceway on May 26 to do battle on the 3/8-mile race track. Thirty cars from as far east as Lincoln, as far west as Rock Springs, Wyo., and as far south as Amarillo, Tex. came to do battle. At the end of the night, Gary Lee Maier of Cimarron, Kan. Was the man standing in front of the grandstand with the A Feature winner’s trophy. The Mini-Sprint class ran as well, and their A Feature was taken by Jeremy Herbst of North Platte.

Four big heat races were run at the beginning of the night for the 360 Sprint Cars. The top sixteen in passing points qualified for the A Feature, with everyone else being sent to the B Main. The opening heat race found Gary Lee Maier pacing the way at lap times in the low 17-second range en route to the win over Lincoln’s Mike Chadd and the rest of the field. In the second heat race, Jason Danley of Lincoln stayed out front of Waverly driver Stuart Snyder for that win. Don Droud, Jr. continued a Lincoln streak by taking the third heat win. J. D. Johnson of Goddard, Kan. took the last heat race win. The top six cars in passing points aligned for the Nebraskaland National Bank Cash Dash, and five laps later, Gary Lee Maier had earned the pole for the A Feature as well as a $100 check.

The B Feature was a wild affair, as twelve cars had to battle to finish in the top four spots to gain the last four A Feature starting spots. On the opening lap, David Kubart of North Platte and Allan Unruh of Valley Center, Kan. turned their cars upside down in the first corner. No one was injured. Bob Schaeffer of Glenwood Springs, Colo., who’s car had smoking issues in the heat race, was trying to smoke the field, as he blasted out to a lead. Single car spins kept the field close. With a few laps to go, the cork came out of Scott Corken’s motor while he was running in fourth place, dropping the Denver driver out of contention. North Platte racer Tommy Lee Williams inherited the spot, but was challenged near the end by Josh Flood of Arvada, Colo. On corner two of the final lap, the two made contact and spun, allowing A. J. Selenke of Wichita, Kan. to get by and earn the fourth and final transfer spot, joining winner Schaeffer, Keith Rauch of Thornton, Colo., and Jace Pennetta of Arvada, Colo.

After driver introduction, the 360 Sprint Cars aligned for a twenty-five lap A Feature. Unlike the last time they were here last August, the race did not go caution-free. A spin at the completion of lap one strung the twenty car field out single file for the restart. Five laps later, the red flag came out, and racing stopped when B Feature winner Bob Schaeffer rolled in corner four. He was not injured, but the cars had to stop while the wreck was cleaned up. After another spin on the same lap, the field finally settled down and ran the last nineteen laps clean of yellow or red flags.

Gary Lee Maier had the lead at the drop of the green flag, and early on, had a healthy lead on Stuart Snyder. The longer the race went, the stronger Snyder seemed to get, and was able to close in Maier on more than one occasion. Maier said after the race that as his tires were going away, he was moving more towards the bottom of the track, and felt if anyone wanted to go by, they needed to go to the high side. Snyder was unable to get his car to want to go up top, and in the final few laps, Maier snuck away for a safe lead and take his 58th NCRA 360 A Feature win. He was also the winner the last time the NCRA Sprint Cars raced at Lincoln County Raceway in August of 2006. Snyder settled for second place. In the waning laps, C. J. Johnson was able to use a lapped car to help get by J. D. Johnson (no relation) and take the third place spot at the finish. J. D. was followed at the finish line by Don Droud, Jr., Mike Chadd, Mike Peters of Wichita, Kan., Nick Haygood of Centennial, Colo., Derek Drown of Amarillo, Tex., and Jon Freeman of Salina, Kan. Drown was the biggest advancer in the race, as he went from fourteenth at the start to ninth at the finish.

Jeremy Herbst was doing double duty for the night, running a Mini-Sprint as well as a 360 Sprint. Besides being the only North Platte driver to make the 360 Sprint A Feature, he took home yet another big win in the Mini-Sprint A Feature. Josh Sabin of North Platte had a good run in the heat race, taking the win, but could only muster second place in that class’s main event. J. R. Way of Lexington held off Arden Myers of McCook and Josh Webster of North Platte in the best battle on the track, that for third place.

The next race at Lincoln County Raceway will be Saturday, June 2. The IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, and IMCA Hobby Stocks will rejoin the Mini-Sprints for the night. They all will be joined by the Mod Lites. The gates open at 5 PM, and the races will start at 7 PM, CDT.

May 26 results
NCRA 360 Sprints
Heat 1
11X-Gary Lee Maier
4-Mike Chadd
6-Mark Wallinder

Heat 2
82-Jason Danley
2D-Stuart Snyder
81-Jon Freeman

Heat 3
1X-Don Droud, Jr.
45X-C. J. Johnson
51-Mike Peters

Heat 4
98-J. D. Johnson
27-Patrick Bourke
18-Jeremy Herbst

Cash Dash
11X-Gary Lee Maier
2D-Stuart Snyder
98-J. D. Johnson

B Feature
93-Bob Schaeffer
71-Kevin Rauch
7J-Jace Pennetta
43-A. J. Selenke
74-Zack Merritt--Greeley, Co.
7-Roger Sundquist--Loomis
29T-Tommy Lee Williams (DNF)--North Platte
31X-Josh Flood (DNF)--Arvada, Co
77-Mark Sweet (DNF)--Rock Springs, Wy
11-Chad Corken (DNF)--Denver, Co.
57-Allan Unruh (DNF)--Valley Center, Ks.
44K-David Kubart (DNF)--North Platte
9J-Mark Schmidt (DNS)--Lincoln
9M-Ricky Montgomery (DNS)--Denver, Co

A Feature
11X-Gary Lee Maier--Cimarron, Ks
2D-Stuart Snyder--Wisner
45X-C. J. Johnson--Quinter, Ks.
98-J. D. Johnson--Goddard, Ks.
1X-Don Droud, Jr.--Lincoln
4-Mike Chadd--Lincoln
51-Mike Peters--Wichita, Ks.
1-Nick Haygood--Centennial, Co.
31RB-Derek Drown--Amarillo, Tx.
81-Jon Freeman--Salina, Ks.
27-Patrick Bourke--Edwards, Co.
6-Mark Wallinder--Wheatridge, Co.
16-Scott Cochran--Denver, Co.
71-Kevin Rauch--Thornton, Co
18-Jeremy Herbst--North Platte
7J-Jace Pennetta--Arvada, Co.
82-Jason Danley (DNF)--Lincoln
43-A. J. Selenke (DNF)--Wichita, Ks.
93-Bob Schaeffer (DNF)--Glenwood Springs, Co.
4P-Todd Plemonds (DNF)--Arvada, Co.

Mini-Sprints
Heat
23S-Josh Sabin
20-Jeremy Herbst
42-Arden Myers

A Feature
20-Jeremy Herbst--North Platte
23S-Josh Sabin--North Platte
28-J. R. Way--Lexington
42-Arden Myers--McCook
9-John Webster--North Platte
2K-Kurt Morland--North Platte
27-Suzanne Way (DNF)--North Platte
10-Lance Bennett (DNF)--Parker, Co.
25-Toph Harmon (DNS)--Holbrook