08/12/2023
Thomas County Speedway
Colby, Kansas
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Saturday night was a show to remember as one hundred and two race teams filed into the Thomas County Speedway for a huge thrilling show, for the "Thunder on The Plains". We were treated to quite the show as we saw the five regular IMCA classes, along with a cruisers class and the thundering High Plains Late Model Series. Visiting victory lane on the historic night were Morgan Olmstead in the hobby stocks, Eddie Belec in the modifieds, Justin Bussell in the late models, Tathan Burkhart in the stock cars, Blaine Walt in the sport mods, Gage Porter in the sport compacts, and the duo of Chris Lohrey and Troy Burkhart in the cruisers class.
Cruisers got the show rolling this weekend, as they ran one heat race where Weston Kraus picked up the win. Their twelve-lap feature started with a front row of Chris Lohrey and Dylan Pfeifer, the duo of Chris Lohrey and Troy Burkhart would take an early lead and control the entire feature, lap six did feature a caution as Jason Colby and DaVon Yarbrough went for spins in turns one and two. Lohrey and Burkhart restarted the field and went on to lead the last six laps to pick up the feature win. Picking up the feature win was the duo of Chris Lohrey and Troy Burkhart, second was Weston Kraus, third David Kraus, fourth Nathan Armbruster, and fifth was the duo of Dylan and Shane Pfeifer. Hard chargers in the event were Weston Kraus and Nathan Armbruster who both picked up three spots each.
Sport compacts were second on the program, they ran two heat races with Gage Porter and Madison Reed both picking up wins. Their twelve-lap feature started with a front row of Tyson Plumisto and Chase Cloe, Tyson was able to hold off Porter, Cloe and Kyle Benoit to lead the first lap, but on lap two Chase Cloe would momentarily grab the race lead until Gage Porter grabbed firm control of the race lead on lap four. Porter would fight off some side-by-side battles for the lead before halfway, and then pulled away in the second half to win the feature. Gage Porter won for the second time in 2023, his other win came at RPM Speedway June 24th. Second in the feature was Chase Cloe, third was Kyle Benoit who won in Colby Friday night, fourth was Ted Trumbo and fifth was Brock Leibhart. Hard chargers in the event were Gage Porter and Brock Leibhart who both gained five spots each.
Sport mods were third on the program, they ran two heat races with Josh Barnhart and Adam Weber picking up the wins. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Adam Weber and Jason Gray, Weber gained the early jump on the initial start, and led lap one but an early caution for a Sage Dinkel spin would bring the field to a restart. Off the restart Weber remained in the lead but the high flying missel out of Collyer, Blaine Walt had shot to third place. Lap five saw Walt and Weber battle side by side with Weber holding on to the lead, but on lap six coming out of turn four Walt took the lead away. By lap seven Friday night's runner up Josh Barnhart found himself in third place, looking for more. Lap eight saw Blaine Walt start to work lapped traffic, while defending his lead. Lap fifteen saw the late race caution that no leader wants to see. As a very fast Nick Hankins and Josh Barnhart would be right on Walt's tail. Walt restarted the field and would survive until lap seventeen where Jasen Gray spun to bring out the final caution of the event. Walt would restart the field meanwhile the fight was on for second place as a three wide battle broke out, but Walt was fine with that as he ran away with the feature win, his fifth win of the season. Second was Nick Hankins, third was Adam Weber, Josh Barnhart took home fourth, and Friday Night's winner Derek Murphy brought home fifth. Hard charger in the event was Blaine Walt who picked up five spots, other nice runs included Derek Murphy and Monty Nordyke picking up four spots each, and Brianna Maughlin picked up three spots.
Stock cars were fourth on the program, they ran two heat races, Kyle Pfeifer and Angel Munoz both picked up the wins. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Aiden Miller and Jake Kubik, Miller grabbed the early lead and led lap one, lap two was led by Munoz. Meanwhile Tathan and Troy Burkhart were battling side by side for third place, lap four saw a three wide battle as the Burkharts decided third wasn't good enough and they put Miller in the middle of the sandwhich and disposed of him. Lap eight saw a caution for Charlie Cook spinning in turn two, Munoz restarted the field with twelve laps to go, and immediately was swarmed by the Burkharts, Tathan would gain control of the race lead on lap nine, but caution did come out just after as Aiden Miller went for a spin in turns one and two. Tathan Burkhart would bring the field to a restart and lead until lap eleven where Dusty Springer had an issue. Tathan tried another restart and by lap thirteen Kyle Pfeifer had found second place over Troy Burkhart. With five laps to go Jeff Tubbs the veteran driver found himself in third place, but Kubik would be off the pace with four laps to go to bring out the event's final caution. Tathan would bring the field to a final restart and lead the remainder, meanwhile Pfeifer and Troy would battle it out for the podium spots. Tathan Burkhart won again Saturday after winning Friday to sweep the weekend, victory seven and eight for him on the year. Second was Kyle Pfeifer where he finished Friday, third was Troy Burkhart where he finished Friday as well, fourth was Angel Munoz and fifth was Jeff Tubbs. Hard chargers in the event were Tathan Burkhart, Kyle Pfeifer, Jeff Tubbs, and Michael Pepper who all gained six spots each. Other nice runs included four spots gained for Jason Rogers, and three spots gained for Curt Kennedy.
Late models were fifth on the program as they ran two heat races plus, they qualified before their heat races. Taking home "Quicktime" in qualifying was Justin Bussell who also won a heat race, the second heat race was won by Cale Osborn, their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Bussell and Osborn the heat race winners, Bussell gained the early lead and started pacing the field easily from the get-go. Lap eleven did see a caution for Brandon Lewis, and Bussell would lead the field to a restart and again run really well to run away with the feature win. Second place running Dan Smith tried to catch Bussell but was never able to as Bussell led every lap to pick up win number two on the year, his first win came at Phillips County Raceway in Holyoke, Colorado on July 7th. Second place was Dan Smith, third was Scott Cimfl, fourth was Cale Osborn, and fifth was Delbert Smith. Hard charger in the event was Dan Smith who gained two spots in the event.
Modifieds were sixth on the program as they ran two heat races, won by Kyle Rohleder and Eddie Belec. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Eddie Belec and Kyle Rohleder, Belec jumped to the early race lead, and led the first two laps before caution came out. Caution came out for Chad Taylor, Danny Keller and Brett Smith all involved in an incident. Belec restarted the field and continued to lead until lap eleven when Jesse Richter brought out a caution. Belec would restart the field and try to defend a lead over Daniel Gottschalk, Kyle Rohleder and Clay Sellard. Belec would hold off those charging modifieds, to pick up the race win. Belec's fifth win of the year, second was Daniel Gottschalk, third was Kyle Rohleder, fourth was Clay Sellard and Nick Link rounded out the top five. Friday Night's winner Dylan Sherfick was caught up in an early caution to end his three-race winning streak in Colby. Hard charger in the event was Nick Link who grabbed six spots.
Hobby stocks closed out the exciting night of racing, as they ran three heat races, with Morgan Olmstead, Mike Kennedy and Brady Bencken all picking up wins. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Trevor Schmidt and Jamie Hart; Schmidt would lead lap number one despite Olmstead making a three wide battle for the lead. Lap two saw Olmstead gain the lead by going to the outside of Hart and Schmidt. Jayla Miller went for a spin in turns one and two on lap three to bring out the first caution. Olmstead would restart the field and lead until lap five where Cash Tubbs went for a spin in turns one and two. Olmstead would restart the field again until Jake Eicher went for a spin down the frontstretch on lap seven. Cody Williams found himself in third place just before halfway and on lap eleven caution came out for a final time as Brayden Hilzer and Allen Snethen found each other to bring out a caution. Olmstead brought the field to the final restart with nine laps to go, and with five laps to go would battle side-by-side until the final lap, where in turns three and four Morgan was able to outlast Cody Williams to pick up the feature win. Morgan picked up win number seven on the year after finishing second Friday Night. Second in the feature was Cody Williams, third was Trevor Schmidt, fourth was Mike Kennedy and fifth was Dylan Bell. Hard charger in the event was Dylan Bell who gained seven spots! Other nice runs included, Cash Tubbs picking up six spots despite an early spin, Brady Bencken and Jake Eicher gained four spots. Friday night's winner Tanner Clough raced elsewhere on Saturday night.
The racing did not disappoint on a historic night in Colby with a big number of race teams, and a pit area literally full to the brim, and the overflow pit area overfull! The annual Jeff Hartwell Memorial race and championship night is this Friday, August 18th! Be sure to support the amazing track one last time in 2023!
FULL RESULTS COURTESY OF MYRACEPASS:
HOBBY STOCKS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 88-Morgan Olmstead[4]; 2. 77-Cody Williams[5]; 3. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[1]; 4. 24R-Mike Kennedy[7]; 5. 31-Dylan Bell[12]; 6. 20-James Hart[2]; 7. 711-Brady Bencken[11]; 8. 3T-Travis Branum[10]; 9. 8B-Brayden Hilzer[6]; 10. 31R-Ray West[9]; 11. 21-Allen Snethen[3]; 12. 32E-Jake Eicher[16]; 13. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[15]; 14. 37X-Cash Tubbs[20]; 15. 49J-Jayla Miller[18]; 16. (DNF) 8J-Levi Jones[13]; 17. (DNF) 8A-Alicia Hilzer[8]; 18. (DNF) 21C-Bret Conness[14]; 19. (DNS) 24-Ray Caldwell; 20. (DNS) 71-Josh Colby
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Morgan Olmstead[6]; 2. 3T-Travis Branum[4]; 3. 8B-Brayden Hilzer[5]; 4. 8A-Alicia Hilzer[2]; 5. 8J-Levi Jones[1]; 6. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[3]; 7. (DNF) 49J-Jayla Miller[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24R-Mike Kennedy[1]; 2. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[5]; 3. 31R-Ray West[4]; 4. 20-James Hart[6]; 5. 21C-Bret Conness[3]; 6. 32E-Jake Eicher[2]; 7. 37X-Cash Tubbs[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 711-Brady Bencken[1]; 2. 77-Cody Williams[3]; 3. 21-Allen Snethen[5]; 4. 31-Dylan Bell[6]; 5. (DNF) 71-Josh Colby[2]; 6. (DNS) 24-Ray Caldwell
MODIFIEDS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3B-Eddie Belec[1]; 2. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[4]; 3. 0-Kyle Rohleder[2]; 4. 85C-Clay Sellard[5]; 5. 1N-Nick Link[11]; 6. 15-Darren Crouch[6]; 7. 10G-Don Geist[10]; 8. 14G-Greg Gustus[8]; 9. 10T-Trevor Geist[7]; 10. 12-Brett Smith[14]; 11. 8R-Jesse Richter[3]; 12. 727-Todd Schwarz[13]; 13. 42-John Fabrizius[16]; 14. 21K-Brian Kleine[17]; 15. (DNF) 06-Chad Taylor[15]; 16. (DNF) 66D-Dylan Sherfick[9]; 17. (DNF) K98-Danny Keller[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Kyle Rohleder[1]; 2. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[2]; 3. 14G-Greg Gustus[8]; 4. 10G-Don Geist[5]; 5. 8R-Jesse Richter[9]; 6. 1N-Nick Link[7]; 7. 727-Todd Schwarz[4]; 8. 06-Chad Taylor[3]; 9. 21K-Brian Kleine[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3B-Eddie Belec[5]; 2. 85C-Clay Sellard[6]; 3. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[3]; 4. 15-Darren Crouch[7]; 5. 10T-Trevor Geist[4]; 6. K98-Danny Keller[2]; 7. 12-Brett Smith[8]; 8. 42-John Fabrizius[1]
SPORT MODS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[6]; 2. 99H-Nick Hankins[3]; 3. 3-Adam Weber[1]; 4. 5150-Josh Barnhart[5]; 5. 37M-Derek Murphy[9]; 6. 27G-Kamren Gruber[8]; 7. 9JR-Brendyn Nordyke[4]; 8. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[11]; 9. 9-Monty Nordyke[13]; 10. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[10]; 11. 32G-Jasen Gray[2]; 12. 2K-Preston Donovan[14]; 13. 7P-Lloyd Stover[7]; 14. (DNF) 28D-Sage Dinkel[15]; 15. (DNF) 17-Garth Griffith[16]; 16. (DNF) 88J-Jack Kirchoff[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Adam Weber[5]; 2. 27G-Kamren Gruber[1]; 3. 99H-Nick Hankins[3]; 4. 14W-Blaine Walt[7]; 5. 9JR-Brendyn Nordyke[8]; 6. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[4]; 7. 9-Monty Nordyke[2]; 8. 28D-Sage Dinkel[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5150-Josh Barnhart[1]; 2. 37M-Derek Murphy[2]; 3. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[4]; 4. 7P-Lloyd Stover[6]; 5. 32G-Jasen Gray[5]; 6. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[7]; 7. 2K-Preston Donovan[8]; 8. (DNF) 17-Garth Griffith[3]
SPORT COMPACTS:
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 69G-Gage Porter[6]; 2. 273-Chase Cloe[2]; 3. K3-Kyle Benoit[3]; 4. T21-Ted Trumbo[5]; 5. 15B-Brock Leibhart[10]; 6. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[9]; 7. 6M-Madison Reed[7]; 8. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[12]; 9. 10W-Tyson Plumisto[1]; 10. 3L-Lester Lucas[4]; 11. 18X-Zach Cardwell[11]; 12. (DNS) 808-Jarrett Marker
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 69G-Gage Porter[2]; 2. K3-Kyle Benoit[4]; 3. 15B-Brock Leibhart[5]; 4. T21-Ted Trumbo[3]; 5. 3L-Lester Lucas[6]; 6. 18X-Zach Cardwell[1]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 6M-Madison Reed[2]; 2. 273-Chase Cloe[1]; 3. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[6]; 4. 808-Jarrett Marker[3]; 5. 10W-Tyson Plumisto[5]; 6. (DNF) 77-Branston Arnder Jr[4]
STOCK CARS:
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[7]; 2. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[8]; 3. 25X-Troy Burkhart[5]; 4. 2M-Angel Munoz[4]; 5. 37X-Jeff Tubbs[11]; 6. 37-Jason Rogers[10]; 7. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[3]; 8. 22-Michael Pepper[14]; 9. 49M-Aiden Miller[1]; 10. X-Wheat Lippelman[6]; 11. 3C-Charlie Cook[9]; 12. 21K-Curt Kennedy[15]; 13. 28J-Dusty Springer[12]; 14. (DNF) 93S-Jake Kubik[2]; 15. (DNF) 49-Drew Miller[13]; 16. (DNS) 38-Caleb Rhoades; 17. (DNS) 2BA-Jacey Archer
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[2]; 2. 25X-Troy Burkhart[3]; 3. 3C-Charlie Cook[1]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[8]; 5. 49M-Aiden Miller[6]; 6. 37X-Jeff Tubbs[7]; 7. 49-Drew Miller[4]; 8. 22-Michael Pepper[9]; 9. 21K-Curt Kennedy[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Angel Munoz[6]; 2. 37-Jason Rogers[2]; 3. 93S-Jake Kubik[5]; 4. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[1]; 5. X-Wheat Lippelman[7]; 6. 28J-Dusty Springer[8]; 7. (DNF) 2BA-Jacey Archer[4]; 8. (DNS) 38-Caleb Rhoades
LATE MODELS:
S M REPAIR A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 11B-Justin Bussell[1]; 2. 92S-Dan Smith[4]; 3. 77-Scott Cimfl[3]; 4. 6C-Cale Osborn[2]; 5. 92-Delbert Smith[5]; 6. 5R-Scott Rhoades[7]; 7. 15B-Braxton Berry[6]; 8. 44-Brandon Lewis[9]; 9. 63-Maria Hankins[8]; 10. 22K-Kenny Backstrand[10]; 11. 1S-Chris Stevens[12]; 12. B10-Cherokee Dillin[11]
S M REPAIR Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11B-Justin Bussell[1]; 2. 77-Scott Cimfl[3]; 3. 92-Delbert Smith[4]; 4. 5R-Scott Rhoades[2]; 5. 44-Brandon Lewis[5]; 6. 1S-Chris Stevens[6]
S M REPAIR Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6C-Cale Osborn[1]; 2. 92S-Dan Smith[2]; 3. 15B-Braxton Berry[3]; 4. 63-Maria Hankins[4]; 5. 22K-Kenny Backstrand[5]; 6. B10-Cherokee Dillin[6]
S M REPAIR Qualifying 1: 1. 11B-Justin Bussell, 00:18.397[6]; 2. 6C-Cale Osborn, 00:18.548[11]; 3. 5R-Scott Rhoades, 00:18.690[3]; 4. 92S-Dan Smith, 00:18.985[1]; 5. 77-Scott Cimfl, 00:19.154[9]; 6. 15B-Braxton Berry, 00:19.264[10]; 7. 92-Delbert Smith, 00:19.328[12]; 8. 63-Maria Hankins, 00:19.736[7]; 9. 44-Brandon Lewis, 00:19.757[2]; 10. 22K-Kenny Backstrand, 00:20.003[8]; 11. 1S-Chris Stevens, 00:20.450[5]; 12. B10-Cherokee Dillin, 00:20.659[4]
CRUISERS:
A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 12-Chris Lohrey[1]; 2. 63-Weston Kraus[5]; 3. 27-David Kraus[4]; 4. 62-Nathan Armbruster[7]; 5. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[2]; 6. 14-Austin Johnson[3]; 7. 7Y-DaVon Yarbrough[8]; 8. 01-jason colby[6]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 63-Weston Kraus[4]; 2. 12-Chris Lohrey[8]; 3. 27-David Kraus[7]; 4. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[2]; 5. 14-Austin Johnson[1]; 6. 01-jason colby[6]; 7. (DNF) 62-Nathan Armbruster[3]; 8. (DNF) 7Y-DaVon Yarbrough[5]
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