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Six Different Towns and Three States Represented in Victory Lane at McCook Speedway Season Opener By Darin Racek McCOOK, Ne (April 4) - Many drivers commented after opening night at McCook Speedway on April 4 that the track was in very good condition. Jeremy Frenier of Fort Morgan, Colo., Casey Werkmeister of Maywood, Austin Davis of Benkelman, Max Pollmann of Trenton, Dalton Dolan of Oberlin, Kan., and Duke Ebert of Culbertson were in the best condition for the night, representing the six drivers from six different towns and three different states in victory lane. Jeremy Frenier showed his muscle in the IMCA Modified class early, taking a convincing win during his heat race. In the A Feature, it took a little more than a lap to take the lead from Brandon Hagan of McCook. It was a lead he would not relinquish. Similar to that heat race, Jay Steffens of North Platte was the co-star, moving into second place early, occasionally reeling in the young Colorado driver, but unable to do anything to reverse the roles. Heat winner Robby Haines of Benkelman went to the back of the feature after a spin on lap five, and found his way to third place within the second five laps of the twenty lap race. With the lack of another caution, he was unable to close in on the leaders. Brandon Hagan held off Ronnie Wallace of McCook for fourth place in the battle of the three-wheeling warriors. Second place was not the place to be in the IMCA Stock Car A Feature. Zach Schultz of North Platte, one of the heat winners, was running behind leader Casey Werkmeister when his engine began losing power. Gretna driver Dave Plowman inherited the spot, only to not only lost power, but put on a fire show on the front stretch that forced a caution period. McCook driver Bob Chalupa was glad the second place jinx was over after that, as he then took the spot. Werkmeister, who has ended the last two seasons with wins at area tracks, perhaps turned over a new leaf, staying out front and winning on opening night, his first A Feature win at McCook Speedway. Chalupa was followed by heat race winner Lloyd Meeske of Champion, Mikey Dancer of North Platte, and Jim Huffman of McCook at the finish line. Austin Davis won the 2007 IMCA Hobby Stock points championship at McCook Speedway last year, in spite of not winning any points-paying A Features. He started the year off right, leading the field to the checkered flag of their fifteen-lap race. Jim Buss of Blue Hill doubled up on second places for the night, finishing second to A Feature third place finisher Todd Pankonin of Benkelman in the heat race they ran together. Ironically, Davis finished third in that race, meaning the three drivers finished in the reverse order they did in the feature. Richard Boon of Benkelman and Corey Cruzan of Maxwell rounded out the top five. Allen Wissmann of Bertrand was the other Hobby Stock heat race victor. Despite having a couple of broken rocker arms in his engine, Max Pollmann made a dramatic pass in the waning laps of the Classic Modified A Feature to take the win. Matt Matson of McCook, the heat winner, had the lead of the race, closely followed by Pollmann, when the two came up on slower traffic. Matson went low into corner one to get around the car, and Pollmann somehow went into the corner even deeper and came out of corner two harder to sneak out into the lead, one he would not give up. Newcomer Billy Aeby of Imperial passed Alex Pollmann of Trenton, who didn’t have broken rocker arms, just a broken arm, near the end of the race for third place. Dan Rockwell of Culbertson finished in fifth place. Dalton Dolan began his second season in the Mini-Truck class with his first ever career win. After finally getting by his fellow hometown driver Royal Fisher, he set his sights on newcomer Mitch Hamilton of McCook. Hamilton ran a good race up front, but the experience Dolan gained last year gave him the edge when it came to crunch time. Hamilton did hold onto second place, ahead of Fisher, Alex Silos of North Platte, and Delbert Ridenour of Culbertson. Two SportMods were ready to go for their debut night at McCook Speedway. Unfortunately, their A Feature was cut short after the engine in Bruce Hagan, Sr.’s car blew. That gave fellow Culbertson driver Duke Ebert the title of first ever A Feature winner in the SportMod division in Southwest Nebraska. Races return to McCook Speedway next Friday night, April 11. Five of the six classes will be back, with the SportMods taking a week off. The gates open at 6 PM, and the races will start at 8 PM, CDT. April 4 Results IMCA Modifieds Heat 1 17J-Jeremy Frenier 12J-Jay Steffens 21H-Brandon Hagan Heat 2 9R-Robby Haines 737-Nick Tubbs 94H-Don Hagan, Jr. A Feature 17J-Jeremy Frenier 12J-Jay Steffens 9R-Robby Haines 21H-Brandon Hagan 3RW-Ronnie Wallace 01W-Clinton Hockersmith 21-Bryan Hagan 83C-Chris Stevens 3-John Huffman (DNF) 29S-Mike Saathoff (DNF) 20K-Kyle Clough (DNF) 737-Nick Tubbs (DNF) 94H-Don Hagan, Jr. (DNF) IMCA Stock Cars Heat 1 55Z-Zach Schultz 24-Bob Chalupa P42-Dave Plowman Heat 2 32-Lloyd Meeske 45-Mikey Dancer 42W-Kyle Werkmeister A Feature 24W-Casey Werkmeister 24-Bob Chalupa 32-Lloyd Meeske 45-Mikey Dancer 05-Brandon Anderson 5-Jim Huffman 42W-Kyle Werkmeister (DNF) P42-Dave Plowman (DNF) 20B-Brandon Clough (DNF) 55Z-Zach Schultz (DNF) 413-Larry Pollmann (DNS) 09H-Bob Hoing (DNS) IMCA Hobby Stocks Heat 1 2AW-Allen Wissmann 8C-Corey Cruzan 32M-Michael Brunswig Heat 2 16D-Todd Pankonin 12-Jim Buss 22-Austin Davis A Feature 22-Austin Davis 12-Jim Buss 16D-Todd Pankonin 33-Richard Boon 8C-Corey Cruzan 3L-Leland Stute 20-Cody DeWester 00H-Greg Hoing 34-Josh Bopp 70KO-Aaron Koch (DNF) 88-Ricky Runnion (DNF) 32M-Michael Brunswig (DNF) 2AW-Allen Wissmann (DNF) Classic Modifieds Heat 98-Matt Matson 10-Billy Aeby 83-Alex Pollmann A Feature P82-Max Pollmann 98-Matt Matson 10-Billy Aeby 83-Alex Pollmann R67-Dan Rockwell 2-Trent Jollensten (DNF) Mini-Trucks Heat 28-Alex Silos 33-Mitch Hamilton 14F-Royal Fisher A Feature 3D-Dalton Dolan 33-Mitch Hamilton 14F-Royal Fisher 28-Alex Silos 69-Delbert Ridenour 75-Bud Wasson 13-Tregg Reiss (DNF) 12J-Robin Runge (DNF) SportMods Heat 56E-Duke Ebert 2-Bruce Hagan, Sr. Feature 56E-Duke Ebert 2-Bruce Hagan, Sr. |