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Kyle Werkmeister, Corey Cruzan Earn First Lincoln County
Raceway Wins
By Darin Racek
NORTH PLATTE, NE (August 22) - It was a fast night of racing at Lincoln
County Raceway on August 22, as the races were run in just a little over
two-and-a-half drivers. Andrew Dillenburg and John Webster of North Platte,
Kyle Werkmeister of Maywood, and Corey Cruzan of Maxwell were fast, as they
took the A Feature wins of the night.
Jay Steffens of North Platte jumped to the lead of the IMCA Modified A
Feature, which was slowed on the first lap by the only caution of the race.
Although Jay had a healthy lead, Andrew Dillenburg was watching Steffens’s
car moving higher and higher in the corners. Dillenburg’s car was able to
stay near the bottom of the track, which allowed Andrew to reel in Jay. As
the two drivers came around with two laps to go, the door was open for
Dillenburg, who walked right into the lead, and stayed out front for his
second win of the year. Steffens finished in second place for the second
time in three weeks. Mike Saathoff and Jeremy Herbst of North Platte were
the third and fourth place finishers. Kyle Clough of Wallace finished the
race in fifth place. Clough and Ogallala driver Cole Hodges were the IMCA
Modified heat race winners.
The IMCA Stock Cars were able to do one better, as the field went twenty
laps without one single caution period. Kyle Werkmeister let the field know
early in the night he had his sights on victory after winning his heat race.
In the feature, he took the lead on lap one from Casey Woken of Ogallala,
and the race was on. The racing in the field was close and heated, but the
guys and gal kept things clean enough so that all but one of the nineteen
starters finished, and Jeff Whiting of Gothenburg was the lone DNF after he
lost the clutch during the race. Mikey Dancer of North Platte was an early
mover and shaker in the race, going from row five to third, but that would
be all the closer he would get to the lead. Werkmeister never missed his
marks, and after twenty laps, had his first ever Lincoln County Raceway
feature win. Casey Woken stayed behind him for second place, by far his best
finish of the year in North Platte. Casey Werkmeister of Maywood made it two
Caseys and two Werkmiesters in the top three after he got by Dancer for the
spot. Travis Tilford of North Platte was the fifth place finishers. The
other two IMCA Stock Car heat races were won by Charley Brown of Maxwell and
Brent Gibson of North Platte.
The track was smooth and dry slick, and the IMCA Hobby Stock drivers were
not ready for the latter. Seven caution periods slowed the race, or the fans
might have been heading home ten minutes sooner. Dan Morash of North Platte
took the top spot when the race started, and stayed ahead of the craziness.
After a lap seven caution, the field realigned behind Dan. Morash decided he
needed to move his groove higher during the yellow, and that thought cost
him dearly. Coming around to complete lap eight, Morash got the rear wheels
just a bit too high, and hi hit the gas just hard enough to send him in the
spin cycle. Everyone but cash dash winner Austin Davis of Benkelman got by
him, and the two made heavy contact. Davis was able to continue. Woody
Woodhead of Holyoke, Colorado inherited the lead, but he was having handling
troubles with his car. Corey Cruzan got by his fellow heat racer on lap
twelve for the lead, then lost him one lap later when Woodhead would go for
the spin. Austin Davis would align in second place behind Cruzan for the run
to the finish. On the previous night in McCook, Cruzan was five laps from
winning the Burger King Championship race when a tire went flat, handing the
win over to Davis. On this night, the tires stayed up, Corey didn’t spin,
and Cruzan drove on for his first Lincoln County Raceway A Feature win,
completing a sweep of winning this year at the tracks in McCook, Lexington,
and North Platte. Davis was followed at the finish line by Jack Sherman of
Kearney, but he was a lap down. Allen Wissmann of Bertrand was third place,
with Litton Stute of Benkelman fourth and Woodhead fifth place.
For the second straight week, John Webster dropped out of the Mini-Sprint
heat race while leading. While that is not a good thing, for the second
straight week, he came back to win the A Feature. J. R. Way of Lexington had
issues in the heat race, and then was involved in an opening lap tangle with
Zach Larson of Aurora, Colorado in the main event. His car was not damaged,
so he was able to resume the race. He quickly got into second place and held
off a late charge by Jeremy Herbst for that spot. Heat winner Arden Myers of
McCook finished in fourth place, while Josh Lipker of Cozad took fifth spot.
On August 29, Lincoln County Raceway will have championship night for all
four classes. It will be the final points night of the season. At
intermission, there will be bicycle races for kids twelve and under.
Sometime during the night, there will also be an autograph session with the
drivers. The gates will open at 5 PM, and the races will start at 7 PM.
August 22 results
IMCA Modified
Heat 1
34JW-Cole Hodges
4C-Charley Brown
23S-Josh Sabin
Heat 2
20K-Kyle Clough
19J-Jim Mlady
29S-Mike Saathoff
A Feature
71-Andrew Dillenburg
12J-Jay Steffens
29S-Mike Saathoff
2-Jeremy Herbst
20K-Kyle Clough
34JW-Cole Hodges
4C-Charley Brown
23S-Josh Sabin
19J-Jim Mlady
2X-Bo Egge
40-R. C. Heil
14-Jason Gallentine
00Jr.-Terry Houchin
IMCA Stock Car
Heat 1
42W-Kyle Werkmeister
35JW-Casey Woken
50-Colton Osborn
Heat 2
4C-Charley Brown
5S-Shane Stout
6C-Cale Osborn
Heat 3
1-Brent Gibson
45-Mikey Dancer
7-Jeremy Halouska
A Feature
42W-Kyle Werkmeister
35JW-Casey Woken
24W-Casey Werkmeister
45-Mikey Dancer
8-Travis Tilford
4C-Charley Brown
5S-Shane Stout
1-Brent Gibson
6C-Cale Osborn
11-Todd Chrisman
50-Colton Osborn
20B-Brandon Clough
09H-Bob Hoing
00-Sara Powers
7-Jeremy Halouska
47Jr-Russ Small, Jr.
75-Dan Eller
12J-Kerry Jones
16-Jeff Whiting (DNF)
IMCA Hobby Stock
Heat 1
88-Michael Woodhead
22-Austin Davis
67-Dan Morash
Heat 2
8C-Corey Cruzan
38-Jack Sherman
2AW-Allen Wissmann
Cash Dash
22-Austin Davis
A Feature
8C-Corey Cruzan
22-Austin Davis
2AW-Allen Wissmann
10-Litton Stute
88-Michael Woodhead
00H-Greg Hoing
H2O-Cory Allen
38-Jack Sherman
5-Chuck Ledbetter (DNF)
65-Rick Eller (DNF)
3L-Leland Stute (DNF)
67-Dan Morash (DNF)
48TS-Tyler Blake (DNF)
Mini-Sprints
Heat
42-Arden Myers
6-Josh Lipker
88-Marv Ritchie
A Feature
9-John Webster
28-J. R. Way
20-Jeremy Herbst
42-Arden Myers
6-Josh Lipker
88-Marv Ritchie
13Z-Zach Larson (DNF)
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