Murray, Chrisman, Thiem, and Herbst 2007 Lincoln County Raceway Champions
by Darin Racek

NORTH PLATTE, NE (Sept 19) - Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte has completed it's 2007 racing season. The track held events fourteen nights, two of which were for the Sandhills Shootout, two separate shows for Sprint Cars, and one night for a big Late Model special. Four track champions were crowned for the weekly classes. They included David Murray of Oberlin, Kan., Todd Chrisman and Jeremy Herbst of North Platte, and Derek Thiem of Columbus. The winner of the fan-voted Driver of The Year was IMCA Stock Car driver Travis Tilford of North Platte.

David Murray, the track's IMCA Modified champion in 1994 and 1995, had not run regularly at the track for several years. He made his presence known this year, winning nine nights, including the Run For The Money and his second career Sandhills Shootout win. Last year's champion, Ronnie Wallace of North Platte, earned the second place points position. Robby Haines of Benkelman and Dan Carl of North Platte used good finishes on the final night to move up to third and fourth place in points. Andrew Dillenburg of North Platte rounded out the top five in the IMCA Modifieds.

Todd Chrisman continued his reign over the IMCA Stock Cars, taking his third consecutive championship. He had five A Feature wins, not counting his win in the Stock Car portion of the Sandhills Shootout, and he never finished worse than seventh place. Zach Schultz of North Platte finished out of the top ten only once on his way to the second place finish. Kent Lower of North Platte has his Lincoln County Raceway best points finish, earning third. Rookie John Huffman of McCook was the fourth place points man, while Mikey Dancer of North Platte rounded out the top five.

Derek Thiem drove over 200 miles one way to get to the track every night the IMCA Hobby Stocks raced, but he made it worth his while, becoming the 2007 champion of the class. Derek had only three wins during the season. Austin Davis of Benkelman had only two wins, and finished second place to Thiem on one of the nights he won. Had their finishes been reversed, Davis may have been the champion, as he finished only one point behind the Columbus driver. Shane Klockman of Ogallala and Michael Brunswig of Benkelman finished in third and fourth places. Rookie Corey Cruzan of Maxwell finished in fifth place.

Jeremy Herbst and Josh Sabin of North Platte went back and forth with the points lead throughout the season, and went into the final weekend of racing tied in points. Despite not winning either night, Herbst finished one spot better than Sabin each night, giving him the points title by two points. John Webster of North Platte was third in wins for the year with two (Herbst had five and Sabin had three), and finished in that same spot for points. Final night winner Arden Myers of McCook and J. R. Way of Lexington were the fourth and fifth place finishers.

A banquet will be held Saturday night, October 27, honoring the top five in each class. For more information on the banquet, contact Gary Herbst. Go to www.lincolncountyspeedway.com for other information, including the entire point standings

Points (Top 10)

IMCA Modifieds
97M-David Murray, Jr., Oberlin, KS--334
3RW-Ronnie Wallace, North Platte, NE--314
9R-Robbie Haines, Benkelman, NE--289
31-Dan Carl, North Platte, NE--284
71-Andrew Dillenburg, North Platte, NE--282
19J-Jim Mlady, North Platte, NE--276
12J-Jay Steffens, North Platte, NE--274
17J-Jeremy Frenier, Ft. Morgan, CO--255
4P-Dave Pedersen, Brady, NE--246
2-Jeremy Herbst, North Platte, NE--241

IMCA Stock Cars
11-Todd Chrisman, North Platte, NE--344
55Z-Zach Schultz, North Platte, NE--332
4K-Kent Lower, North Platte, NE--304
3-John Huffman, McCook, NE--302
45-Mikey Dancer, North Platte, NE--299
5S-Shane Stout, North Platte, NE--297
69-Adam Kackmeister, North Platte, NE--237
8-Travis Tilford, North Platte, NE--236
50-Colton Osborn, Cozad, NE--232
12J-Kerry Jones, North Platte, NE--227

IMCA Hobby Stocks
17-Derek Thiem, Columbus, NE--334
22-Austin Davis, Benkelman, NE--333
33-Shane Klockman, Ogallala, NE--320
32M-Michael Brunswig, Benkelman, NE--319
8C-Corey Cruzan, Maxwell, NE--281
65-Rick Eller, North Platte, NE--255
17X-Miles White, North Platte, NE--249
88-Mike Woodhead, Holyoke, CO--244
48TS-Tyler Blake, North Platte, NE--217
X5-Eric Picquet, North Platte, NE--165

Mini-Sprints
20-Jeremy Herbst, North Platte, NE--394
23S-Josh Sabin, North Platte, NE--392
9-John Webster, North Platte, NE--378
42-Arden Meyers, McCook, NE--376
28-J.R. Way, Lexington, NE--338
2K-Kurt Morland, North Platte, NE--130
25-Cory Kelly, North Platte, NE--128
27-Suzanne Way, North Platte, NE--126
29-Robert DeRouchy, Fort Collins, CO--96
3H-Bobby Houser, North Platte, NE--64