Dynamite Strikes Again!

7/9/2021 Sixty-one race teams made their way to the "Oasis on The Plains" of Colby, Kansas for the bracket race night. The five IMCA classes ran their normal show and the modifieds and stock cars participated in a bracket challenge. The bracket challenge was won by Daniel Gottschalk for the mods and rookie sensation Tathan Burkhart for the stock cars. Race fans showed up in full support despite some pretty windy conditions, but luckily no rain. Sport compacts were the first feature on the program, in their only heat race Ted Trumbo led every lap en route to the heat race win, Madison Reed finished second and Jakob Schwien finished third. Ted Trumbo started the feature on the pole, and led the first eleven laps, but it was heartbreak city as Jakob Schwien was able to get by in turn four as he and Trumbo were coming to the white flag. Schwien picked up the win, Trumbo finished second, Billy Turner third, Madison Reed fourth and Otto Schutte rounded out your top-five. Schwien was the hard charger as he picked up four spots en route to his win. Billy Turner now holds a one point lead over Ted Trumbo, and Otto Schutte is third in points, nine back. Make sure to tune into the August 13th championship race to see who claims that track championship! The sport mods were second up on the program and we saw quite a show. Brett Berry picked up the first heat race win, Brianna Maughlin led the first two laps, but Berry was able to get by in turn two. Blaine Walt won the second heat race after Jasen Grey led the first two laps, Walt got by on the backstretch to lead lap three, and the remainder. Brian Morris started the twenty lap feature from the pole, but quickly Adam Weber jumped to the lead coming out of turn two. Weber led for a few laps, but eventually Brett Berry on lap six made a pass to take the lead. Meanwhile caution would come out as Blaine Walt spun in turn two, and that set up a restart with fourteen laps to go. On the restart Blaine walt went right back to work, and went three and four wide numerous times, to climb back into the top-five. But it was all Brett Berry who last month went up to Wisconsin to get some laps in and was looking really fast in a show that ended up getting rained out. Caution came out with six laps to go, and that put Walt right on Berry's rear bumper, but Berry pulled away quickly and won the race by two seconds. Berry won, Walt second, Weber third, Tony Acierno fourth and Monty Nordyke rounded out the top-five. Tony Acierno was the hard charger as he picked up five spots in the feature. Blaine Walt has a commanding twenty-eight point lead over Adam Weber now, and Monty Nordyke is third, twenty-nine points behind. But as we've seen in racing before, it ain't over till it's over!! Hobby stocks ran third on the night, BJ Rogers led the first lap of the first heat, and Ray West led the second, but Brady Bencken took the lead away on lap three and led the remainder to win it. The second heat race was won by Josh Barnhart who led the majority, but the final lap was exciting as Tanner Clough finished almost side by side with Barnhart. Derrick Coomes started the twenty lap feature from the pole, he led the first lap but Brady Bencken took the lead coming out of turn two on the second lap. Caution would come out on lap two after Ray West spun and several cars slowed. Caution would come back out as Ray West slowed down the frontstretch and set up another restart. Cody Lilly would spin a lap after the restart to bring out yet another caution. The remainder of the race would go caution free, and Brady Bencken was able to win by almost two seconds. Bencken picked up his sixth win of the year, Tanner Clough second, Josh Barnhart third, BJ Rogers fourth and Jake Eicher rounded out the top-five. The hard chargers were Brady Bencken, Josh Colby and Cody Lilly who all picked up seven spots, Adrienne West was able to pick up six spots. Brady Bencken now holds a twelve point lead over Josh Barnhart, and BJ Rogers is third in points, thirty-four points back. Can Bencken finish the year out with a win and make it a perfect season? Other than the one unfortunate rain out. Fourth on the program was the stock car division, they ran two heat races, the first heat had hometown favorite Bruce Plumisto lead the first lap, Nick Tubbs led laps two through four and on the fifth lap Jason Rogers grabbed the lead and led the remainder to win the heat race. The second heat race was sort of wild as Ondre Rexford led five laps, but spun out in turn four, and Tathan Burkhart ended up picking the win up. Kyle Clough started the twenty lap feature from the pole, but Bruce Plumisto was able to lead the first lap. Kyle Pfeifer led the second lap after taking the lead in turns one and two. Caution would come out as Bruce Plumisto spun and the field would restart with sixteen laps to go. With fourteen laps to go Tathan Burkhart would take the lead away from Pfeifer. on the final lap Jeff Tubbs got by Tathan Burkhart who had a flat tire and would drop several spots. Jeff Tubbs won his second feature at TCS on the year, Troy Burkhart second, Nick Tubbs third, Doug Holzmeister fourth, and rounding out your top-five was Jason Rogers. The hard charger was Jeff Tubbs who picked up seven spots, both Troy Burkhart and Wheat Lippelman picked up five spots each. Jason Rogers now has a thirteen point lead over Tathan Burkhart, and Nick Tubbs is twenty-five points behind in third place. Can the rookie put a solid night together and steal the championship from the veteran? The final class on the program were the modifieds who ran two heat races, in the first one Joel Lane led the first lap, but Dylan Sherfick took the lead in turn two and led the remainder to win it. In the second one, Trevor Geist won leading every lap. Joel Lane started the twenty lap feature from the pole, and lead the first three laps but then Nick Link got by to take the lead. Caution would come out as Kyle Rohleder slowed to the infield. A few laps after the restart Dylan Sherfick was able to gain the lead and he led the remainder of the race. Sherfick picked up his second win at TCS on the year, Nick Link finished second, third went to Matt Morris, fourth was Jacob Wolsleben and rounding out the top-five was Don Geist. Dylan Sherfick was the hard charger as he picked up seven spots, in the challenging windy, and dusty feature. Dylan Sherfick holds a twelve point lead over Kyle Rohleder, and Dominic Ursetta is third in points, twenty-seven points behind. Will "Dynamite" strike again and capture the championship? There is just one last chance to catch racing at the Thomas County Speedway, that is championship night on August 13th with racing starting at 8pm! Come on out and see the championships handed out!