Races Smooth and Fast at Lincoln County Raceway
By Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE (Aug 11) - When makeup A Features are on the schedule at any track, that usually means for a long night. However, at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte on August 11, six A Features, two B Features, and eight heat races, with a couple of breaks in the action to water the track, the show was completed in just three-and-a-half hours. David Murray of Oberlin, Kan., Justin Bussell of Imperial, and the North Platte trio of Zach Schultz, Thomas Lower, and Jeremy Herbst were the fastest ones on the smooth, fast tracks, taking the night’s A Feature wins. Intermission also had an unusual “helmet race” sponsored by Budke PowerSports in where drivers on motorcycles tried to break balloons off of other drivers’ helmets. Ronnie Wallace of North Platte bonked the balloons off of Jeremy Frenier of Fort Morgan, Colo. and Eric Sargent of North Platte to take the cash.

The IMCA Modifieds got the cautions out of their system in the make up A feature, having six stoppages for accidents in the twenty lap event. Robby Haines of Benkelman garnered the lead in the opening laps. Ronnie Wallace, who was celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first race at Lincoln County Raceway, inherited the lead after Haines’s car failed him on a restart on lap five. David Murray found his way to the lead a few laps later, and stayed out front to earn the win. Wallace held onto second place, followed by Jeremy Frenier, Jay Steffens of North Platte, and Luke Frosh of Ogallala.

The second IMCA Modified A Feature went caution-free, and all eighteen starters finished the race. Heat winner David Murray doubled his pleasure with A Feature wins, taking the lead from Robby Haines on lap twelve and never looked back. Lapped traffic did little to help Haines gain ground, as he finished in second place. Ronnie Wallace and Andrew Dillenburg were racing hard for third place on the straightaway. Dillenburg’s detour into the air slowed him enough to give Wallace the advantage. Dan Carl of North Platte finished in fifth. B Feature winner Jeremy Frenier placed sixth. Brandon Hagan of Culbertson and Wallace were the other two IMCA Modified heat race winners.

The make up IMCA Stock Car A Feature started like it was going to be halted by a bunch of caution periods. However, that race went the final eighteen laps without stoppage. Zach Schultz had a clear view of the blue sky in the lap one accident, as his car ramped over the rear end of McCook racer John Huffman’s car, sending him in the air. The landing didn’t hurt the car any, and Schultz took the lead from Buddy Brown of North Platte on lap eleven on his way of the early evening win. North Platte specialists Todd Chrisman and Mikey Dancer also got by Brown for second and third places. Stewart Holmes of North Platte stayed out of trouble to become the fifth driver to make it to the finish line.

The second IMCA Stock Car A Main had the only stoppage of the later features, but it was a scary moment. Dan Eller and Bill Dover of North Platte got together in corner four. Dover headed to the Jersey barrier near the pit exit, hit it, went over it, and landed near the fence of the grandstand pits. Dover complained of stiffness, but was able to walk away from the scene. Justin Bussell became the leader soon after the accident, taking the lead from Mikey Dancer. Dancer then became embroiled in a battle between John Huffman, who eventually took the spot and made a late drive towards the lead. He fell short of denying Bussell his second Lincoln County Raceway win of the year. Schultz passed Dancer in the closing laps for third place. Todd Chrisman rounded out the top five. Huffman, Dancer, and Chrisman took the three IMCA Stock Car heat race wins. Bussell’s teammate Shawn Bigham of Imperial won the B Feature.

Thomas Lower made only his second driving appearance in the IMCA Hobby Stock class, and looked like he had no rust. Lower took the lead on the opening lap and never looked back at the racing behind him. Ogallala driver Shane Klockman and Michael Brunswig of Benkelman, the heat race winners, raced a while for second place, allowing Lower to pull away. Klockman was finally able to get by Brunswig for second place. Brunswig faded to fourth, with Austin Davis of Benkelman getting by for third place. Miles White of North Platte rounded out the top five finishers.

Jeremy Herbst flexed his muscles in the Mini Sprint class, taking wins in the heat race and A Feature. The win also gave him an advantage in the points, as he and second place Josh Sabin of North Platte were tied going into the night. John Webster , North Platte, finished in third place. Arden Myers of McCook was the final finisher of the main event.

Lincoln County Raceway will be back in action on Saturday night, August 18. The open Late Models will join the regular four classes to put on the show. The gates open at 5 PM, and the races will start at 7 PM, Central Time.

August 11 results
IMCA Modified
July 14 make up A Feature
97M-David Murray, Jr.
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
17J-Jeremy Frenier
12J-Jay Steffens
11F-Luke Frosh
21H-Brandon Hagan
4P-Dave Pedersen
29S-Mike Saathoff
31-Dan Carl
2X-Mark Grubbs (DNF)
69-Brad Turner (DNF)
14-Jason Gallentine (DNF)
71-Andrew Dillenburg (DNF)
19J-Jim Mlady (DNF)
9R-Robby Haines (DNF)
20K-Kyle Clough (DNF)
2-Jeremy Herbst (DNS)
94H-Don Hagan, Jr. (DNS)

Heat 1
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
9R-Robby Haines
4P-Dave Pedersen

Heat 2
97M-David Murray, Jr.
31-Dan Carl
20K-Kyle Clough

Heat 3
21H-Brandon Hagan
2-Jeremy Herbst
71-Andrew Dillenburg

B Feature
17J-Jeremy Frenier
12J-Jay Steffens
29S-Mike Saathoff
9-R. C. Heil
69-Brad Turner
17-Dallas Tobey
4KJ-Terry Houchin
25-Toph Harmon
83C-Chris Stevens
15-Jamey Kennicutt (DNF)
11F-Luke Frosh (DNF)
21D-Shane Lewis (DNS)
4DJ-D. J. Pedersen (DNS)

A Feature
97M-David Murray, Jr.
9R-Robby Haines
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
71-Andrew Dillenburg
31-Dan Carl
17J-Jeremy Frenier
12J-Jay Steffens
2-Jeremy Herbst
21H-Brandon Hagan
4C-Charley Brown
4P-Dave Pedersen
19J-Jim Mlady
9-R. C. Heil
69-Brad Turner
17-Dallas Tobey
29S-Mike Saathoff
14-Jason Gallentine
20K-Kyle Clough

IMCA Stock Car
July 14 make up A Feature
55Z-Zach Schultz
11-Todd Chrisman
45-Mikey Dancer
8JX-Buddy Brown
18-Stewart Holmes
3-John Huffman
8-Travis Tilford
50-Colton Osborn
20B-Brandon Clough
4K-Kent Lower
5S-Shane Stout
75-Dan Eller
12J-Kerry Jones
69-Adam Kackmeister
23-Scotty White
25-Dustin Harvey (DNF)
47-Russ Small, Sr. (DNF)
26-Brad Kohler (DNS)
7-Jeremy Halouska (DNS)
42KC-Kyle Werkmeister (DNS)

Heat 1
3-John Huffman
55Z-Zach Schultz
50-Colton Osborn

Heat 2
45-Mikey Dancer
11B-Justin Bussell
20B-Brandon Clough

Heat 3
11-Todd Chrisman
8-Travis Tilford
8JX-Buddy Brown

B Feature
8B-Shawn Bigham
1R-Bill Dover
4K-Kent Lower
5S-Shane Stout
69-Adam Kackmeister
47-Russ Small, Sr.
12J-Kerry Jones
18-Stewart Holmes
28-Alex Silos
X5-Eric Picquet (DNF)
25-Dustin Harvey (DNF)
23-Scotty White (DNS)

A Feature
11B-Justin Bussell
3-John Huffman
55Z-Zach Schultz
45-Mikey Dancer
11-Todd Chrisman
50-Colton Osborn
8JX-Buddy Brown
20B-Brandon Clough
8-Travis Tilford
4K-Kent Lower
8B-Shawn Bigham
5S-Shane Stout
69-Adam Kackmeister
6DX-Terry Fletcher (DNF)
47-Russ Small, Sr. (DNF)
75-Dan Eller (DNF)
1R-Bill Dover (DNF)
47jr-Russ Small, Jr. (DNF)

IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat 1
33-Shane Klockman
8C-Corey Cruzan
22-Austin Davis

Heat 2
32M-Michael Brunswig
17-Derek Thiem
3TX-Thomas Lower

A Feature
3TX-Thomas Lower
33-Shane Klockman
22-Austin Davis
32M-Michael Brunswig
17X-Miles White
65-Rick Eller
17-Derek Thiem
38-Jack Sherman
8C-Corey Cruzan
48TS-Tyler Blake

Mini-Sprints
Heat
20-Jeremy Herbst
23S-Josh Sabin
9-John Webster

A Feature
20-Jeremy Herbst
23S-Josh Sabin
9-John Webster
42-Arden Myers
2Z-Ronnie Wallace (DNF)
10P-Brian Piel (DNF)