Werkmeister, Van Dyke first
time winners at Norton
By Mike Hughes
NORTON, KS (August 1,
2010) - Racing action wrapped up for the Norton County Fair on Sunday
evening, August 1, at Elmwood Park Speedway in Norton, KS. All five regular
divisions were in action with Casey Werkmeister of North Platte, NE, and
Howard Van Dyke of Clay Center making their way to victory lane at the
½-mile oval for the first time this season.
Werkmeister’s win came in
the IMCA Stock Car division. Pat Bedore led the first 3 laps of the 20-lap
feature before Cory Struckhoff took the top spot for a couple of laps.
Werkmeister, the first heat race winner, then took the lead on lap 6 and
never looked back on his way to the winner’s circle. Point leader Dustin
McClurg won the battle for second in the caution free event, followed
closely by Struckhoff, heat two winner Bedore, and Rod Bencken.
Van Dyke’s victory came in
the 305 Sprint Car feature as he led all 15 laps. The lone caution came on
lap 6 when some fans made their way to an unsafe area in turn 4. Heat race
winner Darren Berry made a charge on the restart but Van Dyke pulled away
for the win. Berry settled for second, with point leader Randy Bantam, Bill
Hays and Shelby Stapel rounding out the top five.
The wildest finish of the
night came in the IMCA Hobby Stock feature. Rick Maynard led the opening
lap before Jerry Hudson took command. Hudson continued to lead through lap
12 in the 15-lap race before point leader and hometown driver Kelly Karnopp
got by Hudson for the lead. However, the caution flag waved before the lap
was completed and Hudson would lead the field back to green. Hudson,
Karnopp and Rhett Kingsbury ran nose-to-tail and side-by-side the last 3
laps, and as the trio came out of turn 4 to the checkers, they were only
separated by inches at the finish line with Karnopp getting his fifth win of
the season, followed by Hudson and Kingsbury. But contact between the 3
drivers sent Hudson and Kingsbury crashing into each other going into turn
one after the checkers. Both cars were heavily damaged but the drivers were
okay. Cody Graham finished fourth and G.W. ‘Cheeseburger’ Fuller fifth.
Heat race winners were Graham and Hudson.
The IMCA Northern Sport
Mod feature was a battle of attrition as only 3 drivers finished the race
out of the 7 starters. Wayne McAfee led the first lap before heat race
winner and point leader Brian Conness took the lead. Conness tangled with
Mathew Crowell on lap 5 to bring out a yellow, but Crowell was charged with
the caution and sent to the back with Conness getting his top spot back on
the restart. Wade Wagenblast of Deshler, NE, then got past Conness to take
the lead on lap 8 in the 15-lap event. Wagenblast was able to hold off the
field, even after a late race caution, to score his third win of the season
at Elmwood Park Speedway. Conness finished second and McAfee third.
Fourth starting David
Murray Jr. of Oberlin shot to the high side to drive around front row
starters Jerry Teel and Tim Watts to take the lead on the opening lap of the
20-lap IMCA Modified feature and never looked back enroute to his second
Norton win of the season. A couple of cautions gave the field a chance but
Murray was dominant and pulled away for an easy win. Teel finished second,
followed by new point leader Rick Schwab, ‘Smokin’ Joe Cleveland and ‘Taz
Man’ Tyler Hahn. Murray and Jeremy Frenier were victorious in their heat
races.
Racing action returns to
Norton on Saturday, August 21, at 7:00 p.m. with all five regular divisions
in competition.
RESULTS
IMCA Hobby Stocks
Heat 1: 1. Cody Graham, 2.
Dalton Dolan, 3. Josh Latka, 4. Rick Maynard.
Heat 2: 1. Jerry Hudson,
2. Kelly Karnopp, 3. Rhett Kingsbury, 4. G.W. Fuller.
Feature: 1. Karnopp, 2.
Hudson, 3. Kingsbury, 4. Graham, 5. Fuller, 6. Latka, 7. Jason Stephens, 8.
Blaine Buchholz, 9. Dolan, 10. Jason McIntyre, 11. Maynard, 12. Ray
Caldwell.
IMCA Northern Sport
Mods
Heat: 1. Brian Conness, 2.
Wade Wagenblast, 3. Kenny Schmidt, 4. Mathew Crowell.
Feature: 1. Wagenblast, 2.
Conness, 3. Wayne McAfee, 4. Tyler Watts (DNF), 5. Crowell (DNF), 6. Schmidt
(DNF), 7. John LaShell (DNF).
IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1: 1. Casey
Werkmeister, 2. Bob Rutherford, 3. Chase Conaway, 4. Rod Bencken.
Heat 2: 1. Pat Bedore, 2.
Dustin McClurg, 3. Cory Struckhoff, 4. Michael Zajic.
Feature: 1. Werkmeister,
2. McClurg, 3. Struckhoff, 4. Bedore, 5. Bencken, 6. Jay Hachmeister, 7.
Rutherford, 8. Conaway, 9. Kyle Clough, 10. Zajic, 11. Brandon Clough, 12.
Travis Hahn (DNF), 13. Jason Davis (DNS).
IMCA Modifieds
Heat 1: 1. David Murray
Jr., 2. Tyler Hahn, 3. Tim Watts, 4. William Miller.
Heat 2: 1. Jeremy Frenier,
2. Joe Cleveland, 3. Jerry Teel, 4. Dave Pederson.
Feature: 1. Murray, 2.
Teel, 3. Rick Schwab, 4. Cleveland, 5. Hahn, 6. Pederson, 7. Miller, 8.
Frenier (DNF), 9. Watts (DNF), 10. Jason Gallentine (DNF).
305 Sprint Cars
Heat: 1. Darren Berry, 2.
Howard Van Dyke, 3. Randy Bantam, 4. Bill Hays.
Feature: 1. Van Dyke, 2.
Berry, 3. Bantam, 4. Hays, 5. Shelby Stapel, 6. Cody Kieswetter (DNS).
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