Nebraska Racing News: Old-Fashioned Championship Night at Lincoln County Raceway

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By Darin Racek

(North Platte, Nebraska) Remember when Championship Nights at the races used to be a knock-down, drag-out type of event? Lincoln County Raceway hasn’t had one in years, but the one on August 20 sure made up for lost time. The fact that no point leader had more than a ten point advantage going into the night might have had something to do with it. Ronnie Wallace of McCook, Casey Woken of Ogallala, Colton Osborn of Cozad, and Austin Davis of Benkelman were able to wrestle away A Feature wins. Wallace, Osborn, Casey Werkmeister of Maywood, and Corey Cruzan of Maxwell muscled out their competitors for the track championships.

Dan Carl of North Platte stormed out to the early lead of the IMCA Modified A Feature, a race that actually went caution-free. Carl has been fighting an unknown electrical problem with his car, and it came up again during the race, slowing him down to a point where it appeared he had lost a cylinder. Ronnie Wallace took advantage of the situation, reeled in Carl before the rest of the field could, and pulled out to a large lead of his own, one that would not allow him to be denied for the win or track championship. Cole Hodges of Ogallala came in the night two points behind the McCook driver, and left three points behind after his second place finish. Heat winner Don Hagan, Jr. of McCook took the third spot, ahead of North Platte drivers Andrew Dillenburg and Terry Houchin, in that order.

An opening lap crash at the start of the IMCA Northern SportMod A Feature seemed to set the tone for that twenty lap event. Points contender Shane Stout of North Platte went to the pits to change a tire after being involved in the incident and started in the back. Mikey Dancer of North Platte started up front and was showing the way alone until he was joined there by Bryan Herrick of Curtis. Herrick passed Dancer as they came to complete lap seven, but the caution came out before they crossed the line, putting “The Rubber Duck” back in second place. Dancer’s brakes were going away, and two laps later, he spun while trying to use them to get around corner one, handing the lead to Herrick. The race would stop, then restart, only to stop again after which was originally a one-car spin. The race was halted when the driver opted to argue his case on the front straight rather than go into the pits, and the ugly situation got uglier before it got better. Finally, after the car was towed off the track, the race was able to carry on. Colton Osborn became a player in the race, and as he and Herrick came to take the white flag, Osborn was able to make the pass for the lead. The points leader held onto that lead with his victory one lap later. Heat winners Herrick and Stout finished in second and third places. Matt Caudillo blew an engine in corner three, yet managed to coast around to finish in fourth place. Jerry Cox of Arnold finished in fifth place.

While the IMCA Stock Car A Feature did not have an incident that forced the stoppage of the race, it did prove to be a race of attrition. Only five of the original twelve starters finished the event. Cash dash winner Kent Lower of North Platte took the lead at the start and looked like the pied piper leading a string of cars around the track. Unfortunately the car went sideways, and he and a group of cars piled up in corner four. Casey Woken inherited the lead, and was soon joined up front by Ronnie Wallace and Casey Werkmeister. As Werkmeister and Wallace battled, Wallace got sideways, Werkmeister ran into Wallace’s car, and Cale Osborn of Cozad ran into Werkmeister’s. Osborn sustained heavy damage, but the other two drivers stayed on the track and realigned in second and third. While they both challenged Woken in the waning stages of the race, Casey was able to stay out in front and gain his first ever Lincoln County Raceway A Feature win. Werkmeister came on and beat Wallace to the finish line for second place by a dented fender. Brett Gartrell of Dickens finished in fourth place, with his finish pending on an IMCA decision after he scaled light, but most of the body on his car was gone via a couple of accidents during the race. Kerry Jones of North Platte finished in fifth place.

What crazy Championship Night wouldn’t be complete without a rollover? Rookie Ben Arvdal of Sutherland proved to be the unlucky driver to provide it during the IMCA Hobby Stock main event. On the twelfth lap, Arvdal broke an axel in corner one, and the resulting reaction was his car flipping two times. The former demolition derby driver was shaken up and taken to the pits by ambulance, but was able to smile about it after the races. Arvdal said that in his many years of running in demolition derbies, he had never rolled a car. After the red flag period, leader Austin Davis couldn’t get his car started, but Corey Cruzan, who had wrapped up the points title by then, was kind enough to give his car a push start with his. When the race went green, the drivers put all pleasantries aside and battled hard for the win, which Austin was able to obtain. Cruzan was the heat race winner earlier in the night and finished in second place in the “A”. Chuck Ledbetter of Loomis was third, Colt Gibbs of Holyoke, Colorado finished fourth in his first start of the year at LCR, and Rick Eller of North Platte finished in fifth place.

Promoter Ed Milne and his crew would like to thank the drivers, sponsors, and fans for coming out and supporting Lincoln County Raceway during the 2011 season.


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August 20 Results
IMCA Modified
Heat 1
4H-Don Hagan, Jr.
31-Dan Carl
19J-Jim Mlady

A Feature
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
34JW-Cole Hodges
4H-Don Hagan, Jr.
71-Andrew Dillenburg
4KJ-Terry Houchin
19J-Jim Mlady
23S-Josh Sabin
31-Dan Carl

IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1
24W-Casey Werkmeister
51B-Brett Gartrell
09H-Bob Hoing

Heat 2
23rw-Ronnie Wallace
35JW-Casey Woken
20B-Brandon Clough

Cash Dash
4K-Kent Lower

A Feature
35JW-Casey Woken
24W-Casey Werkmeister
23rw-Ronnie Wallace
51B-Brett Gartrell
12J-Kerry Jones
4K-Kent Lower (DNF)
46-Scotty White (DNF)
11K-Kyle Clough (DNF)
6C-Cale Osborn (DNF)
20B-Brandon Clough (DNF)
75-Dan Eller (DNF)
09H-Bob Hoing (DNF)

IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat 1
8C-Corey Cruzan
22-Austin Davis
5-Chuck Ledbetter, Jr.

Heat 2

65-Rick Eller
44U-Andrew Baumgardner

A Feature
22-Austin Davis
8C-Corey Cruzan
5-Chuck Ledbetter, Jr.
51-Colt Gibbs
65-Rick Eller
66-Terry Eatherton
44U-Andrew Baumgardner
7S-Scott Gibson (DNF)
33-Ben Arvdal (DNF)

IMCA Northern SportMods
Heat 1
0-Bryan Herrick
50-Colton Osborn
45-Mikey Dancer

Heat 2
5S-Shane Stout
9-R. C. Heil
11-Tim Cooper

A Feature
50-Colton Osborn
0-Bryan Herrick
5S-Shane Stout
34-Matt Caudillo
20Z-Jerry Cox
69-Adam Kackmeister
17-Rodger Morash
45-Mikey Dancer (DNF)
11H-Henry Henderson (DNF)
13X-Gary Long (DNF)
9-R. C. Heil (DNF)
12J-Russ Jones (DNS)
11-Tim Cooper (DQ)