Watts Leads Way in WaKeeney!

04/19/2025

By: Sheldon Wickwar

WaKeeney Speedway

Eighty-six race teams checked into the historic WaKeeney Speedway for a chilly season opener, winners included Tyler Watts in the sport mod, Daniel Gottschalk in the modified, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stock, Troy Burkhart in the stock car and Kyle Mortensen in the sport compact.

Mortensen Best in Compacts!

The sport compacts started the night off, they ran a heat race won by Brock Leibhart. Their feature saw a front row of Kaishen Brack and Brock Leibhart, but quickly Kyle Mortensen seized control of the feature and when the field single filed out, he easily ran away with the feature win, his first of the season. Second was Connor Schwien who battled back from an early flat tire in the feature, third was Brock Leibhart who rebounded after missing a shift on a late restart, fourth was Kaishen Brack and fifth was Grant Logue. Hard chargers in the event were Kyle Mortensen and Connor Schwien who gained three spots each.

Kyle Mortensen Celebrates his IMCA Sport Compact Win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Watts Outduels Weber in the Sport Mod!

The sport mods were second on the program, they ran two heat races won by Nick Hankins and Tyler Watts. Their feature event started with a front row of Jacob Olmstead and Cody Gearhart, the duo controlled the early lead, with Watts and Adam Weber chomping for a mistake. Towards the end of the feature Olmstead slid back on a restart, and Gearhart suffered a mechanical failure, opening the door wide open for Weber and Watts to put on a show for the WaKeeney fans. Tyler Watts ultimately was able to hold off Adam Weber to pick up his first win of the season, second was Adam Weber, third was Carson Lang, fourth was Nick Hankins and fifth was Austin Carter. Hard charger in the event was Blaine Walt who gained nine spots to finish sixth after starting thirteenth in a loaded sport mod feature. Other nice runs included Jack Kirchoff up eight spots in his new car, Carson Lang up seven spots, Jacey Archer up six spots in a part time ride, and rookie Austin Carter gained six spots. Rookie Josiah Lopez was able to gain one spot in his sport mod debut!

Tyler Watts Celebrates his IMCA Sport Mod victory! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Familiar Scene for Zach Olmstead in Victory Lane!

The hobby stocks ran third on the program, they ran three heat races won by Eric Cross, Zach Olmstead and Tyler Heath, James Love won the class's B-Feature. Their feature event started with a front row of Tyler Heath and Konner Mikesell, the duo led early on, but quickly the Olmstead family duo of Zach and Morgan started slicing through the field, Zach got to the lead, and Morgan was up to about third, when he spun himself out off of turn four. Zach Olmstead was untouched and easily cruised to his third win of the season, previously winning at RPM Speedway during the Sunflower Classic, and last Saturday at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte! Hard chargers in the event were Dylan Bell and Bret Conness who gained seven spots each, other nice runs included Zach Olmstead up six spots, Reagen Sellard, Garrit Caswell and Gordon French all gained five spots each. Rookie Nicholas Sherfick gained four spots in his first appearance!

Zach Olmstead Celebrates his IMCA Hobby Stock win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Burkhart Outduels Holzmeister, Pfeifer to Win Stock Car!

The stock cars ran fourth on the program, they ran two heat races won by Troy Burkhart and Kyle Pfeifer, their feature event started with a front row of Troy Burkhart and Doug Holzmeister, the duo ran closely throughout the feature, until the closing stages where Holzmeister fell off slightly. Kyle Pfeifer got by Holzmeister late but could not quite make a winning pass on Burkhart. Troy Burkhart grabbed his second win of the season after grabbing one at RPM Speedway in Hays during the Sunflower Classic. Kyle Pfeifer finished second, third was Doug Holzmeister, fourth was Tathan Burkhart and fifth was Chris Oliver. Hard charger in the event was Kyle Pfeifer who gained seven spots. Tathan Burkhart gained four spots, and Bobby Eubanks gained three spots.

Troy Burkhart Celebrates his IMCA Stock Car win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Gottschalk Holds off Gustus to win Modifieds!

The modifieds closed out the program, their three heat races were won by Greg Gustus, Kyle Rohleder and Brett Berry, their feature event started with a front row of Greg Gustus and Daniel Gottschalk, who battled closely throughout the feature, as each took turns leading at different points throughout the feature. Late in the feature Gottschalk solidified the lead, and ran away from Gustus. Daniel Gottschalk picked up his first win of 2025, in his first night out. Second was Greg Gustus, third was Clay Money, fourth was Brett Berry and fifth was Clay Sellard. Hard charger in the feature was Brett Berry who gained seven spots, other nice runs included Dylan Sherfick and Dalton Bell up four spots each, Clay Money and Danny Keller gained three spots each.

Daniel Gottschalk Celebrates his IMCA Modified win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

FULL RESULTS: Solutions North Bank Stock Cars

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25X-Troy Burkhart[1]; 2. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[9]; 3. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[2]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[8]; 5. 3-Chris Oliver[3]; 6. 11W-Tim Watts[7]; 7. 1C-Cody Ghumm[4]; 8. 3Z-Trey Zorn[6]; 9. 9-Brendyn Nordyke[5]; 10. 7-Bobby Eubanks[13]; 11. 20-Tyler Walker[11]; 12. 6D-Don Dodds[12]; 13. 99-Gerald Walker[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[2]; 2. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[5]; 3. 9-Brendyn Nordyke[1]; 4. 3Z-Trey Zorn[3]; 5. 99-Gerald Walker[6]; 6. 20-Tyler Walker[7]; 7. (DNF) 7-Bobby Eubanks[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25X-Troy Burkhart[1]; 2. 250-Tathan Burkhart[3]; 3. 3-Chris Oliver[2]; 4. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 5. 1C-Cody Ghumm[4]; 6. 6D-Don Dodds[6]

27 entries

Ghumm's Autos Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[7]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[9]; 3. 187-Tyler Heath[1]; 4. 2M-Trent Matson[6]; 5. 2S-Reagan Sellard[10]; 6. 23M-Konner Mikesell[2]; 7. 58-Bret Conness[14]; 8. 55C-Garrit Caswell[13]; 9. 57-Eric Cross[4]; 10. 88-Morgan Olmstead[8]; 11. 8J-Levi Jones[3]; 12. 48H-Carson Hageman[15]; 13. 53F-Gordon French[18]; 14. 69-Danny Schulte[5]; 15. 66N-Nicholas Sherfick[19]; 16. (DNF) 55J-James Love[16]; 17. (DNF) 7-AJ Davenport[17]; 18. (DNF) 70-Billy McBride[12]; 19. (DNF) 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[20]; 20. (DNF) 03-Derick Coomes[11]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 55J-James Love[6]; 2. 7-AJ Davenport[2]; 3. 53F-Gordon French[3]; 4. 66N-Nicholos Sherfick[9]; 5. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[5]; 6. 24W-Wade Kolbo[1]; 7. 12E-kirk Esplund[8]; 8. 5-Trace Lobdell[4]; 9. M69-Anna Minks[12]; 10. 8K-Hayden Kelly[7]; 11. 82-Chad Wulf[10]; 12. 24-Ray Caldwell[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Eric Cross[4]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[1]; 3. 2S-Reagan Sellard[3]; 4. 23M-Konner Mikesell[5]; 5. 55C-Garrit Caswell[2]; 6. 24W-Wade Kolbo[6]; 7. 5-Trace Lobdell[9]; 8. 8K-Hayden Kelly[7]; 9. (DNS) 82-Chad Wulf

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[2]; 2. 2M-Trent Matson[4]; 3. 8J-Levi Jones[5]; 4. 03-Derick Coomes[9]; 5. 58-Bret Conness[6]; 6. 7-AJ Davenport[1]; 7. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[7]; 8. 12E-kirk Esplund[8]; 9. 24-Ray Caldwell[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 187-Tyler Heath[3]; 2. 88-Morgan Olmstead[7]; 3. 69-Danny Schulte[5]; 4. 70-Billy McBride[4]; 5. 48H-Carson Hageman[8]; 6. 53F-Gordon French[6]; 7. 55J-James Love[2]; 8. 66N-Nicholos Sherfick[1]; 9. (DNF) M69-Anna Minks[9]

19 entries

Finish Line Lease Service Modifieds

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[2]; 2. 14G-Greg Gustus[1]; 3. 7-Clay Money[6]; 4. 09B-Brett Berry[11]; 5. 85C-Clay Sellard[3]; 6. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[10]; 7. 0-Kyle Rohleder[8]; 8. 33-Dustin Daniels[4]; 9. 8R-Jesse Richter[9]; 10. 22B-Dalton Bell[14]; 11. 49M-Aiden Miller[13]; 12. 9D-Dalton Murphy[7]; 13. 98-Danny Keller[16]; 14. 51-Mike Bainter[5]; 15. (DNF) 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[12]; 16. (DNF) 33X-Jason Ward[17]; 17. (DNF) 49-Drew Miller[19]; 18. (DNF) 83L-Taos Leighton[15]; 19. (DNS) 7R-Ryan Richmeier

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14G-Greg Gustus[1]; 2. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[4]; 3. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[2]; 4. 51-Mike Bainter[6]; 5. 49M-Aiden Miller[5]; 6. 98-Danny Keller[3]; 7. 49-Drew Miller[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Kyle Rohleder[2]; 2. 8R-Jesse Richter[3]; 3. 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[1]; 4. 33-Dustin Daniels[6]; 5. 22B-Dalton Bell[5]; 6. 33X-Jason Ward[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 09B-Brett Berry[1]; 2. 7-Clay Money[6]; 3. 85C-Clay Sellard[4]; 4. 9D-Dalton Murphy[3]; 5. 83L-Taos Leighton[2]; 6. (DNF) 7R-Ryan Richmeier[5]

19 entries

Moeder's Meats Sport Mods

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[5]; 2. 3-Adam Weber[3]; 3. 54-Carson Lang[10]; 4. 99H-Nicholas Hankins[9]; 5. 63C-Austin Carter[11]; 6. 14W-Blaine Walt[15]; 7. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[7]; 8. 7D-Dylan Jacobson[8]; 9. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[17]; 10. 53M-Jacey Archer[16]; 11. 11J-Josiah Lopez[12]; 12. 88-Jacob Olmstead[1]; 13. (DNF) 87D-Chad Dolan[4]; 14. (DNF) 1M-Cody Gearhart[2]; 15. (DNF) 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[13]; 16. (DNF) 21C-Brian Conness[14]; 17. (DNF) 99-Justin Meserve[19]; 18. (DNF) 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[6]; 19. (DNF) 97-Shawn Ward[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99H-Nicholas Hankins[3]; 2. 88-Jacob Olmstead[1]; 3. 1M-Cody Gearhart[4]; 4. 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[7]; 5. 87D-Chad Dolan[6]; 6. 63C-Austin Carter[9]; 7. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[5]; 8. 14W-Blaine Walt[8]; 9. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[2]; 10. (DNF) 99-Justin Meserve[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[1]; 2. 3-Adam Weber[2]; 3. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[7]; 4. 54-Carson Lang[9]; 5. 7D-Dylan Jacobson[6]; 6. 11J-Josiah Lopez[3]; 7. 21C-Brian Conness[4]; 8. 53M-Jacey Archer[5]; 9. 97-Shawn Ward[8]

8 entries

Gibson Health Mart Sport Compacts

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[4]; 2. 16C-Connor Schwien[5]; 3. 15B-Brock Leibhart[2]; 4. 8B-Kaishen Brack[1]; 5. 16L-Grant Logue[6]; 6. 63-Makennon Sanders[7]; 7. 26X-Dan Kruse[3]; 8. (DNS) 7J-JayDee Hudson

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 15B-Brock Leibhart[6]; 2. 16C-Connor Schwien[4]; 3. 8B-Kaishen Brack[3]; 4. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[5]; 5. 26X-Dan Kruse[7]; 6. 16L-Grant Logue[8]; 7. 63-Makennon Sanders[1]; 8. (DNS) 7J-JayDee Hudson