Getting their season started off right with a glorious trip to the winners circle were Colton Osborn, Jamey Kennicutt, Casey Werkmeister, Jacob Olmstead and Andrew Baumgardner during the opening night of dirt track action at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte, Nebraska on Saturday evening.
Starting on the pole and putting on a dominating performance of never relinquishing the lead was Cozad’s Colton Osborn on his way to scoring the IMCA Modified Feature win. Osborn was able to weather the storm of one late caution to cruise to the victory. Riding the cushion to a podium position in second place overall was Jeremy Frenier of Fort Morgan, Colorado from is inside fourth row starting position after winning one of the heat races earlier in the evening. Working through traffic and taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves was the Magic Man, Mike Densberger of Lincoln as he finished in third place, making the charge from the outside starting position of the fifth row. Fourth place finisher, Dave Pedersen of Brady also was a heat race winner during earlier in the evening contests.
Starting in the second row and snaring the lead on the fourth lap, Gothenburg’s Jamey Kennicutt was able to roll to the Feature win in the IMCA Northern Sport Modified division. Kennicutt was able to build a big lead until a caution flag extinguished his big lead but he was up to the task of staying up front and earning the victory. Coming home in second place was Dillon Schultz of North Platte from his third row starting position. On the final lap, Schultz put forth a great effort to move past Kennicutt but it wasn’t meant to be for the North Platte hotshoe. Missing out on the heat race action, but making his efforts in the feature event count in a big way was Zach Schultz of North Platte with a third place finish. Zach Schultz drove his way onto the podium from a seventh row starting position. Dillon Schultz and Brandon Clough of Wallace were the heat race winners in the division.
Finishing strong has become a formula of success for veteran wheelman Casey Werkmeister of Maywood and opening night at Lincoln County Raceway was another night of success for Werkmeister in the IMCA Stock Car division. Werkmeister tried to work the bottom of the track but it was his move to the cushion on lap 14 that paid off for the race winning move. Crossing the finish line in the runner-up position to complete a great night of racing was heat race winner Jeff Whiting of Gothenburg. Whiting started in the fourth row and was able to drive his way inside the top five throughout the feature event. Along with Whiting, McCook’s Bob Chalupa was a heat race victor.
Leading from the beginning until the checkered flag flew was Jacob Olmstead of Overton in winning the IMCA Hobby Stock Feature. Olmstead started on the outside of the front row and he never looked back. Charging forward from his fourth row starting position, Brady Weinman of Arnold scored a runner-up finish. Zach Olmstead of Overton was the third place finisher as he started in the second row and stayed inside the top five throughout the 15-lap feature.
Grabbing the lead near the midway point, Andrew Baumgardner of North Platte was able to score the lead on the sixth lap and lead the final laps to notch the IMCA Sport Compact Feature victory. Baumgardner started in the third row when the green flag dropped. Early leader Andrew McClellen of Gothenburg was the runner-up finisher after leading the first lap of the event. Crossing the finish line third overall was Kevin Hagan of Eddyville in his first night out in the new division for the wheelman.
(Unofficial Results)
IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 50c-Colton Osborn; 2. 17j-Jeremy Frenier; 3. 81-Mike Densberger; 4. 4p-Dave Pedersen; 5. XII-Jay Steffens; 6. 28-John Burrows; 7. 561-Kurt Trusty; 8. 848-Troy Douglas; 9. 4c-Charley Brown; 10. 67-Terry Fletcher.
Heat race winners: 4p-Pedersen and 17j-Frenier.
IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1.15k-Jamey Kennicutt; 2. 55d-Dillon Schultz; 3. 55z-Zach Schultz; 4. 0hp-Bryan Herrick; 5. 11h-Henry Henderson; 6. 9-RC Heil; 7. 12j-Kerry Jones; 8. 41g-Justin Gibbens; 9. 13-Tanner Winberg; 10. 20b-Brandon Clough; 11. 69-Adam Kackmeister; 12. 3-Gary Long; 13. 34mc-Matt Caudillo.
Heat race winners: 20b-Clough and 55d-Schultz.
IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 24w-Casey Werkmeister; 2. 16w-Jeff Whiting; 3. 42w-Kyle Werkmeister; 4. 45-Mikey Dancer; 5. 8-Bob Chalupa ; 6. 72h-Jim Hagan; 7. 75-Dan Eller; 8. 47-Russ Small Jr.; 9. 10-Dalten Collins; 10. 09h-Bob Hoing; 11. 20-Les Brogdon; 12. 3z-Zach Canas; 13. 11k-Kyle Clough; 14. 7t-Tyson Canas; 15. 05-Jesse Taylor; 16. P42-Dave Plowman.
Heat race winners: 16w-Whiting and 8-Chalupa.
IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 88j-Jacob Olmstead; 2. 22w-Brady Weinman; 3. 36-Zach Olmstead; 4. 01-Jacob Wolsleben; 5. 72b-Jacob Hagan; 6. 5-Chuck Ledbetter; 7. R19-Larry Refior; 8. 1-Tanner Clough; 9. 12t-Tanner Jones; 10. 15r-Robby Kosmacek; 11. 7s-Scott Gibson; 12. 03-Ben Arvdahl.
Heat race winners: 22w-Weinman and 88j-Olmstead.
IMCA Sport Compact Feature: 1. 44u-Andrew Baumgardner; 2. 33-Andrew McClellen; 3. 72h-Kevin Hagan; 4. 19b-Jordan Biere; 5. 7-Erik Nelson; 6. 40-Josh Schultz; 7. 5j-Josh Johnston.
Heat race winner: 44u-Baumgardner.
