05/13/2023
RPM Speedway
Hays, Kansas
By; Sheldon Wickwar
Out of four for the final time, Rohleder and Sproul side by side...at the line it is Rohleder by four hundredths of a second! That close! Man, oh man what an exciting night of racing action at the legendary RPM Speedway in Hays, KS. Joining Rohleder's modified in victory lane were Connor Schwien in the sport compacts, Troy Burkhart/Chris Lohrey in the cruisers class, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stocks, and Tyler Watts in both the sport mod class and the stock car class. Seventy-eight race teams checked in for the Mother's Day Special at RPM and moms definitely were treated to quite the show!
The twenty-lap modified feature had a front row of Kyle Rohleder and Danny Keller, Rohleder would jump to an early lead, but quickly Dakota Sproul would start to chase him down, and meanwhile Daniel Gottschalk was trying to get the high side to roll. Caution would come out on lap six as Jason Ward went for a spin in three and four, and the leaders just barely avoided the spinning car. Rohleder led the field to a restart, and would continue to lead, meanwhile Clay Money and Daniel Gottschalk were battling for third place, trading sliders and crossover moves. Caution would come out on lap eleven as TeeJay Janousek went for a spin, and Rohleder would try to restart the field again. On the restart a three wide battle would break out for the second position, meanwhile Rohleder was starting to gap second place just a bit. A slowing Clay Money would bring out the yellow flag with five laps to go, and Rohleder would have to endure another restart. Lap eighteen would see Jake Nightingale slowing in turns one and two, and Rohleder would bring the field to a green, white, checkered restart to end the race. Rohleder and Sproul would battle closely on the final lap, and on the final corner would enter a drag race to the finish line, where Rohleder won by just four hundredths of a second. Dakota Sproul was second, Daniel Gottschalk third, Dylan Sherfick fourth and Tim Watts was fifth. Hard charger in the race was Tim Watts who gained nine spots.
The twenty-lap stock car feature had a front row of Tathan Burkhart and Tyler Watts, they would battle side by side to begin the race, and down the backstretch Watts would grab control of the lead. Watts would continue to lead flag to flag, as Burkhart made some moves to try and get around, but they did not work. Meanwhile Kyle Pfiefer and Mike Petersilie were trying to make some moves but were not quite able to make anything stick. Tyler Watts won the feature, second was Tathan Burkhart, Kyle Pfiefer third, Mike Petersilie fourth, and Todd Decker was fifth. Hard charger in the feature was Todd Decker who picked up four spots.
The twenty-lap sport mod feature had a front row of Adam Weber and Jack Kirchoff, Weber would gain the early lead, but quickly Jack Kirchoff would battle back, meanwhile Tyler Watts and Blaine Walt were headed to the front in a hurry. By lap three Walt was already up to seventh place after starting tenth, and Watts was working on third place. At the halfway point Weber was still leading, with Watts all over his rear bumper, and Walt was up to fourth place. Caution would come out for a Sage Dinkel spin and the field would have to restart, with nine laps to go. Off the restart Weber would continue to lead, but by lap thirteen Watts would enter a side-by-side battle for the lead. On lap sixteen Watts got the lead from Weber, and a second caution for Dinkel would come out on lap seventeen. The field, minus Dinkel would restart, and Watts would pull away from Blaine Walt to pick up the win. Tyler Watts won, his second of the season so far at RPM Speedway, Blaine Walt was second, Adam Weber third, Hunter Smith the rookie fourth, and Jack Kirchoff was fifth. Hard charger in the event was Blaine Walt who picked up eight spots.
Hayden Gottstine and Cody Williams started on the front row of the twenty-lap hobby stock feature, and Williams grabbed the early lead, meanwhile Brooke Russell, Jonathan Saliba, Hayden Gottstine, and Zach Olmstead would all enter a huge battle for second place. Williams led the first three laps, and caution would come out on lap three as Gottstine would spin and collect Morgan Olmstead. The field would restart, and Williams would continue to lead. Zach Olmstead would start a charge towards the front of the pack, as he set his sights on William's rear bumper. On lap five caution would come out for a Brett Conness spin and the field would have to restart. Williams led until lap nine where a caution would come out for Hayden Kelly stopped in one and two. Williams would restart the field and would continue to lead until lap eighteen, where Zach Olmstead was able to get by and run away with his third RPM Speedway feature win of the season. Cody Williams finished second, third was Travis Coop, fourth was Jonathan Saliba and fifth was Jamie Hart. Hard charger in the event was Zach Olmstead who picked up eight spots on his way to his third win.
The duo of Chris Lohrey and Troy Burkhart, and Weston Kraus started on the front row of the twelve-lap feature for the cruisers class and Lohrey took an early race lead, meanwhile Matt Ramsey and Weston Kraus were side by side for second. Lohrey would continue to lead throughout the race and made quick and easy work of lapped traffic to pick up the feature win. Second was Matt Ramsey, third was Weston Kraus, fourth was David Kraus, and fifth was Madelyn Kraus.
The fifteen-lap sport compact feature had a front row of Branston Ardner Jr and Ted Trumbo, and the racing would get crazy right away, as Madison Reed's hood went flying up on the start, and Remington Cox went for a spin. The field would start again with an original restart. Ardner would lead the first couple laps, meanwhile Connor Schwien was looking to get by Ted Trumbo, on lap three a debris caution would set the field up for a restart. Schwien would bring the field to a restart and would continue to lead flag to flag. Past halfway Trumbo would suffer a mechanical failure and head pit side, but Schwien was able to lead throughout the race. Connor Schwien picked up his second win of the season at RPM, second was Dave Kappel, third was Gage Porter, fourth was Kyle Benoit and Madison Reed finished fifth. Hard charger in the event was Gage Porter who picked up eleven spots.
The racing action did not disappoint yet again at RPM this season, be sure to join us May 26th for another great night of racing, during Driver Appreciation Night. Also, if you're looking for some entertaining content, be sure to check out Chronicles From The Cushion, a Kansas IMCA racing podcast!
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