Thunder On The Plains Concludes with New Winners on June 23
By Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE (June 23) - “Thunder On The Plains” concluded on June 23 at McCook Speedway, and the fans were treated with some good racing and wild action. John Fabrizius of Colby, Kan., Zach Schultz and Alex Silos of North Platte, Kyle Bond of Kearney, and Loren Pollmann of Trenton were the best racers who stayed out of the wild action for the night, and took the five A Feature victories.

The start of the IMCA Modified A Feature was delayed for nearly twenty minutes after a switch to one of the light poles was tripped, leaving corner one in the dark. That gave the Modified drivers 20 more minutes to sit there and get more anxious for the race. When it was time to race, it took five tries to get one lap in. The worst incident was when Troy Douglas of Hershey launched his car up and over corner one after trying to avoid a car that had checked up. Douglas’s car rolled after hitting the ground. Fortunately, he was not hurt. When the race got going, cash dash winner Robby Haines of Benkelman found his way to the lead and tried to pull away. David Murray, Jr. of Oberlin, Kan. worked his way up to second and eventually caught Haines. The two had pulled away from the field when they caught up to a slower car. Haines got into the back of the slower car, checked up, and Murray ran into the back of him, resulting in the Haines machine going for a ride. The two were put to the back. Both showed their displeasure towards the driver of the slower car in a negative manner, and were disqualified for the night. Bryan Hagan of Culbertson inherited the lead, but only briefly, as John Fabrizius had his car set up right, took the lead from him, and zoomed away with the victory. Jay Steffens of North Platte made a late run to get by Hagan for second place. Bryan held on for his best Modified finish, third, ahead of Jeremy Frenier of Fort Collins, Colo., and Brandon Hagan of Culbertson. Don Hagan, Jr. of Culbertson, Murray, and Haines were the three heat race winners.

As rough as the IMCA Stock Car A Feature was the night before, the field of eighteen ran a very clean twenty lap event, slowed by only one caution. Zach Schultz took the lead from fellow North Platte driver Shane Stout on lap three. Schultz stayed out front for the entire race. Brady Koch of Cambridge got by Stout for second place. John Huffman of McCook started back in row five, but worked his way up to fourth place at the finish, ahead of fellow hometown driver Larry Pollmann. Schultz, Earl Woodward of Fort Morgan, Colo., and Bob Chalupa of McCook won the heat races. Chalupa also took the money in the cash dash win. The three IMCA classes had cash dashes, sponsored by Holiday Inn Express.

The weekend was tough on the IMCA Hobby Stocks, and mechanical issues on some of the cars prevented some of the drivers from making it to the A Feature. The ones that did put on a good race. Rookie Corey Cruzan of Maxwell took the early lead in the race, but the heat race winner was soon passed by Benkelman driver Michael Brunswig. Cash dash winner Kyle Bond worked his way from row four to second place, and with less than two laps to go, made his winning move on Brunswig. Benkelman drivers Austin Davis and Cody DeWester finished in third and fourth, while Ogallala driver Shane Klockman took home fifth place. Jason Koch of Cambridge was the other heat race winner.

For the first time this year, there were enough Classic Modifieds to run two heat races at McCook Speedway, with those being won by Max Pollmann of Trenton and Donny Sailors of McCook. After a restart, Loren Pollmann grabbed the lead, followed closely by Sailors. Max Pollmann had worked his way to third place and had hopes of winning his fifth straight main event at McCook when he spun out. He had to go to the back of the field, but did manage to get back to fifth place at the finish. His dad Loren spun as well, but it was not until after he went across the finish line ahead of the field, taking his first win in nearly two years. Sailors finished in second place, in spite of a good battle with Devin Allen of Culbertson. Allen took third place, with Jay Alberts of McCook finishing in fourth place.

The Mini Trucks were having a wild time all night. Sara Murray of Oberlin, Kan. won a wild heat race. The feature race was dotted with over a half dozen spins, and one truck sailing off of corner two. Alex Silos was doing his own sailing, as he got out front early and steered away from the rough waters behind him. Mike Schrader of Benkelman finished in second place. Jacob Olmstead of Overton came back from a trip off the track to finish in third place. Dalton Dolan of Oberlin, Kan. came back to McCook despite rolling the night before and finished in fourth place. Delbert Ridenour of Culbertson took fifth place.

The drivers and crew of McCook Speedway will get a week to rest after the weekend, then will come back on Saturday night, June 30 to do it all again. With it being a Saturday night race, the gates will open at 5 PM, Central Time, and the races will start at 7 PM, Central Time.


June 23 results
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1
97M-David Murray, Jr.
17J-Jeremy Frenier
5-Jeff Meeker

Heat 2
94H-Don Hagan, Jr.
42-John Fabrizius
21H-Brandon Hagan

Heat 3
9R-Robby Haines
12J-Jay Steffens
98-Eddie Edwards

Cash Dash
9R-Robby Haines

A Feature
42-John Fabrizius
12J-Jay Steffens
94-Bryan Hagan
17J-Jeremy Frenier
21H-Brandon Hagan
94H-Don Hagan, Jr.
98-Eddie Edwards
07S-Jay Schilling
36-Caleb Peters
29S-Mike Saathoff
10T-Todd Hartley
20K-Kyle Clough
23-Royce Clapp
5-Jeff Meeker (DNF)
1-Troy Douglas (DNF)
9R-Robby Haines (DQ)
97M-David Murray, Jr. (DQ)

IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1
79-Earl Woodward
5S-Shane Stout
3-John Huffman

Heat 2
55Z-Zach Schultz
05X-Brandon Anderson
413-Larry Pollmann

Heat 3
24-Bob Chalupa
32-Lloyd Meeske
76-Jason Davis

Cash Dash
24-Bob Chalupa

A Feature
55Z-Zach Schultz
25KO-Brady Koch
5S-Shane Stout
3-John Huffman
413-Larry Pollmann
11-Todd Chrisman
24-Bob Chalupa
50-Colton Osborn
8J-Charley Brown
25W-Ritchie Wickizer
76-Jason Davis
P42-Dave Plowman
05X-Brandon Anderson
79-Earl Woodward
32-Lloyd Meeske
9-Bob Rutherford
05-Jesse Taylor
20B-Brandon Clough (DNF)

IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1
8C-Corey Cruzan
0-Kyle Bond
20-Cody DeWester

Heat 2
74KO-Jason Koch
5W-Richard Boon
33-Shane Klockman

Cash Dash
0-Kyle Bond

A Feature
0-Kyle Bond
32M-Michael Brunswig
22-Austin Davis
20-Cody DeWester
33-Shane Klockman
16D-Todd Pankonin
5W-Richard Boon
8C-Corey Cruzan
74KO-Jason Koch (DNF)
70KO-Aaron Koch (DNS)
20H-Hunter Cantrall (DNS)

Classic Modifieds
Heat
P82-Max Pollmann
98-Matt Matson
26RT-Rick Touslee

Heat 2
1S-Donny Sailors
20-Jay Alberts
56E-Gene Geihsler

A Feature
P83-Loren Pollmann
1S-Donny Sailors
41A-Devin Allen
20-Jay Alberts
P82-Max Pollmann
26RT-Rick Touslee
98-Matt Matson
2-Trent Jollensten
56E-Gene Geihsler (DNF)
29B-Mike Brenning (DNF)

Mini-Trucks
Heat
97X-Sara Murray
34S-Mike Schrader
98X-Jacob Olmstead

A Feature
28-Alex Silos
34S-Mike Schrader
98X-Jacob Olmstead
3D-Dalton Dolan
69-Delbert Ridenour
14F-Royal Fisher
97X-Sara Murray
52-Dennis Wasson (DNF)
12J-Robin Runge (DNF)