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Berry Breaks Through at Decatur County Speedway By Darin Racek OBERLIN, KS (June 7) - The weather at Decatur County Speedway in Oberlin, Kan. on June 7 made for a pleasant night of watching racing for the race fans, and for the drivers from four different states. It was the first time in recent memory where the people in the bleachers didn’t have to prepare to experience all four seasons, all in the same day. Darren Berry of McCook, Nebr., David Murray, Jr. and Dalton Dolan of Oberlin, Travis Sherfick of WaKeeney, Aaron Koch of Cambridge, Nebr., and Max Pollmann of Trenton, Nebr. had their race cars ready for racing on the 3/8-mile track, as they took the A Feature wins. The United Rebel Sprint Series 305 Sprint Cars put on an exciting show for their 25 lap main event. Jeff Radcliffe of Hill City flew out to the lead at the start of the race, with heat winner Ken Lutters of Ransom in tow. Darren Berry, who started in row four, quietly began picking off cars, working his way to second place by lap seven. On the next lap, Berry made his move on Radcliffe. Radcliffe fell back, and a new battle ensued for second place between the other URSS heat race winners, Jon Johnson of Utica and Ray Seamann of Jetmore. All racing stopped on lap eleven after a scary crash happened in corner four. Corey Koberstein of Holyoke, Colo. and his car flew off the track to avoid the looped car of North Platte, Nebr. driver Tom Belsky. Koberstein’s car hit the retaining wall that sets back from the track very hard, stopping almost instantly. Fortunately, Corey was able to walk away from the accident. When the race restarted, Berry had a sluggish start, nearly giving Seemann and Johnson the chance they needed to get by him. Berry regained his composure and moved out to a fairly comfortable lead. Once Seemann was able to get away from “The Kansas Tornado”, he set his sights on the McCook youngster. On the last lap, Ray Seemann made his move in corner three, going to the outside of Darren Berry. As he was passing, he tried to take some of Berry’s line, with hopes it would slow the McCook driver. Berry would have none of it, and after the two cars made slight contact, Darren hit the throttle, aimed for the finish line, and beat Ray by a slight margin, earning his first ever URSS A Feature victory. Cody Salem of St. Joseph, Mo. made a move around Jon Johnson late in the race to earn the third place money. Smokey Fairbank of Ransom finished in fifth place, despite having troubles most of the night tuning a new engine to run properly. David Murray, Jr. earned his 399th career IMCA Modified A Feature win in a big way. After a complete restart at the beginning of the race, Murray slipped by fellow heat race winner Jerry Teal of Hays for the lead. Fifteen unabated laps later, Murray had over a straightaway lead as he crossed the finish line. Matt Fabrizius of WaKeeney was trying out a Modified for another racer, and proved to everyone how good that car was by starting near the back and moving into second place before the race was over. Mark Zorn of Russell, Teel, and Jeff Tubbs of Colby were the other top five finishers. Travis Sherfick terminated the IMCA Stock Car class in his eighth win of the year. The WaKeeney driver drove by Jason Rogers of Selden on lap two and was never seen by the rest of the field again. Justin Bussell of Imperial, Nebr. held off Jay Hachmeister of Lenora for third place. Larry Pollmann of McCook finished in fifth place. Bussell and teammate Shawn Bigham of Imperial, Nebr. were the heat race winners. The IMCA Hobby Stock A Feature was one of the strangest races many of the race fans have seen. Four cars started the race. Fourth place finisher Michael Thummell of Phillipsburg dropped out early with mechanical issues. Kelly Karnopp of Norton was running second place to Hobby Stock heat winner Aaron Koch when something happened to his car, forcing him to go to the pits. He was credited with third place. Eric Wahrman of Palco was the only competition Koch had left, and after a tire went flat on his car, he went to the pits with second place in his pocket. That left Koch as the lone surviver, and winner, of the race. Despite having mechanical issues with his Classic Modified the previous night, Max Pollmann was back to business-as-usual at Decatur County Speedway. The Classic Modified heat race winner took the lead on the opening lap, and never surrendered the spot. Rick Touslee of Oberlin kept Pollmann in his sights, but couldn’t muster enough motor to get close enough to make the challenge he wanted to make. Billy Aeby of Imperial, Nebr. got by Larry Ayers of Oberlin for third place, while Alex Pollmann of Trenton, Nebr. rounded out the top five. Mitch Hamilton of McCook came down to Oberlin with his Mini-Truck to try to earn his first A Feature win. He let the field know he was serious in his heat race, taking the win over Dalton Dolan, Dale Heyen of Oberlin, and Loyd Schoen of Lenora. The A Feature was another story, as Dolan, who has dominated the Mini-Truck class in Southwest Nebraska, made the hometown fans cheer as he was the one to take the A Feature win, and everything that came with it. Hamilton finished ahead of Heyen and Schoen for second place. Decatur County Speedway will be back in action on Monday night, June 16.
The Blood, Sweat, and Tears IMCA Modifieds will be in town that night, part
of a five-night swing through Kansas and Nebraska. The IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA
Hobby Stocks, SportMods, Classic Modifieds, and Mini-Trucks will all be on
hand as well that night. The pit gates open at 3 PM, the grandstands open at
5 PM, and the races start at 7 PM, Central Time. |