10/08/2023
RPM Speedway
Hays, KS
Fall Nationals
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Jordan Grabouski added an impressive accomplishment to an already stellar IMCA racing career, as last night he became the first driver in the seventeen-year history of Fall Nationals at the legendary RPM Speedway to win in two classes in the same night. Grabouski got it done in the stock car taking down twelve-time national champion Mike Nichols, and he also got it done in the modified class holding off an extremely fast Dakota Sproul and defending Fall Nationals champion Cody Thompson! Joining Grabouski in victory lane were Connor Schwien in the sport compacts, Blaine Walt in the sport mods, and Cody Williams in the hobby stocks! One hundred, and ninety-four race teams checked into Hays, Kansas for the 17th running of the Fall Nationals, and the drivers put on one hell of a show all weekend long!
The sport compacts started the night off with a front row of Kaishen Brack and Madison Reed, Schwien led lap one after a three wide battle with Higdon and Reed. An early caution would come out and would Schwien lead off the restart and the field started to single file out by lap five. Lap five saw a battle between Austin Bird and Kyle Mortensen for seventh place. Kaylee Richards would move up to fourth on lap seven, passing Madison Reed. At halfway Connor Schwien still led, with Gage Porter, Kiowa Higdon and Kaylee Richards all battling for second place. Lauren Reed went for a spin in turn two to bring out the second caution of the event. Schwien restarted the field with nine laps to go, and comfortably controlled the rest of the feature. Kaylee Richards would battle back to third place after dropping a couple spots on the restart. Connor Schwien picked up the Fall Nationals sport compact championship, capping off a year that saw him win four races! Second was Gage Porter, third was Kaylee Richards, fourth was Kiowa Higdon and Madison Reed rounded out the top-five. Hard charger was Brandon Carmichael who grabbed four spots in the feature!
The sport mods were second on the program, and their feature started with a front row of Blaine Walt and Brandon Spanjer, Walt grabbed the early lead and led the first five laps, quickly building up a one and a half second lead over second place running Brandon Spanjer. The next five laps saw more of the same as Walt continued to dominate the feature, and at halfway would enter lapped traffic with a one second lead over Spanjer. Spanjer would start closing in within the next five laps, but by lap fifteen was one and a quarter second behind. With three laps to go Brian May spun in turn two to bring out the feature's first caution. Hunter Smith dove to the bottom line to try and get around Walt, but moved to the top in turns three and four, and that allowed Blaine Walt to scoot away with the race win! Walt won back to back Fall National championships, and capped off a season which saw him win ten races in nineteen features! Second went to Brandon Spanjer, third was Tyler Watts, fourth was Hunter Smith the IMCA rookie of the year, and Josh Barnhart rounded out the top-five. Hard charger was Douglas Beaman who grabbed seven spots througout the event. Other nice runs included Matt Rucker, Tyler Frye, and Preston Donovan grabbing six spots each!
The stock cars were third on the program and their feature started with a front row of Mike Nichols and Tyler Frye, Nichols grabbed an early lead, but quickly Jordan Grabouski battled side-by-side with Nichols for the race lead. Nichols led laps one and two, and started to pull away from Grabouski just a bit. Caution came out on lap four as Troy Burkhart slowed to a stop in turn two, Nichols had led every lap so far. Nichols restarted the field and found the bottom line again to start building a lead, but Grabouski was threatening up top. The duo would race side-by-side on laps six and seven, with Nichols prevailing, until lap seven when Grabouski got the top line working, to take the lead. Ten laps in to the thirty lap feature, Grabouski held a one second lead over Nichols who had his hands full with Tyler Frye. On lap fourteen Grabouski had set sail on the field, as his lead increased to one and a half second over Nichols but the lead would evaporate as Joseph Cooper went around in turn four to bring out the second caution of the event. Grabouski would restart the field with sixteen laps to go, and would start to build a lead back up, as second place saw a four car battle that allowed Grabouski to scoot away with a good lead. With ten laps it was still all Grabouski who had opened a two second lead over Nichols and Frye who were side-by-side for second. Tyler Frye got to second place with seven laps to go, but was still three seconds behind race leader Jordan Grabouski. Grabouski entered lapped traffic with two laps to go, but that did not slow him down as he still cruised easily to pick up the Fall Nationals Stock Car championship! Grabouski grabbed win twenty-one on the season! Second was Tyler Frye, third was Mike Nichols, fourth was Tathan Burkhart and fifth was Angel Munoz! Hard chargers were Jeremy Frenier and Jason Rogers grabbing seven spots each.
Hobby stocks were fourth on the program, and their feature started with a front row of BJ Rogers and Cody Williams, and a three wide battle would ensue right away with Cody Williams leading lap one. Williams led the first five laps of the twenty-five lap feature, as he held a two and a half second lead over Tyler Heath. Caution came out on lap eight for a multi car wreck, after going four wide out of turn four, Dion Priddy, Luke Pfannenstiel, Alicia Hilzer and Dion Priddy were all involved. All drivers were okay, and Williams led the field to a restart with fifteen laps to go, meanwhile Tyler Heath and BJ Rogers were making moves to the front. Caution came out on lap twelve for Landon Runge off track down the backstretch. Williams restarted the field with fourteen laps to go, as a four and five wide battle would break out behind the race leaders. With ten laps to go Cody Williams held a lead of just under one second over Tyler Heath. Meanwhile with seven laps to go Mike Kennedy would battle three wide for third place. With five laps to go Williams still held a one and a half second lead, but five cars were battling for second place. Cody Williams went on to pick up the hobby stock Fall Nationals Championship! Win number twenty of the season for Cody Williams. Second was Tyler Heath, third was Diezel Raynard, fourth was Mike Kennedy, and fifth was BJ Rogers. Hard charger in the event was Mike Kennedy who gained eighteen spots after having to start dead last in a last chance qualifier! Other nice runs included Tylan Lamertus picking up thirteen spots, and Diezel Raynard one of seven Canadians that joined us this weekend, gained ten spots!
The modifieds closed out the program and their feature started with a front row of Jordan Grabouski and Anthony Roth; caution came out immediately as Anthony Roth spun from second place in turn two. An original restart would happen minus Anthony Roth who would have to start from the back of the field for causing the caution. Grabouski would gain the early lead but quickly Dakota Sproul and Cody Thompson would start charging forwards. The top three would separate from fourth place running Jeremy Frenier on lap four, as Grabouski started gapping Sproul. After ten laps Grabouski held a one and a half second lead over second place running Dakota Sproul, meanwhile back in eighth place Kyle Rohleder and Clay Sellard were battling closely. Laps ten and eleven saw Grabouski enter lapped traffic as he looked to click off laps and maintain his race lead over Dakota Sproul who had knocked it down to one second. Lap fourteen saw Sproul close within four car lengths of your race leader Grabouski. At halfway lapped traffic allowed Sproul to get to Grabouski's rear bumper as he was struggling to get around Ronnie Wallace. Grabouski would get by Wallace on lap twenty-one and Sproul would start to lose a lot of ground as he found himself stuck behind Wallace. Caution came out on lap twenty-three as Clay Sellard spun in turns one and two, and Grabouski would restart the field with seventeen laps to go. Grabouski rocketed off the restart and easily cleared with the lead by several car lenghts but caution came out immediately as Anthony Roth spun in turn four and was done for the night. Cody Thompson jumped to second place over Sproul off the restart, meanwhile Grabouski was already building a lead back up. Caution came out on lap twenty-four as Reed Payne and Tony Schultz both spun in turns one and two. Grabouski would restart the field again and build a ten car length lead right away, meanwhile Dakota Sproul had gotten back to second place. The field would start to single-file out with thirteen laps to go, Sproul the fastest car on the track was trying to catch Grabouski who was just a little slower than Sproul. With ten laps to go Chad Taylor came to a stop in turns three and four to bring out another caution. Grabouski led off the restart, and Dakota Sproul was trying to keep defending Fall Nationals Champion Cody Thompson back in third place. Grabouski set sail with five laps to go and went on to win the modified Fall Nationals championship after winning in his stock car earlier. Jordan Grabouski became the first driver to win two classes in one night at Fall Nationals! Second was Dakota Sproul, third was Cody Thompson, fourth was Jeremy Frenier, and fifth was Eddie Belec!
FULL RESULTS:
SPORT COMPACTS:
Championship Feature (20 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[4]; 2. 69G-Gage Porter[5]; 3. 12-Kaylee Richards[6]; 4. 17-Kiowa Higdon[3]; 5. 6M-Madison Reed[2]; 6. 12C-Brandon Carmichael[10]; 7. 24-Austin Bird[7]; 8. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[8]; 9. 45-Johnny Thomas[15]; 10. 8B-Kaishen Brack[1]; 11. T21-Ted Trumbo[9]; 12. 42J-Grant Logue[12]; 13. 04-Alison Bird[13]; 14. 71-Kenny Schmidt[11]; 15. 43-Josh Buser[16]; 16. 25-Lauren Reed[19]; 17. (DNF) 273-Chase Cloe[14]; 18. (DNF) 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[18]; 19. (DNF) 14A-Abigail Davis[17]; 20. (DNS) 29E-Josh Lambertus; 21. (DNS) 66-Audrianna Stephenson
Last Chance Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 24-Austin Bird[1]; 2. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[2]; 3. T21-Ted Trumbo[3]; 4. 12C-Brandon Carmichael[7]; 5. 71-Kenny Schmidt[4]; 6. 42J-Grant Logue[5]; 7. 04-Alison Bird[8]; 8. 273-Chase Cloe[6]; 9. 45-Johnny Thomas[12]; 10. 43-Josh Buser[10]; 11. 14A-Abigail Davis[11]; 12. (DNF) 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[9]; 13. (DNF) 25-Lauren Reed[15]; 14. (DNS) 29E-Josh Lambertus; 15. (DNS) 66-Audrianna Stephenson
HOBBY STOCKS:
Championship Feature (25 Laps): 1. 77-Cody Williams[2]; 2. 187-Tyler Heath[3]; 3. 97R-Diezel Raynard[13]; 4. 24R-Mike Kennedy[22]; 5. 37-Bingston Rogers[1]; 6. 41-Adam Wasserman[8]; 7. 98H-Kayden Hjorteland[11]; 8. 1C-Cody Ghumm[15]; 9. R20-Rob Durfee[16]; 10. 8B-Brayden Hilzer[5]; 11. 69-Brendon Stigge[14]; 12. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[25]; 13. 55C-Garrit Caswell[10]; 14. 51C-Christopher Oberg[19]; 15. D68-Dion Priddy[23]; 16. 99-Cash Saxon[18]; 17. 41T-Ty Saxon[24]; 18. 15-Connor Hansen[6]; 19. (DNF) 11-Dillon Thompson[4]; 20. (DNF) 52L-Landon Runge[9]; 21. (DNF) 88-Morgan Olmstead[17]; 22. (DNF) 8A-Alicia Hilzer[7]; 23. (DNF) 64-Eric Cross[12]; 24. (DNF) 5X-Luke Pfannenstiel[21]; 25. (DNS) 711-Brady Bencken
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (12 Laps): 1. 97R-Diezel Raynard[2]; 2. 1C-Cody Ghumm[5]; 3. 88-Morgan Olmstead[16]; 4. 51C-Christopher Oberg[11]; 5. D68-Dion Priddy[4]; 6. 41T-Ty Saxon[10]; 7. 5X-Luke Pfannenstiel[8]; 8. 11B-Blake Spear[7]; 9. 12R-Brooke Russell[17]; 10. 3J-Mack James[9]; 11. 27JR-Kruz Wilson[6]; 12. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[3]; 13. D14-Derek Dechant[13]; 14. 30-Dawson Bradford[15]; 15. 6T-Taylor Croisant[14]; 16. (DNF) 33-Taylor Greuter[18]; 17. (DNF) 6-Drew Barry[1]; 18. (DNF) 32-Lonnie Greuter[19]; 19. (DNF) 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[12]
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (12 Laps): 1. 69-Brendon Stigge[3]; 2. R20-Rob Durfee[1]; 3. 99-Cash Saxon[2]; 4. 711-Brady Bencken[17]; 5. 24R-Mike Kennedy[19]; 6. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[10]; 7. R89-Nathan Refior[12]; 8. 03-Derick Coomes[8]; 9. 12S-Cole Schulte[9]; 10. 11D-Dawson Kubes[13]; 11. 69S-Danny Schulte[14]; 12. 6X-Roger Garrison[7]; 13. 58B-Brent Beaumont[5]; 14. 8J-Levi Jones[6]; 15. 32J-Jack Greuter[15]; 16. (DNF) 12T-Tanner Jones[16]; 17. (DNF) 31-Dylan Bell[18]; 18. (DNF) 81-Skeets Salazar[4]; 19. (DNF) 7D-Chase Davis[11]
SPORT MODS:
Championship Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[1]; 2. 19XX-Brandon Spanjer[2]; 3. 77W-Tyler Watts[6]; 4. 01S-Hunter Smith[4]; 5. 5150-Josh Barnhart[3]; 6. 87D-Chad Dolan[5]; 7. 03-Matt Rucker[13]; 8. 55-Tyler Frye[14]; 9. 30T-Taylor Metz[12]; 10. 9JR-Brendyn Nordyke[7]; 11. 4JR-Boone Evans[10]; 12. 1-Riley Osantowski[8]; 13. 15D-Jacob Slough[9]; 14. 27G-Kamren Gruber[15]; 15. 11-Joseph Cooper[11]; 16. 24-Douglas Beaman[23]; 17. 8-Brian May[19]; 18. 2K-Preston Donovan[24]; 19. 30-Gary Bradford[21]; 20. 02-Justin Lampe[22]; 21. 1X-Paul Donovan[18]; 22. (DNF) 9-Monty Nordyke[20]; 23. (DNF) 17M-Brianna Maughlin[17]; 24. (DNF) 32G-Jasen Gray[16]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (12 Laps): 1. 03-Matt Rucker[1]; 2. 27G-Kamren Gruber[2]; 3. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[3]; 4. 8-Brian May[12]; 5. 30-Gary Bradford[9]; 6. 24-Douglas Beaman[5]; 7. 18D-Dallas Chambers[14]; 8. 18-Blane Lujan Jr[15]; 9. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[11]; 10. 91Y-Lance Yoxsimer[4]; 11. 9Z-Ethan Zweygardt[6]; 12. (DNF) 28D-Sage Dinkel[10]; 13. (DNF) 4D-Patrick Donovan[8]; 14. (DNF) 20-Warren Huffman[13]; 15. (DNF) 14X-Brady Skrdlant[7]; 16. (DNS) 7C-Connor Barnes
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (12 Laps): 1. 55-Tyler Frye[3]; 2. 32G-Jasen Gray[7]; 3. 1X-Paul Donovan[10]; 4. 9-Monty Nordyke[2]; 5. 02-Justin Lampe[1]; 6. 2K-Preston Donovan[6]; 7. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[15]; 8. 1S-Brad Shelton[8]; 9. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[4]; 10. 47-Newt Lujan[12]; 11. 120-Stacey Huffman[5]; 12. 19-Brad Carlson[13]; 13. (DNF) 14-Tristan Mikesell[9]; 14. (DNS) 19T-Terry Collins; 15. (DNS) 4-CJ Pfannenstiel
STOCK CARS:
Championship Feature (30 Laps): 1. 30-Jordan Grabouski[4]; 2. 55-Tyler Frye[2]; 3. 63-Mike Nichols[1]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[5]; 5. 2M-Angel Munoz[6]; 6. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[9]; 7. 14JR-Tyler Barribo[8]; 8. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[15]; 9. 37-Jason Rogers[16]; 10. 52T-Travis Baird[3]; 11. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[17]; 12. 4JR-Boone Evans[7]; 13. 19X-Ryan Ayers[12]; 14. 25P-Mike Petersilie[10]; 15. 3-Chris Oliver[18]; 16. 11-Joseph Cooper[19]; 17. 49M-Aiden Miller[22]; 18. 01-Jesse Smith[23]; 19. 19-Keith Stegman[24]; 20. (DNF) 19K-Kolby Stegman[14]; 21. (DNF) 85-Robert Leonard[21]; 22. (DNF) 11W-Tyler Watts[20]; 23. (DNF) 25X-Troy Burkhart[11]; 24. (DNF) 68-Garrett Hager[13]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (15 Laps): 1. 68-Garrett Hager[5]; 2. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[3]; 3. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[1]; 4. 3-Chris Oliver[2]; 5. 11W-Tyler Watts[4]; 6. 49M-Aiden Miller[7]; 7. 194-Scott Phillips[10]; 8. 3M-Eric Munoz[8]; 9. 01W-Jacob Wolsleben[9]; 10. 14J-Jordan Barribo[6]; 11. 401K-Scot Granzella[11]; 12. 15-Cole Younger[14]; 13. 91-Brad labonte[13]; 14. 14Z-Zach Lomasney[15]; 15. (DNF) 21B-Kyle Brennan[16]; 16. (DNF) 99-Brian Labonte[12]; 17. (DNS) 1X-Bo Egge
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (15 Laps): 1. 19K-Kolby Stegman[1]; 2. 37-Jason Rogers[3]; 3. 11-Joseph Cooper[6]; 4. 85-Robert Leonard[2]; 5. 01-Jesse Smith[7]; 6. 19-Keith Stegman[5]; 7. 82R-Phil Reid[4]; 8. 117S-Josh Schweitzer[16]; 9. 72-Nate Desive[12]; 10. 39W-Darren Wurdeman[10]; 11. 67-Darin Nelson[8]; 12. 65B-Zach Alloway[13]; 13. 46-Josh Weekley[15]; 14. 25JB-Justin Merriman[11]; 15. (DNF) 76-Jason Davis[9]; 16. (DNS) 97M-David Murray Jr
MODIFIEDS:
Championship Feature (40 Laps): 1. 30-Jordan Grabouski[1]; 2. 08-Dakota Sproul[4]; 3. 25C-Cody Thompson[6]; 4. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[3]; 5. 3B-Eddie Belec[10]; 6. 44T-Tanner Black[12]; 7. 0-Kyle Rohleder[9]; 8. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[5]; 9. 14G-Greg Gustus[8]; 10. 16-Austin Svoboda[14]; 11. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[13]; 12. 1M-Cody Gearhart[18]; 13. 4P-Dave Pedersen[16]; 14. 12-Reed Payne[21]; 15. 55-Tony Schultz[22]; 16. 20K-Justin Kembel[24]; 17. 74-Dewain Coleman[23]; 18. (DNF) 06-Chad Taylor[20]; 19. (DNF) 7-Clay Money[7]; 20. (DNF) 85C-Clay Sellard[11]; 21. (DNF) 60IV-Anthony Roth[2]; 22. (DNF) 3RW-Ronnie Wallace[15]; 23. (DNF) 11W-Tim Watts[17]; 24. (DNF) 1N-Nick Link[19]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (15 Laps): 1. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[2]; 2. 3RW-Ronnie Wallace[5]; 3. 11W-Tim Watts[1]; 4. 1N-Nick Link[4]; 5. 12-Reed Payne[3]; 6. 74-Dewain Coleman[7]; 7. 69-Jim Beaman[6]; 8. 92-John Rawson[10]; 9. 9D-Dalton Murphy[11]; 10. 43-Kaid Calhoon[8]; 11. 848-Troy Douglas[12]; 12. 94-Austen Huehl[9]
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (15 Laps): 1. 16-Austin Svoboda[2]; 2. 4P-Dave Pedersen[1]; 3. 1M-Cody Gearhart[3]; 4. 06-Chad Taylor[4]; 5. 55-Tony Schultz[5]; 6. 20K-Justin Kembel[10]; 7. 60-Drew Miller[9]; 8. 52-Cliff Shepard[6]; 9. 27-Grant Florence[8]; 10. (DNF) 33-Jason Ward[7]; 11. (DNS) 7B-Curtis Barnes
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