Points Championships Go Down To The Wire at Dawson County Raceway
By Darin Racek

BERTRAND, NE (Aug 26) - It was the final night of points at Dawson County Raceway, and the drivers fought hard to get the best point finishes they could. Jay Steffens and Shane Stout of North Platte and Aaron Koch of Cambridge were the point champions by the end of the night. Steffens, Josh Hudson of Kensington, Kan., Kyle Bond of Gibbon, and Josh Sabin of North Platte took the night’s A Feature wins.

The IMCA Modifieds gave the fans one more wild race for the season. Chris Avery of Kearney took the lead from Jamey Kennicutt from Gothenburg on the second lap, and was soon followed by Ronnie Wallace of North Platte. The two got too close and became hooked, sending them off of corner four. Fortunately for them, another car spun, causing the caution, giving them their top spots back. During the caution, Steve Aitken of Cozad ran into the back of Wallace’s car, damaging his car and sending him out of the race. On the restart, Wallace seemed to hit corner one wrong, and his chassis twisted, breaking something and ending his run for the championship. Point leader Jay Steffens took the lead from Avery on that same lap and paced the remainder of the race. Chuck Stryker of Eddyville finished in second place, ahead of Vince Leibert of Lexington, Rusty Miller of Norton, and Jamey Kennicutt. Avery finished in sixth. The IMCA Modified heats were won by Wallace, Steffens, and Stryker.

Shane Stout and Minden driver Jason Smidt were tied for the points lead of the IMCA Stock Car class, and whoever finished ahead of the other would win the championship. The Stock Car A Feature was a race of attrition, as nearly half of the fifteen car field did not finish. Josh Hudson took the top spot on lap five and stayed ahead the woes of the other drivers behind them. Casey Werkmeister of Maywood stayed ahead of it, too, and kept pace with the Kansas driver. However, Hudson kept him behind on the way to the win. Heat winner Cory Struckhoff of Kensington, Kan., had to get by Colton Osborne of Cozad for fourth place. For the last five or more laps, Stout and Smidt put on a battle for fifth place, each having the spot on more than one occasion. On the last lap, the two fought for territory, and when they came across the finish line, Stout’s bumper was one-half of his car ahead of Smidt’s, earning him the spot and the championship. Kyle Werkmeister of Maywood was the other heat winner.

The IMCA Hobby Stocks had a good car count, and had some extra races to run. After the three Hobby Stock heat races, won by Jeromy Wagner of Kensington, Kan., Jim Buss of Blue Hill, and Kyle Bond, a big cash dash was held for qualifiers, won by the season’s point champion Aaron Koch. A trophy dash was held for non-qualifiers, and Kevin Hagan of Eddyville survived the crazy race. Kyle Bond was second in points coming into the night and did all he could to gain on Koch, primarily by winning the A Feature, his third in a row. Hunter Cantrall of Lexington had his second best night of the year with a second place finish. Jim Buss had a car with a smoking problem, but it was able to get him to third. Koch used his fourth place finish to secure the points title. Anthony Martin of Wilcox finished out the top five.

The Mini-Sprints visited Dawson County Raceway for their fifth time. Josh Sabin swept the season, winning all five races, including Sunday night’s. Adam Nielsen of Lexington had the early lead of the race, but lost it to fellow hometown driver J. R. Way. Way gave way to Arden Myers of McCook, who lost the lead before he came around four to Sabin. Sabin would not relinquish the lead after that. Myers settled for second place. Nielsen finished in third, with D. J. Buck of Odessa finishing fourth, and Sarah Powers of North Platte finishing in fifth place.

The point trophy were not handed out after the races. They will be done at a banquet, which will be held at a date to be determined. Dawson County Raceway thanks the racers, fans, and sponsors for supporting the track in 2007.


August 26 results
IMCA Modified
Heat 1
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
7R-Vince Leibert
15-Jamey Kennicutt

Heat 2
12J-Jay Steffens
7A-Steve Aitken
7-James Libra

Heat 3
19-Chuck Stryker
22-Chris Avery
41J-Jeff Linner

A Feature
12J-Jay Steffens
19-Chuck Stryker
7R-Vince Leibert
3N-Rusty Miller
15-Jamey Kennicutt
22-Chris Avery
7-James Libra
41J-Jeff Linner
95-Meddie Cote
9-Brian Cash
4DJ-D. J. Pedersen
50-Scott Smith (DNF)
25-Toph Harmon (DNF)
3RW-Ronnie Wallace (DNF)
7A-Steve Aitken (DNF)
17X-Brad Williams (DNS)

IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1
32-Corey Struckhoff
3-John Huffman
25KOx-Jason Koch

Heat 2
42KC-Kyle Werkmeister
24KC-Casey Werkmeister
L7-Jason McCartney

A Feature
7-Josh Hudson
24KC-Casey Werkmeister
32-Corey Struckhoff
50-Colton Osborn
5S-Shane Stout
18-Jason Smidt
24-Dan Walker
25KOx-Jason Koch
27-Hanny Arram (DNF)
3-John Huffman (DNF)
72H-Jim Hagan (DNF)
16-Jeff Whiting (DNF)
L7-Jason McCartney (DNF)
42KC-Kyle Werkmeister (DNF)
24T-Tim Cooper (DNF)

IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat 1
29-Jeromy Wagner
72H-Kevin Hagan
8C-Corey Cruzan

Heat 2
12-Jim Buss
00H-Greg Hoing
13-Ethan Johnson

Heat 3
0-Kyle Bond
70KO-Aaron Koch
20-Hunter Cantrall

Cash Dash
70KO-Aaron Koch

Trophy Dash
72H-Kevin Hagan

A Feature
0-Kyle Bond
20-Hunter Cantrall
12-Jim Buss
70KO-Aaron Koch
9A-Anthony Martin
72H-Kevin Hagan
8C-Corey Cruzan
38-Jack Sherman
53-Tyler Easterday
5-Chuck Ledbetter, Jr.
27H-Sean Hagan
13-Ethan Johnson (DNF)
9-Robert Donaly (DNF)
4M-Frank Mladek (DNF)
29-Jeromy Wagner (DNF)
00H-Greg Hoing (DNS)
H2O-Cory Allen (DNS)
040-Gary Kneher (DNS)

Mini Sprints
Heat
28-J. R. Way
23S-Josh Sabin
42-Arden Myers

A Feature
23S-Josh Sabin
42-Arden Myers
21X-Adam Nielsen
44-D. J. Buck
9-Sarah Powers
8-Tony Linner
28-J. R. Way (DNF)