04/26/2024
Hutchinson, Kansas
Salt City Racing
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Dakota Sproul, Cody Williams, Warren Huffman, Tathan Burkhart, and Taylor Velasquez all picked up historic first IMCA feature wins at SaltCity Racing at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson! Sixty-five race teams checked into Hutchinson, and the packed grandstands saw some great opening night IMCA racing action, along with the United Rebel Sprint Series!
The stock cars started feature racing off first for the grand opening of SaltCity Racing at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. The fifteen-lap feature started with a front row of Craig Miller and Tathan Burkhart. Heat race winners were Garrett Hager and Scott Miller. Caution came out right away as Shannon Edwards went for a spin in turn one, the field would attempt a second original start. Miller grabbed the early lead but down the backstretch Tathan grabbed the race lead. Meanwhile his father Troy was battling for fourth place with William Nusser. Tathan built a big lead right away as Miller and Petersilie were nose to tail for second and third place. At the halfway point Tathan entered lapped traffic while still holding a big lead over Miller. Lap seven saw a caution as one car stopped on the frontstretch, Tathan would bring the field to a restart. Miller would surrender second place to Petersillie off the restart, meanwhile Tathan ran away with the lead. With five laps to go Tathan bobbled and allowed Petersillie to close in on the race lead. Tathan would pull away late and go on to win the feature event, second was Mike Petersillie, third was Scott Miller, fourth was Garrett Hager and fifth was Tanner Thiel. Hard charger in the event was Mike Burian, the Hutchinson native gained seven spots. Other nice runs included Garrett Hager up six spots, and Dylan Chambers up five spots.
The sprints were second on the program, they ran two eight lap heat races won by Jeremy Huish and Brian Herbert. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Taylor Velasquez and Steven Richardson. Velasquez grabbed the early race lead and started pacing the field from the bottom groove. The field singled out with Velasquez leading the train around the bottom of the speedway. At the halfway point Velasquez still led over Richardson and Herbert, with Velasquez moving the field up to the top groove right against the wall. Caution came out on lap ten as Justin Chaffin slowed in turns three and four. Velasquez led the field to a restart but lap eleven saw a caution as Jermey Huish spun from the fifth running place. Velasquez led the field to a restart with just nine laps remaining, and continued to lead, meanwhile Jeremy Campbell jumped to third and started battling Richardson for second place. In the final five laps Velasquez was able to maintain his lead to pick up his first feature win of the season, the fourth different feature winner in four races for the United Rebel Sprint Series, second was Steven Richardson, third was Jeremy Campbell, fourth was Brian Herbert and Jon Freeman rounded out the top five. Hard charger in the event was Jeremy Campbell who grabbed five spots, other nice runs included Conner Thomas and Charlee Chaffin gaining two spots each.
The hobby stocks were third on the program, they ran two six lap heat races won by Dillon Richards and Cody Williams, their fifteen-lap feature started with a front row of Blake Holmes and Garrit Caswell. Williams gained the early lead from the third row, but caution came out right away as a car slowed down the backstretch. The field would make an original restart, but caution came out as Dawson Bradford stopped down the backstretch. Williams and Richards got to the front right away on the third attempt at the race start, and they got a lap in with Williams leading, but Richards was right on his rear bumper. After five laps Williams held a slight advantage over Richards, with both cars running identical lap times, meanwhile Tyler Heath was hanging out in third place, trying to close in on the lead battle. Lap eight saw Williams start to slowly pull away from Richards. In the final five laps Williams was able to hold off a very fast Richards to pick up his ninth win of the year. Second was Dillon Richards, third was Tyler Heath, fourth was Billy McBride and fifth was Jonathan Saliba. Hard charger in the event was Tyler Heath gaining six spots, other nice runs included Cody Williams and Dillon Richards gaining four spots each.
The sport mods were fourth on the program, they ran two six lap heat races won by Warren Huffman and Dalton Bell, their fifteen-lap feature started with a front row of Jimmy Brozek and Warren Huffman. Huffman grabbed the early race lead, meanwhile Brozek settled into second, and Justin Lampe settled into third. Caution came out on lap two as Tyler Watts and Dalton Bell hit the wall in turns one and two, Watts came to a stop. Warren would bring the field to a restart with thirteen to go, Lampe jumped to the second position and started chasing down Warren. Brozek would lose the third-place spot to a charging Eddie Ingram. Laps would start winding down for Warren Huffman as he was in firm control of the race lead, as the field would single-file out. The final five laps saw Warren Huffman easily win the feature event, second was Justin Lampe, third was Eddie Ingram, fourth was Jimmy Brozek and fifth was Alex Wiens. Hard charger in the event was Eddie Ingram who gained eight spots, other nice runs included Justin Lampe and Alex Wiens gaining two spots each.
The modifieds finished the program, they ran two six lap heat races won by Peyton Burkhart and Dakota Sproul. Their twenty-lap feature started with a front row of Dakota Sproul and Randy Wilson. Sproul gained a four-car length advantage right away, meanwhile Randy Wilson settled into second place and Casey Jo Gemmill sat in third place. Lap four saw Sproul's race lead evaporate as two cars tangled in turn four, Lee Steffen was involved in the turn four incident and did some premature donuts. Sproul led the field to a restart with sixteen laps to go, and easily gained a big lead. Lap seven saw a caution as Patrick McManus spun at the exit of turn two, he had been battling for fifth place with Peyton Burkhart. Lap eight saw a caution as Ryan Green went for a spin, Sproul would bring the field to another restart, Lap nine saw Tim Watts enter the top-five, meanwhile Sproul was already out to dinner with the trophy. Lap eleven saw a caution as Aaron Rayl and Ryan Green got together down the backstretch, ending both of their race nights. Sproul led the field to a restart with nine laps to go, and jumped to a big lead again, as the field single-filed out behind him. Dakota Sproul picked up win number three of 2024, second was Casey Jo Gemmill, third was Randy Wilson, fourth was Tim Watts and fifth was Peyton Burkhart. Hard charger in the event was Tim Watts who gained six spots, other nice runs included Jim Graves and Tyler Humphries grabbing five spots each.
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