Tanner Mullens wins Night One of The Sunflower Classic!

April 16, 2022

04/16/2022 The start of the 2022 race season at RPM Speedway kicked off last night with night one of the Sunflower Classic. One hundred and six race teams checked in, from states of Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. Despite chilly and windy conditions, the action on the track heated up quickly. The sport compacts started the show, with two six lap heat races. Kiowa Higdon started on the pole of the first one, Gratton Dalton would grab the early lead, and on lap two Higdon would slide off turns one and two, to bring out a caution. Heat one would resume and Ted Trumbo would grab the lead and hold off Zach Bohlmeyer to grab the heat race win. The second heat race placed Madison Reed on the pole, and he would get a good launch to start the heat. Kaden Murray and David Ghumm have a little side by side battle for a lap or so, and Murray would prevail, and with three laps to go Murray would make contact with Reed’s rear bumper. Reed would go sideways in turns three and four, but be able to keep it rolling without spinning. Those three cars ran under a blanket for the remainder, but Reed was able to hold off Murray to grab the heat race win. The compacts feature would start with a front row of Gratton Dalton and David Ghumm. Dalton would grab the early lead, Ghumm would momentarily grab the lead, but got too wide in four and lose the lead to Dalton. Dalton would then lose the lead to Kaden Murray. Trumbo would lose some ground as he went too high in turns one and two. At the halfway mark, Murray would hold a commanding lead over Dalton. With six to go Kaishen Brack would retire from the race. Reed and Bohlmeyer would start battling side by side, and Bohlmeyer would prevail. Meanwhile Murray would walk away, winning the first feature of the season. Kayden Murray won, Zach Bohlmeyer second, Gratton Dalton third, Madison Reed fourth, and fifth went to Branston Arnder. Going from eighth to second gave Zach Bohlmeyer the hard charger title. RESULTS: A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9K-Kaden Murray[5]; 2. 24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[8]; 3. 73G-Gratton Dalton[1]; 4. 6M-Madison Reed[7]; 5. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[4]; 6. 17-Kiowa Higdon[11]; 7. T21-Ted Trumbo[9]; 8. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[3]; 9. 45-David Kappel[12]; 10. 69G-Gage Porter[6]; 11. (DNF) 23K-Kaishen Brack[10]; 12. (DNF) 23-David Ghumm[2] Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. T21-Ted Trumbo[3]; 2. 24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[5]; 3. 73G-Gratton Dalton[2]; 4. 77-Branston Arnder Jr[6]; 5. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[4]; 6. (DNF) 17-Kiowa Higdon[1] Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 6M-Madison Reed[1]; 2. 9K-Kaden Murray[3]; 3. 69G-Gage Porter[2]; 4. 23-David Ghumm[5]; 5. (DNS) 23K-Kaishen Brack The hobby stocks were second on the program, they ran three eight lap heat races. Dillon Richards would start on the pole of the first heat, Jason McIntyre would grab the early lead, meanwhile Brooke Russell was on the move forward from her fourth starting spot, she would make it to second but then got a little too high in turn two and slide back to the third spot. Richards would make an attempt to grab the lead back from McIntyre but wouldn’t be able to make it happen. Jason McIntyre would grab the first heat win. The second heat race featured Zach Olmstead starting from the pole. Shay Simoneau would grab the early lead, but Olmestead would battle back, and Taylor Huss would make it a three car battle. Simoneau would hold on to grab the heat win. The third heat featured Joel Dix on the pole. Dillon Thompson would grab an early lead, Bingston Rogers would make some noise with a three wide pass to get to second on the initial start. Rogers would close the gap but wasn’t able to get around him as Dillon Thompson would win the heat race. The hobby stocks feature would start with a front row of Alicia Hilzer and Dillon Thompson. The field would go four wide right off the bat, Thompson would grab the lead, Dillon Richards and Lyle Russell would battle side by side for second. Richard and Thompson would battle side by side, Richards would prevail, but the side by side battle brought Brady Bencken into the picture, he would get around Thompson for second. Bencken would get side by side with Richards on lap eight but couldn't quite pull off the pass. Bencken would throw a slider on Richards, but Richards crossed him back over to maintain the lead. Trevor Schmidt would bring out a caution with ten laps to go. On the restart Huss would slide off turns one and two but would keep it going. Richards would hold the lead over Bencken, and Thompson would run in the third position. Caution would come out with two laps to go as Schmidt went over the top of one and two. That would set up a green, white, checkered finish. Richards would pull away, Zach Olmstead would try to get around Bencken. Dillon Richards won, Brady Bencken second, Zach Olmstead third, Dillon Thompson fourth and Taylor Huss fifth. Going from twelfth to third gave Zach Olmstead the hard charger title. RESULTS: A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 24R-Dillon Richards[4]; 2. 711-Brady Bencken[7]; 3. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[12]; 4. 11-Dillon Thompson[2]; 5. 3-Taylor Huss[10]; 6. 29-Shay Simoneau[5]; 7. 22R-Lyle Russell[3]; 8. 46-Ryan Gilland[13]; 9. 20-James Hart[9]; 10. 88-Morgan Olmstead[14]; 11. 03-Derick Coomes[19]; 12. 6M-Mcintyre Jason[6]; 13. 31-Dylan Bell[20]; 14. 17-Tyler Thompson[18]; 15. 37-Bingston Rogers[8]; 16. (DNF) 2X-Trevor Schmidt[16]; 17. (DNF) 3J-Joel Dix[15]; 18. (DNF) 12R-Brooke Russell[11]; 19. (DNF) 55-Blake Holmes[17]; 20. (DNF) 8A-Alicia Hilzer[1] Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6M-Mcintyre Jason[2]; 2. 24R-Dillon Richards[1]; 3. 12R-Brooke Russell[4]; 4. 711-Brady Bencken[5]; 5. 46-Ryan Gilland[3]; 6. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[7]; 7. 03-Derick Coomes[6] Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Shay Simoneau[2]; 2. 3-Taylor Huss[5]; 3. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[1]; 4. 8A-Alicia Hilzer[6]; 5. 88-Morgan Olmstead[7]; 6. 55-Blake Holmes[3]; 7. 31-Dylan Bell[4] Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Dillon Thompson[2]; 2. 37-Bingston Rogers[4]; 3. 20-James Hart[3]; 4. 22R-Lyle Russell[6]; 5. 3J-Joel Dix[1]; 6. 17-Tyler Thompson[5] The stock cars were third on the program, they ran three eight lap heat races. Troy Burkhart would start the first one from the pole, he would grab the early lead, caution would come out on lap one as Josh Schweitzer would go off in turns one and two. Burkhart would maintain the lead after the restart, Brandon Conkwright would make an attempt to get to Burkhart’s inside but the door would be slammed shut. Caution would come out a second time as Don Schweitzer would go for a spin and come to a stop. Burkhart would go on to lead the remainder of the heat to grab the win. Keith Stegman would start the second heat race from the lead, Mike Petersilie would grab the early lead, Kolby Stegman would go around in one and two but got it refired, but unfortunately spin out in turn four in front of the leaders, but not collect anyone. Petersilie would lead the remainder and win the second heat race. The third heat race featured Boone Evans starting on the pole. Evans would have the early lead but quickly Tathan Burkhart would grab the lead. Bobby Eubanks would bring out a caution after going off track in turn one on lap two. Burkhart would maintain the lead after the restart. Burkhart would run away to win the third heat race. The stock car feature would start with a front row of Tyler Tipton and Boone Evans. Tipton would hold the early lead, but on lap two Tipton and Evans would be side by side. Evans would grab the lead on lap three. Eric Cross and the Burkharts would battle. Caution would come out on lap nine as Dillon Reese went for a slight spin in turn four. Tathan Burkhart would make a three wide pass. The battle for second would go four wide. Back in the pack Mike Nichols would make it four wide, trying to advance. With four laps to go Boone Evans suffered heartbreak as the engine expired on his car. Tipton would lead the field to the restart, Tipton, Woken and Tathan Burkhart would go three wide and Woken would grab the lead. Burkhart would battle back with Tipton right on his bumper. Woken would prevail to win the feature. Tathan Burkhart second, Tyler Tipton third, Eric Cross fourth and Jason Rogers fifth. The hard chargers were Casey Woken and Mike Nichols who both picked up nine spots each. RESULTS: A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 35JW-Casey Woken[10]; 2. 250-Tathan Burkhart[5]; 3. 95-Tyler Tipton[1]; 4. 57-Eric Cross[9]; 5. 37-Jason Rogers[6]; 6. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[15]; 7. 25X-Troy Burkhart[4]; 8. 63-Mike Nichols[17]; 9. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[7]; 10. 77-Tyler Frye[11]; 11. 52T-Travis Baird[12]; 12. 19K-Kolby Stegman[20]; 13. 14G-Brandon Gritz[18]; 14. 11W-Tim Watts[13]; 15. 117S-Josh Schweitzer[22]; 16. 19-Keith Stegman[14]; 17. 17S-Don Schweitzer[19]; 18. (DNF) 4JR-Boone Evans[2]; 19. (DNF) 3-Chris Oliver[8]; 20. (DNF) 25P-Mike Petersilie[3]; 21. (DNF) 51-Dillon Reese[16]; 22. (DNS) 28-Bobby Eubanks Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25X-Troy Burkhart[1]; 2. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[4]; 3. 57-Eric Cross[5]; 4. 35JW-Casey Woken[7]; 5. 11W-Tim Watts[6]; 6. 51-Dillon Reese[3]; 7. (DNF) 17S-Don Schweitzer[8]; 8. (DNF) 117S-Josh Schweitzer[2] Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25P-Mike Petersilie[2]; 2. 52T-Travis Baird[4]; 3. 95-Tyler Tipton[7]; 4. 3-Chris Oliver[3]; 5. 19-Keith Stegman[1]; 6. (DNF) 63-Mike Nichols[6]; 7. (DNF) 19K-Kolby Stegman[5] Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[3]; 2. 77-Tyler Frye[4]; 3. 4JR-Boone Evans[1]; 4. 37-Jason Rogers[5]; 5. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[6]; 6. 14G-Brandon Gritz[7]; 7. (DNF) 28-Bobby Eubanks[2] The sport mods were fourth on the program, they ran three eight lap heat races. Connor Barnes would start the first heat from the pole, on the initial start Matt Rucker and Lance Yoxsimer would go off track in turns one and two, Rucker would be able to keep going but Yoxsimer wouldn’t be able to. Barnes would grab the lead off the restart, and would settle in. Matt Rucker would get around Jack Kirchoff to get to second. Meanwhile Barnes would dominate to pick up the first heat race win. Jeff Hunter started the second heat race from the pole, Hunter would grab the lead. Brett Berry would waste no time, going four wide to get from last to second on the first lap. Hunter would go on to win the second heat race. Jimmy Brozek would start the third heat race from the pole. Blaine Walt would grab the early lead after starting second. Taos Leignton would spin and bring out a caution. Walt would walk away with the heat race win after the restart. The sport mod feature would start with a front row of CJ Pfannenstiel and Blaine Walt. Right off the bat Walt, Hunter and Pfannenstiel would go three wide, with Hunter holding a slight advantage over Walt. Hunter and Walt would battle side by side, with Walt prevailing after a lap. Walt would hold the lead, meanwhile Brett Berry was starting to charge towards the front. The field would battle lapped traffic, and Berry, along with Jacey Archer would start making moves in traffic. Berry would make it all the way up to second, but couldn’t quite catch Blaine Walt in traffic. Blaine Walt picked up his first win of the year, Brett Berry second, third went to Jeff Hunter, fourth to CJ Pfannenstiel and fifth to Ryan Moser. The hard charger was Brendyn Nordyke who picked up nine spots. RESULTS: A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[2]; 2. 09B-Brett Berry[8]; 3. 21H-Jeff Hunter[3]; 4. 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[1]; 5. 180-Ryan Moser[7]; 6. 2BA-Jacey Archer[10]; 7. 27G-Kamren Gruber[5]; 8. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[9]; 9. 9JR-Brendyn Nordyke[18]; 10. 7C-Connor Barnes[11]; 11. 64-Jimmy Brozek[12]; 12. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[6]; 13. 91Y-Lance Yoxsimer[19]; 14. 83L-Taos Leignton[21]; 15. (DNF) 54B-Brennen Nech[16]; 16. (DNF) 5150-Josh Barnhart[13]; 17. (DNF) 02-Matt Rucker[4]; 18. (DNF) 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[15]; 19. (DNS) 6B-Travis Burger; 20. (DNS) 6-Stan Huiting; 21. (DNS) 77W-Tyler Watts Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7C-Connor Barnes[1]; 2. 02-Matt Rucker[6]; 3. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[2]; 4. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[3]; 5. 5150-Josh Barnhart[7]; 6. (DNF) 54B-Brennen Nech[5]; 7. (DNF) 91Y-Lance Yoxsimer[4] Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21H-Jeff Hunter[1]; 2. 09B-Brett Berry[6]; 3. 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[2]; 4. 2BA-Jacey Archer[7]; 5. 77W-Tyler Watts[4]; 6. (DNF) 6B-Travis Burger[5]; 7. (DNS) 6-Stan Huiting Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[2]; 2. 64-Jimmy Brozek[1]; 3. 180-Ryan Moser[3]; 4. 27G-Kamren Gruber[4]; 5. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[5]; 6. 9JR-Brendyn Nordyke[7]; 7. (DNF) 83L-Taos Leignton[6] The modifieds closed out the show, they ran four eight lap heat races, with the top three cars transferring into the main event. David Solberg would start heat one from the pole, Tanner Mullens and TeeJay Janousek would make it three wide and those two would get around Solberg and battle side by side. Mullens would prevail, meanwhile Tim Watts would start trying to run down Janousek. Mullens would go on to win the first heat race, Janousek and Watts would grab the other two transfer spots. The second heat race would feature Tanner Black starting from the pole. The race would get crazy right off the bat, as Dylan Sherfick would make it three wide, to get around Kyle Rohleder for second place, and behind them the field would go four wide as drivers battled for position. Dakota Sproul and Spencer Wilson would battle for fourth, trading sliders. Wilson would make several attempts to get around Wilson but wouldn’t be able to. Tanner Black won the second heat race, and Dylan Sherfick, along with Kyle Rohleder would transfer into the main event. Greg Gustus would start heat three from the pole. Gustus would have the early lead. Clay Money would start hunting Curtis Barnes for the third spot and would eventually get it. Gustus, and Daniel Gottschalk would break away from the field. The field would go single file to the finish, with Greg Gustus picking up the third heat race win, and Daniel Gottschalk, along with Clay Money would transfer to the main event. The fourth heat race would feature Cody Gearhart starting on the pole, he would hold the early lead, and Kelsie Foley would get to the second spot rather quickly, after starting fifth. Brandon Conkwright would get to third, and would start battling side by side with Foley. Gearhart would lead wire to wire, Foley would hold on to second and Brian Cross would make an attempt to get third but fall short. Cody Gearhart won the fourth heat race, and Kelsie Foley, along with Brandon Conkwright would transfer to the main event. The modifieds would then run two ten lap b-features where six more cars from each feature would move to the main event. Jake Nightingale and Beau Speicher would start the first b-feature from the front row. Speicher would hold the early lead, the sixth spot battle would go three wide. The top three of Speicher, Barnes, and Nightingale would break away from the rest of the field. Brett Smith and Tim Clark would get around Brenden Damon to grab the fifth and sixth spots. Moving on from b-feature one, was Beau Speicher, Jake Nightingale, Curtis Barnes, Don Geist, Brett Smith and Tim Clark. The second b-feature would have Spencer Wilson and Brian Cross on the front row. Cross would jump to the early lead, Petersilie and Jermey Sigler would battle for the sixth spot. Sigler would drop back to eighth but he would get around Danny Keller for seventh and he would battle Rich Tegethoff for the sixth and final transfer spot. Sigler would grab the final spot at the line. Brian Cross, Spencer Wilson, Dakota Sproul, Danny Morrison, Mike Petersilie and Jermey Sigler would all transfer into the main event. The modifieds would then run a twenty lap main event, with a front row of Tanner Mullens, and TeeJay Janousek to start. Tanner Mullens led early, but Dylan Sherfick went for a spin. Several cars involved in a couple different incidents. Mullens would lead the field to a restart, the battle for second would go three wide, but caution would come back out, as Don Geist came to a stop in turn four. Mullens would restart the field, and the battle for second would go four wide. Tanner Black would get to the second spot. Clay Money was starting to make moves to the front as well. At the halfway mark Tanner Mullens led over, Tanner Black, Kyle Rohleder, Brian Cross, and Clay Money. Caution would come out with two laps to go, as lapped traffic spun in front of the top five. Mullens would lead the field to a final restart, and Rohleder would grab second, with Money right behind. Tanner Mullens won, Kyle Rohleder second, third went to Clay Money, fourth to Tanner Black and fifth went to Brian Cross. The hard charger was Mike Petersilie who picked up twelve spots. RESULTS: A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 15-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[5]; 3. 7-Clay Money[7]; 4. 44T-Tanner Black[3]; 5. 78-Brian Cross[14]; 6. 1M-Cody Gearhart[11]; 7. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[12]; 8. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[9]; 9. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[4]; 10. 25P-Mike Petersilie[22]; 11. 75-Spencer Wilson[16]; 12. 11W-Tim Watts[6]; 13. 10T-Brett Smith[21]; 14. 54-Tim Clark[23]; 15. 10-TeeJay Janousek[2]; 16. (DNF) 3J-Jake Nightingale[15]; 17. (DNF) 14G-Greg Gustus[8]; 18. (DNF) 08-Dakota Sproul[18]; 19. (DNF) 73-Beau Speicher[13]; 20. (DNF) 21J-Jeremy Sigler[24]; 21. (DNF) 44K-Kelsie Foley[10]; 22. (DNF) 7B-Curtis Barnes[17]; 23. (DNF) 14M-Danny Morrison[20]; 24. (DNF) 10G-Don Geist[19] B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 73-Beau Speicher[2]; 2. 3J-Jake Nightingale[1]; 3. 7B-Curtis Barnes[4]; 4. 10G-Don Geist[3]; 5. 10T-Brett Smith[5]; 6. 54-Tim Clark[7]; 7. 33D-Brenden Damon[6]; 8. 26X-Shane Meeks[10]; 9. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[8]; 10. 7S-David Solberg[9] B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 78-Brian Cross[2]; 2. 75-Spencer Wilson[1]; 3. 08-Dakota Sproul[3]; 4. 14M-Danny Morrison[5]; 5. 25P-Mike Petersilie[7]; 6. 21J-Jeremy Sigler[6]; 7. 87-Rich Tegethoff[4]; 8. K98-Danny Keller[9]; 9. A1-Bill Albin[8] Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Tanner Mullens[3]; 2. 10-TeeJay Janousek[2]; 3. 11W-Tim Watts[4]; 4. 3J-Jake Nightingale[6]; 5. 10G-Don Geist[5]; 6. 10T-Brett Smith[7]; 7. 54-Tim Clark[8]; 8. 7S-David Solberg[1] Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 44T-Tanner Black[1]; 2. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[3]; 3. 0-Kyle Rohleder[2]; 4. 75-Spencer Wilson[5]; 5. 08-Dakota Sproul[7]; 6. 14M-Danny Morrison[6]; 7. 25P-Mike Petersilie[8]; 8. K98-Danny Keller[4] Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14G-Greg Gustus[1]; 2. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[3]; 3. 7-Clay Money[4]; 4. 73-Beau Speicher[6]; 5. 7B-Curtis Barnes[2]; 6. 33D-Brenden Damon[5]; 7. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[8]; 8. (DNF) 26X-Shane Meeks[7] Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Cody Gearhart[1]; 2. 44K-Kelsie Foley[5]; 3. 24C-Brandon Conkwright[3]; 4. 78-Brian Cross[7]; 5. 87-Rich Tegethoff[4]; 6. 21J-Jeremy Sigler[2]; 7. A1-Bill Albin[6]