Night Number 2 of 2023 WheatShocker Nationals
RPM Speedway
Hays, Kansas
07/16/2023
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Eighty-two race teams checked in for night number two of the 2023 WheatShocker Nationals at legendary RPM Speedway in Hays, Kansas. Picking up feature wins on night number two were Randy Martin in the sport compacts, Robbie Thome in the sport mods, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stocks, Kyle Pfeifer in the stock cars, and Clay Sellard in the modifieds!
Sport compacts started the show off with two heat races, with Connor Schwien and Kiowa Higdon picking up wins. The twelve-lap feature started with a front row of Connor Schwien and Brock Leibhart, Schwien got the early jump on the field. A three wide battle would break out down the backstretch, but caution came out as Callee Gaston would suffer an engine failure on lap two. Connor Schwien would bring the field to a restart with ten laps to go, meanwhile the field would single file out just a bit by the halfway point of the race. At halfway Randy Martin would put some pressure on Connor Schwien for the race lead, the pair would battle side by side with Randy Martin leading lap seven. Schwien would try a slider in turns three and four on lap eight to regain the race lead but did not make it stick. With two laps to go Kiowa Higdon would gain control of third place, meanwhile Randy Martin picked up the feature win, second was Connor Schwien, third was Kiowa Higdon, fourth was Ted Trumbo and fifth was Chase Martin. Hard chargers in the feature were Randy Martin, Madison Reed, and Branston Ardner Jr who all picked up eight spots each.
Sport mods were second on the program with two heat races, with Chad Dolan winning the first heat race, and Robbie Thome won the second heat race. The twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Josh Barnhart and Adam Weber. Josh Barnhart would get the early race lead and led to start the feature. Meanwhile Chad Dolan and Blaine Walt were moving towards the front and found themselves in third and fourth by lap two. Robbie Thome would challenge Blaine Walt for fourth place on laps three and four. Lap five saw a four-car battle side by side between Adam Weber, Chad Dolan, Robbie Thome and Blaine Walt, meanwhile race leader Josh Barnhart was running away. At the halfway point it was still Josh Barnhart leading, but a hard charging Chad Dolan was closing in, meanwhile the dominant car so far of Blaine Walt was stuck in fourth place. On lap thirteen Josh Barnhart would fall off the pace in one and two and surrender the race lead and more. Chad Dolan and Robbie Thome would battle side by side with five laps to go for the race lead, meanwhile Blaine Walt was trying to rip the outside to catch the leaders from third place. Robbie Thome would gain solid control of the race lead with three laps to go and was able to hold off Dolan and Walt to win the feature. Second was Chad Dolan, third Blaine Walt, fourth Tyler Watts, and Jacob Slough rounded out the top five. Hard chargers in the event were Robbie Thome and Jacob Slough who both picked up seven spots each!
Hobby stocks ran third on the program with three heat races, and a b-feature. The top four drivers advanced out of the three heats, and the top eight drivers advanced out of the b-feature. Advancing from heat one was Cody Williams, Zach Olmstead, Jamie Hart and Deric Funk. Advancing out of heat two was Garrit Caswell, Luke Pfannenstiel, Jonathan Saliba and Lyle Russell. Advancing from heat three was Morgan Olmstead, Tyler Heath, Billy McBride and Roger Garrison.
The b-feature started with a front row of Dan Kruse and Danny Schulte, and the eight that would transfer were Trevor Schmidt, Dylan Bell, Blake Spear, Dan Kruse, Danny Schulte, Bret Conness, Blake Holmes and William Doudney.
Luke Pfannenstiel and Jonathan Saliba started the twenty-lap feature from the front row, but caution came out in three and four as Lyle Russell spun. The field would return to an orginal restart attempt at the start, Luke Pfannenstiel would gain the early lead once again, meanwhile Cody Williams, and Zach Olmstead were charging to the front. On lap two out of turn four Zach Olmstead would gain the race lead to lead lap three. Five laps in it was all Zach Olmstead as he held a one and a half second lead over Cody Williams. At the halfway point it was still all Zach Olmstead who held a big lead over Williams and Tyler Heath in third. Zach Olmstead would enter heavy lapped traffic with six laps to go, and would have to carefully navigate his way through the traffic. Zach Olmstead did a good job of getting through lapped traffic, to pick up his fifteen IMCA win of the season. Second was Cody Williams, third was Tyler Heath, Trevor Schmidt fourth and fifth was Dylan Bell. Zach Olmstead was hard charger in the event with ten spots gained, other nice runs included Trevor Schmidt, and Dylan Bell gaining nine spots each!
Stock cars were fourth on the program with two heat races, with Kyle Pfeifer winning the first heat race, and Mike Petersilie won the second heat race. The twenty-lap feature had a front row of Mike Petersilie and Garrett Hager, Petersilie gained the early race lead, meanwhile Garrett Hager and Kyle Pfeifer would battle side by side for second, with Pfeifer gaining control on lap three. Petersilie would still hold the advantage over Pfeifer at the halfway point on lap ten, as the field had single filed out into position. Tathan Burkhart would battle side by side with Hager on lap eleven for the third place. With five laps to go Kyle Pfeifer would close in on Petersilie's rear bumper and on the final lap would grab the lead out of turn four coming to the line as the duo traded paint. Kyle Pfeifer picked up the race win, his second win of the season, second of the week after winning Wakeeney. Second was Mike Petersilie, third was Garrett Hager, fourth was Tathan Burkhart and Jason Rogers rounded out the top five. With his win Kyle Pfeifer earned a spot at the all-star race in Boone, IA during the IMCA Super Nationals!
Modifieds closed out the show with two heat races, with Kyle Rohleder winning the first heat race, and Dylan Sherfick won the second heat race. The twenty-lap feature had a front row of Cody Gearhart and Chad Sterling, Gearhart got the early jump off the start but quickly Clay Sellard launched to a side-by-side battle for second place. Caution came out on lap one however, as TeeJay Janousek, Kaid Calhoon and Jason Ward all had problems in turn four. The field would get back in the correct running order and Cody Gearhart would bring the field to a restart with nineteen laps left. Off the restart Clay Sellard would battle side by side for the lead, meanwhile Dylan Sherfick was underneath Chad Sterling for third place. Lap three saw Clay Sellard nearly get the lead, but Gearhart pinched him off in the frontstretch wall. Lap four would see Clay Sellard gain the race lead, but Dylan Sherfick was there to make a three wide battle for the race lead. Sellard would pull away on lap five, and Sherfick was able to gain control of second place. At the halfway point of lap ten, Clay Sellard would start entering lapped traffic while holding a two second lead, about a straightaway advantage over Dylan Sherfick. Meanwhile on lap ten as well Kyle Rohleder would start to battle for third place with Cody Gearhart. Jason Ward spun in three and four in front of your leaders on lap twelve, to bring out the first caution of the night for the modified feature. Clay Sellard would have to endure a restart with eight laps to go in the feature, Sellard would lead off the restart, but Dylan Sherfick would try the inside line and the outside line to get to Sellard. Meanwhile further back in the pack went four-wide as everyone wanted the next position gained, up front it was Clay Sellard with the lead with five laps to go. White flag would fly for Clay Sellard, and he would be able to hold off charging Wakeeney natives of Dylan Sherfick and Kyle Rohleder to pick up the feature win! Win number seven of the season for Clay Sellard, second in the feature was Dylan Sherfick, third was Kyle Rohleder, fourth was Tanner Black and Dakota Sproul rounded out the top-five. Hard charger in the event was Tanner Black who picked up eight spots!
FULL RESULTS:
SPORT COMPACTS:
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 8-Randy Martin[9]; 2. 16C-Connor Schwien[1]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[3]; 4. T21-Ted Trumbo[8]; 5. 8X-Chase Martin[10]; 6. 21X-Ronnie Gaston[11]; 7. K3-Kyle Benoit[7]; 8. 6M-Madison Reed[16]; 9. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[17]; 10. 33X-Remington Cox[15]; 11. 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[14]; 12. (DNF) 71-Kenny Schmidt[6]; 13. (DNF) 8B-Kaishen Brack[12]; 14. (DNF) 15B-Brock Leibhart[2]; 15. (DNF) 00-Callee Gaston[5]; 16. (DNF) 03K-Kyle Mortensen[13]; 17. (DQ) 69G-Gage Porter[4]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[3]; 2. T21-Ted Trumbo[2]; 3. 15B-Brock Leibhart[4]; 4. 00-Callee Gaston[5]; 5. 8X-Chase Martin[7]; 6. 21X-Ronnie Gaston[1]; 7. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[6]; 8. (DNF) 33X-Remington Cox[8]; 9. (DNF) 77-Branston Arnder Jr[9]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 17-Kiowa Higdon[1]; 2. 69G-Gage Porter[2]; 3. 71-Kenny Schmidt[5]; 4. 8-Randy Martin[7]; 5. K3-Kyle Benoit[6]; 6. 8B-Kaishen Brack[4]; 7. 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[8]; 8. 6M-Madison Reed[3]
HOBBY STOCKS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[11]; 2. 77-Cody Williams[4]; 3. 187-Tyler Heath[9]; 4. 22-Trevor Schmidt[13]; 5. 31-Dylan Bell[14]; 6. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[2]; 7. 2X-Luke Pfannenstiel[1]; 8. 20-James Hart[6]; 9. 6X-Roger Garrison[8]; 10. 55C-Garrit Caswell[5]; 11. 31F-Deric Funk[7]; 12. 12R-Lyle Russell[10]; 13. 70-Billy McBride[3]; 14. 69-Danny Schulte[17]; 15. D21-Dan Kruse[16]; 16. 21C-Bret Conness[18]; 17. 11B-Blake Spear[15]; 18. 7W-William Doudney[20]; 19. 55-Blake Holmes[19]; 20. (DNS) 88-Morgan Olmstead
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 22-Trevor Schmidt[12]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[7]; 3. 11B-Blake Spear[4]; 4. D21-Dan Kruse[1]; 5. 69-Danny Schulte[2]; 6. 21C-Bret Conness[6]; 7. 55-Blake Holmes[5]; 8. 7W-William Doudney[8]; 9. 37X-Cash Tubbs[11]; 10. 42-Calvin Davis[9]; 11. (DNF) 12S-Cole Schulte[10]; 12. (DNF) 6T-Taylor Croisant[3]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Cody Williams[3]; 2. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[5]; 3. 20-James Hart[7]; 4. 31F-Deric Funk[1]; 5. D21-Dan Kruse[4]; 6. 11B-Blake Spear[8]; 7. (DNF) 21C-Bret Conness[2]; 8. (DNS) 2210-Cole Pfeifer
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55C-Garrit Caswell[4]; 2. 2X-Luke Pfannenstiel[3]; 3. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[5]; 4. 12R-Lyle Russell[6]; 5. 69-Danny Schulte[7]; 6. 55-Blake Holmes[2]; 7. 31-Dylan Bell[8]; 8. 42-Calvin Davis[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Morgan Olmstead[6]; 2. 187-Tyler Heath[5]; 3. 70-Billy McBride[2]; 4. 6X-Roger Garrison[4]; 5. 6T-Taylor Croisant[3]; 6. 37X-Cash Tubbs[8]; 7. (DNF) 7W-William Doudney[1]; 8. (DNF) 12S-Cole Schulte[7]
SPORT MODS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1T-Robbie Thome[8]; 2. 87D-Chad Dolan[5]; 3. 14W-Blaine Walt[4]; 4. 77W-Tyler Watts[6]; 5. 15D-Jacob Slough[12]; 6. 99H-Nick Hankins[3]; 7. 3-Adam Weber[2]; 8. 27G-Kamren Gruber[10]; 9. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[9]; 10. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[11]; 11. 4D-Patrick Donovan[13]; 12. (DNF) 2K-Preston Donovan[7]; 13. (DNF) 5150-Josh Barnhart[1]; 14. (DNF) 17M-Brianna Maughlin[14]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87D-Chad Dolan[2]; 2. 5150-Josh Barnhart[4]; 3. 14W-Blaine Walt[7]; 4. 27G-Kamren Gruber[1]; 5. 2K-Preston Donovan[5]; 6. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[3]; 7. (DNF) 4D-Patrick Donovan[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1T-Robbie Thome[4]; 2. 77W-Tyler Watts[2]; 3. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[1]; 4. 3-Adam Weber[5]; 5. 99H-Nick Hankins[3]; 6. 15D-Jacob Slough[7]; 7. (DNF) 17M-Brianna Maughlin[6]
STOCKS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[5]; 2. 25P-Mike Petersilie[1]; 3. 68-Garrett Hager[2]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 5. 25X-Troy Burkhart[7]; 6. 37-Jason Rogers[6]; 7. 57-Eric Cross[11]; 8. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[3]; 9. (DNF) 11W-Tyler Watts[8]; 10. (DNF) 2BA-Jacey Archer[10]; 11. (DNF) 37X-Jeff Tubbs[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[5]; 2. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[2]; 3. 68-Garrett Hager[3]; 4. 11W-Tyler Watts[4]; 5. 37X-Jeff Tubbs[6]; 6. (DNF) 57-Eric Cross[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25P-Mike Petersilie[2]; 2. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 3. 37-Jason Rogers[3]; 4. 25X-Troy Burkhart[5]; 5. 2BA-Jacey Archer[1]
MODS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 85C-Clay Sellard[4]; 2. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[7]; 3. 0-Kyle Rohleder[9]; 4. 44T-Tanner Black[12]; 5. 08-Dakota Sproul[8]; 6. 3J-Jake Nightingale[3]; 7. 1M-Cody Gearhart[1]; 8. 10G-Don Geist[10]; 9. 183-Chad Sterling[2]; 10. 10T-Trevor Geist[11]; 11. 12-Brett Smith[6]; 12. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 13. 43-Kaid Calhoon[16]; 14. 10-TeeJay Janousek[14]; 15. 9D-Dalton Murphy[13]; 16. 33X-Jason Ward[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Kyle Rohleder[3]; 2. 1M-Cody Gearhart[6]; 3. 183-Chad Sterling[2]; 4. 85C-Clay Sellard[8]; 5. 10G-Don Geist[7]; 6. 10T-Trevor Geist[4]; 7. 9D-Dalton Murphy[5]; 8. (DNF) 33X-Jason Ward[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[1]; 2. 12-Brett Smith[2]; 3. 11W-Tim Watts[4]; 4. 3J-Jake Nightingale[3]; 5. 08-Dakota Sproul[5]; 6. 44T-Tanner Black[7]; 7. 10-TeeJay Janousek[8]; 8. 43-Kaid Calhoon[6]
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