Sellard Victorious in Hays Again! Olmstead Stays Undefeated!

Zach Olmstead moving through the field in his 98Z IMCA Hobby Stock. Photo Courtesy of Photo's By Red-Carl Red Larson!

05/27/2023

RPM Speedway

Hays, Kansas

By: Sheldon Wickwar

Choo choo let's all jump on the Clay Sellard hype train again as Sellard has done it again at the RPM Speedway! After having to put a brand-new engine in his IMCA modified, Clay Sellard has found victory lane twice with the new engine. Joining Sellard in victory lane were Kiowa Higdon in the compacts, Matt Ramsey in the cruisers, the undefeated at RPM Zach Olmstead in the hobby stocks, Jack Kirchoff in the sport mods, and Mike Petersilie in the stock cars. Seventy race teams entertained the fans on Driver's Appreciation Night at the RPM Speedway and the fans got their monies worth all night long!

SPORT COMPACTS:

Heat winners included Brock Leibhart and Kenny Schmidt, the fifteen-lap feature had a front row of Ted Trumbo and Branston Arnder Jr. Trumbo slid to the outside to gain control of the early race lead, meanwhile a four wide battle broke out in the back of the field. Trumbo led lap one despite Gage Porter and Kiowa Higdon closing in. Porter grabbed the race lead on lap two and caution came out on lap three as Brock Leibhart got spun after contact ensued, between Leibhart, Kyle Benoit and Kenny Schmidt. Leibhart got his spot back and Benoit went to the tail of the field. Porter restarted the field and immediately, Arnder and Trumbo battled side by side for second place, Higdon started battling for the lead on lap five and took a lead out of turn two. Meanwhile Connor Schwien and Leibhart were battling side by side for third. With five laps to go Higdon still held a lead, and Connor Schwien was working towards second place. Schwien got to second with two laps to go but was unable to get by Higdon for the win. Kiowa Higdon was able to pick up the race win, his second win at RPM on the season, and third overall as he won Friday night at the Salina Speedway. Second was Connor Schwien, third was Gage Porter, fourth was Ted Trumbo and Brock Leibhart rounded out the top five. Hard charger in the feature was Connor Schwien who picked up nine spots.

Kiowa Higdon climbs out of his race winning IMCA sport compact! Photo Courtesy of Photo's by Red-Carl Red Larson!

CRUISERS:

Matt Ramsey and his co-driver easily won the cruisers heat race, and they started on the front row of the feature alongside, Dylan Pfeifer and his co-driver. The Ramsey's were not fazed by the Pfeifer's cop car and ran away with the feature by a zip code. The win was their second on the season at RPM and fourth overall this year, as they have won two races at the Dodge City Raceway Park as well. The Pfeifer boys finished second and Treyton Kindel finished third in the feature.

Matt Ramsey celebrates his cruisers win! Photo Courtesy of Photo's By Red-Carl Red Larson!

HOBBY STOCKS:

The heat races were won by Cody Ghumm, Brett Conness and Morgan Olmstead. The front row of the feature consisted of Morgan Olmstead and Cody Ghumm, with Morgan grabbing control of the early race lead. A four wide battle would emerge in the middle of the pack as Zach Olmstead started a charge to the front from eleventh place. However, caution would come out on lap two as Taylor Croisant and Cole Schulte spun in turn two, Morgan Olmstead would restart the field. Bj Rogers and James Hart would enter a four wide battle off the restart as they tried to get to the top five. Meanwhile Zach Olmstead was continuing a charge towards the front, as he would make it to third place by lap six. On lap twelve Zach threw a slider on his brother Morgan to grab the race lead, but at the line Morgan crossed him back over! The brothers would continue putting on a show and with seven laps to go Zach would gain control of the lead. Caution for a Croisant spin with two laps to go, would mean one final attempt at a restart for Zach Olmstead, he would survive the green, white checkered restart to win the feature. Zach Olmstead has now won each RPM feature going four for four, and his seventh overall on the 2023 season. Second was Cody Ghumm, third was Morgan Olmstead, fourth was Tyler Heath and fifth was James Hart. Hard charger in the feature was Zach Olmstead who picked up ten spots.

Zach Olmstead talks about winning his 4th IMCA hobby stock win at RPM Speedway in four races! Photo Courtesy of Photo's By Red-Carl Red Larson!

SPORT MODS:

Winning sport mod heat races were Adam Weber and Jack Kirchoff, the feature started with a front row of Jack Kirchoff and Adam Weber. Jack Kirchoff got the early lead slightly but a three wide battle between Jack, Ryan Kirchoff and Adam Weber would break out for the lead. Out of turn four Weber slid to the lead to gain control of the race. Caution came out for a Hunter Smith spin as his night ended, Jak Kirchoff would lead off the restart, meanwhile Connor Barnes and Tyler Watts were battling closely as they were moving through the field. Jack Kirchoff would continue to lead throughout the feature, despite challenges from Adam Weber and Tyler Watts. Connor Barnes had a late run in the closing laps but it was not enough to get by race winner Jack Kirchoff. It was Jack Kirchoff's first win of the season at RPM and second IMCA win on the year, his other IMCA win came May 20th at the Dodge City Raceway Park. Connor Barnes finished second, Tyler Watts third, Tracy Holloway rebounded from an early spin to finish fourth and Jasen Gray rounded out the top five. Hard charger in the event was Allex Loveless who picked up eight spots, notably Connor Barnes picked up seven spots.

Mike Petersilie waves to the fan after exiting his IMCA winning stock car! Photo Courtesy of Photo's By Red-Carl Red Larson!

STOCK CARS:

Tathan Burkhart picked up the only heat race in your "class too tough to tame" the IMCA stock cars. The feature started with a front row of Tathan Burkhart and Mike Petersilie, Mike gained the early advantage on the initial start, but quickly Tathan made it a side-by-side battle. Down the backstretch Petersilie cleared Burkhart to hold the lead, no one could really track down Petersilie throughout the feature, but there were some good battles elsewhere. Chris Oliver and Tyler Watts battled side by side for fourth place for a while, and rookie stock car driver Jacey Archer got through his first completed feature and was able to battle closely with some other drivers. Mike Petersilie kept his strong IMCA stock car campaign rolling with another win, his second of the season at RPM and fourth overall, his other two wins this year have come at the Dodge City Raceway Park. Second was Tathan Burkhart, third was Tyler Watts, fourth was Austin Carter and fifth was Travis Baird. Hard chargers in the feature were Tyler Watts and Kyle Pfeifer who picked up three spots each.

Jack Kirchoff celebrates his win in the IMCA sport mod! Photo courtesy of Photo's by Red-Carl Red Larson!

MODIFIEDS:

Picking up modified heat race wins were Clay Sellard, and Tim Watts, the feature started with a front row of Clay Sellard and Tim Watts. Sellard shot out of a cannon to gain the early race lead, meanwhile Tim Watts had his hands full with a side-by-side battle with Kyle Rohleder. Meanwhile Clay Money, Jake Nightingale, and Dylan Sherfick were starting to move forward through the field. A couple cautions would come out as on lap eleven and lap sixteen Tim Ward would spin in turn two in front of your leaders, luckily everyone was able to avoid. Despite the cautions Sellard maintained control of the race lead. In the closing laps a three wide battle would ensue for second place between Sherfick, Rohleder and Nightingale, with Rohleder and Sherfick eventually battling side by side for second. Clay Sellard went on to win the feature, his second at RPM, fifth on the year. He swept his weekend as he won Friday at Salina and Saturday at Hays. Kyle Rohleder finished second, Dylan Sherfick third, Jake Nightingale fourth and Clay Money rounded out the top five. Hard charger in the event was Wakeeney's Dylan Sherfick who picked up five spots.

Clay Sellard waves to the fans after winning in his IMCA modified! Photo courtesy of Photo's by Red-Carl Red Larson!

It was another exciting night of racing at the legendary RPM Speedway in Hays, Kansas. Be sure to join us June 10th for another night of IMCA racing in Hays! Be sure to check out "Chronicles From The Cushion" the Kansas IMCA podcast, hosted by Sheldon Wickwar and track announcer Tanner Schmidt!

FULL RESULTS:

CRUISERS:

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 911-Matt Ramsey[1]; 2. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[2]; 3. 582-Treyton Kindel[3]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 911-Matt Ramsey[1]; 2. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[2]; 3. 582-Treyton Kindel[3]

SPORT COMPACTS:

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 17-Kiowa Higdon[6]; 2. 16C-Connor Schwien[11]; 3. 69G-Gage Porter[3]; 4. T21-Ted Trumbo[1]; 5. 15B-Brock Leibhart[5]; 6. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[2]; 7. 71-Kenny Schmidt[4]; 8. 33X-Remington Cox[7]; 9. K3-Kyle Benoit[10]; 10. 26C-Jakob Schwien[12]; 11. 6M-Madison Reed[9]; 12. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[8]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 15B-Brock Leibhart[3]; 2. 6M-Madison Reed[5]; 3. T21-Ted Trumbo[1]; 4. 33X-Remington Cox[4]; 5. (DNF) 69G-Gage Porter[2]; 6. (DNF) 16C-Connor Schwien[6]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 71-Kenny Schmidt[2]; 2. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[1]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[3]; 4. K3-Kyle Benoit[5]; 5. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[4]; 6. 26C-Jakob Schwien[6]

HOBBY STOCKS:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[11]; 2. 1C-Cody Ghumm[2]; 3. 88-Morgan Olmstead[1]; 4. 187-Tyler Heath[9]; 5. 20-James Hart[10]; 6. 77-Cody Williams[13]; 7. 31-Deric Funk[7]; 8. 37-Bingston Rogers[12]; 9. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[8]; 10. 12R-Brooke Russell[4]; 11. 21C-Bret Conness[3]; 12. 76-Kyle Cook[18]; 13. 6X-Roger Garrison[15]; 14. 12-Colbly Wetzel[19]; 15. (DNF) 93-Jake Wharton[17]; 16. (DNF) 6T-Taylor Croisant[5]; 17. (DNF) D68-Dion Priddy[6]; 18. (DNF) 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[14]; 19. (DNF) 12S-Cole Schulte[16]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1C-Cody Ghumm[2]; 2. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[6]; 3. 6T-Taylor Croisant[3]; 4. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[5]; 5. 77-Cody Williams[4]; 6. 12S-Cole Schulte[1]; 7. 12-Colbly Wetzel[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21C-Bret Conness[2]; 2. 37-Bingston Rogers[6]; 3. D68-Dion Priddy[4]; 4. 187-Tyler Heath[5]; 5. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[3]; 6. 93-Jake Wharton[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Morgan Olmstead[1]; 2. 31-Deric Funk[4]; 3. 12R-Brooke Russell[2]; 4. 20-James Hart[5]; 5. 6X-Roger Garrison[3]; 6. 76-Kyle Cook[6]

SPORT MODS:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[3]; 2. 7C-Connor Barnes[9]; 3. 77W-Tyler Watts[7]; 4. 83-Tracy Holloway[8]; 5. 32G-Jasen Gray[10]; 6. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[5]; 7. 22-Alex Loveless[15]; 8. 2K-Preston Donovan[6]; 9. 97-Shawn Ward[11]; 10. (DNF) 64-Jimmy Brozek[12]; 11. (DNF) 57D-Austin Aumiller[13]; 12. (DNF) 3-Adam Weber[2]; 13. (DNF) 01S-Hunter Smith[14]; 14. (DNS) 27G-Kamren Gruber; 15. (DNS) 14-Tristan Mikesell

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Adam Weber[2]; 2. 77W-Tyler Watts[5]; 3. 27G-Kamren Gruber[3]; 4. 83-Tracy Holloway[7]; 5. 32G-Jasen Gray[8]; 6. 97-Shawn Ward[1]; 7. 57D-Austin Aumiller[6]; 8. (DNF) 22-Alex Loveless[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[2]; 2. 2K-Preston Donovan[4]; 3. 7C-Connor Barnes[7]; 4. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[3]; 5. 14-Tristan Mikesell[1]; 6. 64-Jimmy Brozek[6]; 7. (DNF) 01S-Hunter Smith[5]

STOCK CARS:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25P-Mike Petersilie[2]; 2. 250-Tathan Burkhart[1]; 3. 11W-Tyler Watts[6]; 4. 63C-Austin Carter[5]; 5. 52T-Travis Baird[3]; 6. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[9]; 7. 25X-Troy Burkhart[7]; 8. 2BA-Jacey Archer[8]; 9. 3-Chris Oliver[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[1]; 2. 25P-Mike Petersilie[4]; 3. 3-Chris Oliver[6]; 4. 52T-Travis Baird[5]; 5. 63C-Austin Carter[8]; 6. 11W-Tyler Watts[2]; 7. 25X-Troy Burkhart[9]; 8. 2BA-Jacey Archer[7]; 9. (DNS) 54P-Kyle Pfeifer

MODIFIEDS:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 85C-Clay Sellard[1]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[4]; 3. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[8]; 4. 3J-Jake Nightingale[6]; 5. 7-Clay Money[7]; 6. 10G-Don Geist[3]; 7. 14G-Greg Gustus[9]; 8. 11W-Tim Watts[2]; 9. 7B-Curtis Barnes[10]; 10. 1N-Nick Link[5]; 11. (DNF) 33X-Jason Ward[11]; 12. (DNF) 727-Todd Schwarz[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 85C-Clay Sellard[2]; 2. 10G-Don Geist[3]; 3. 7-Clay Money[5]; 4. 1N-Nick Link[4]; 5. 14G-Greg Gustus[6]; 6. 33X-Jason Ward[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11W-Tim Watts[2]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[3]; 3. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[5]; 4. 3J-Jake Nightingale[4]; 5. 7B-Curtis Barnes[6]; 6. 727-Todd Schwarz[1]