06/10/2023
Hays, Kansas
RPM Speedway
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Side by side for the lead, who is it going to be? It is the Clay and Clay show as Money and Sellard trade the lead back and forth, but for the final time out of turn four, it is Clay Sellard who will pull away for the race win! Sellard was the last winner on a very exciting night of racing, that also included a heart racing hobby stock event. Here comes Cody Williams, he'll get to Zach Olmstead's bumper! It is a drag race to the finish line! Who is it going to be? By the slimmest of margins, it will be Cody Williams winning, ending Zach Olmstead's undefeated run at the Rolling Plains Motor Speedway! Also visiting victory lane were the duo of Chris Lohrey and Troy Burkhart in the cruisers class, Troy Burkhart in the stock car class, Kiowa Higdon in the sport compact class, and Adam Weber in the sport mod class. Ninety-one race teams checked in for a very exciting night of racing, which included a rare b-main race for the hobby stocks that sent six of the twenty-six hobby stocks home for the night.
The cruisers class had a seven-car entry list going into the night, Weston Kraus was able to pick up the heat race win. Weston Kraus would start the feature from the pole and lead the first lap, but Chris Lohrey was able to get by on the second lap to take the lead. Lap three saw the only caution of the race as Madelyn Kraus went for a spin in turn three. Lohrey restarted the field and went on to lead the remainder to win the feature. Second was Weston Kraus, third was Matt Ramsey, fourth was Dylan Pfeifer, fifth was Bill Woods, and sixth was David Kraus.
The sport compacts heat race winners were Kiowa Higdon and Connor Schwien, the class had eleven entries and the front row of the feature was Ted Trumbo and Zack McLaughlin. Trumbo held the early lead but quickly Branston Ardner Jr. ran side by side with Trumbo, meanwhile Kiowa Higdon was already up to third place on the first lap. Branston Ardner was able to gain the race lead on lap two, meanwhile Trumbo and Higdon were battling side by side for second place. Higdon would get second place and by lap six was able to make a pass on Ardner for the race lead. Connor Schwien would make a late run to second place but was not able to catch Higdon. Meanwhile further back Ted Trumbo and Madison Reed were battling closely for fifth place and was the battle to watch on track. Kiowa Higdon went on to win the race, his fourth IMCA win of the year, and third win at RPM this year. Second was Connor Schwien, third was Brock Leibhart, fourth was Branston Ardner Jr, and fifth was Madison Reed. Hard charger in the event was Connor Schwien who picked up eight spots in the event.
The hobby stocks had twenty-six entries that meant four heat races, plus a b-main to decide your twenty-car lineup for the feature. Winning heat races were Trevor Schmidt, Zach Olmstead, Cody Williams, and Cody Ghumm. The four cars transferring from the b-main, were Jamie Hart, Manuel Salazar, Roger Garrison, and Allen Snethen. Derick Coomes and Dion Priddy started the main event from the front row, and on the initial start the duo got into each other and spun in front of the field, multiple cars were involved, including Zach Olmstead who ended up driving over the right-side tires of the Priddy car, Olmstead went to the hot pit to get his car checked out and would rejoin the field at the end of the line. The field would try the initial start a couple more times, and the third time was the charm as Cody Ghumm was able to lead the first lap, meanwhile Cody Williams was starting a charge towards the front, and Zach Olmstead was making quick work of the back of the field. Caution would come out on lap four as Levi Jones went for a spin, and Cody Ghumm would have to restart the field with sixteen laps to go. Ghumm would restart the field, and Zach Olmstead would make it three wide off the restart as he split the cars of Brooke Russell and Adam Wasserman as he moved to third place. Caution would come out a couple times before halfway, and with five laps to go Zach Olmstead was running second to Cody Williams, and the fun would ensue. As they started battling side by side, trading the lead a couple times, but on the final lap it was Williams putting his foot down on the throttle and winning a drag race out of turn four to beat Zach Olmstead at the start finish line. Cody Williams won for the seventh time this year, his first win of the year at RPM Speedway. Second was Zach Olmstead, third was Cody Ghumm, fourth was Adam Wasserman, and fifth was Tyler Heath. Hard charger in the event was Allen Snethen who picked up eleven spots in the feature, also notable runs were Jamie Hart with ten spots made up, Manuel Salazar, and Roger Garrison both picked up eight spots each, and Zach Olmstead picked up seven spots.
The sport mods had sixteen entries and the two heat race winners were Josh Barnhart and Adam Weber. The front row for the main event was Tristian Mikesell and Adam Weber, Weber got the early lead, and quickly built a huge lead over second place. The battle for second place was a side by side contest between Alex Loveless and Tristian Mikesell for the first lap, with Loveless gaining control of second place by lap two. Lap nine saw the only caution as Nick Hankins went for a spin in turn four, and that is not what race leader Adam Weber wanted to see, as it erased a four second lead. Weber would restart well and pull away, Tyler Watts got to second place, as Weber raced into lapped traffic Josh Barnhart was making moves and got all the way to third place. Adam Weber went on to pick up his second win of the season, first of the year at RPM. Second was Tyler Watts, third was Josh Barnhart, fourth was Hunter Smith and rounding out the top five was Alex Loveless. Hard chargers were Tyler Watts, Josh Barnhart, and Kamren Gruber who all picked up seven spots each. A notable return to the racetrack for Brianna Maughlin saw her gain five spots in the feature, in her first race back after a crash at Goodland earlier in the season.
Nine of your toughest and baddest racers in IMCA racing put on a show in the stock car class, winning the only heat was Troy Burkhart. The front row for the feature consisted of Shaylon Holloway and Troy Burkhart, the duo would battle side by side early on with Troy getting the slight advantage down the backstretch. Troy would start to pull away from the field, as a three wide battle would ensue for second place between Holloway, Tathan Burkhart and Kyle Pfeifer. Lap four saw the only caution as Caleb Rhoades went for a spin in turn four. Troy Burkhart would hold the lead on the restart, meanwhile four cars battled closely for second place. Tathan would eventually gain control of second place and would start running his dad Troy down for the race lead. Tathan would get close to his dad a couple times, but was unable to get by as Troy Burkhart won for the first time in 2023. Second was Tathan Burkhart, third was Kyle Pfeifer, fourth was Mike Petersilie, and fifth was Tyler Watts. Hard charger in the event was Tathan Burkhart as he picked up two spots.
The IMCA modifieds closed out the show, as twenty-three of the sport's top drivers came to play at the RPM Speedway, winning the three heat races, were Clay Money, Dakota Sproul and Dylan Sherfick. Trevor Geist and Kaid Calhoon started the feature from the front row, and Trevor Geist was able to lead lap one. On lap two Taos Leighton had an issue, and was asked to park his car. The field would restart and Trevor Geist would lead, meanwhile Jake Nightingale was charging to second place. Lap three saw a side by side battle between Nightingale and Money for second, and lap four saw Money not only grab second, but grab the race lead. Money got the lead by throwing a really sharp slider in turns three and four. Clay Sellard was able to get to second as Money started to pull away. By halfway of the twenty lap feature Money was still leading, but Clay Sellard was lurking. With two laps to go Sellard would gain the lead, and Money would appear to take the lead back, but a late caution gave the lead back to Sellard. In dirt racing whenever there is a caution, we look back at the last completed lap to determine the leader. Sellard would hold the lead on the restart, but with one lap to go Money grabbed the lead, and Sellard would get him back down the backstretch to gain the race win. It was Clay Sellard's sixth win of the year, third at RPM this year. Second was Clay Money, third was Daniel Gottschalk, fourth was Jake Nightingale and fifth was Kyle Rohleder. Hard charger in the event was Chad Sterling who picked up seven spots, a nice run for Gottschalk and Cody Gearhart saw them gain six spots each.
It was a great night of racing at the legendary RPM Speedway this past weekend, the track will next see races on June 24th!
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