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Mike Nichols and David Murray, Jr. Shoot Them Down at The Sandhills Shootout By Darin Racek NORTH PLATTE, NE (July 19-20) - For the Twelfth annual Sandhills Shootout, the Lincoln County Ag Society tried something different, moving the event to Monday and Tuesday nights. While the move did not garner the car count they were hoping for, there was still quality racing for the crowds that came both nights to watch the event. The champions of each class were determined by points from each night of racing, and the drivers with the most points were declared champions, received an additional monetary bonus, and received a rather large trophy. David Murray, Jr. of Oberlin, Kansas and Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa not only collected the most points to earn the championship, they also won both of their respective A Features. The luck of the draw determined the first six rows of the Monday night A Feature for the IMCA Modifieds. Colorado drivers Jeff Meeker of Northglenn and Will Brack of Mead drew the front row. Meeker jumped out to the lead of the twenty-one car, twenty-five lap event at the start, only to relinquish it to Brack on lap four. David Murray started back in the third row, but by lap five, had moved into second place and began looking for a way to get by Brack. He made his move to the lead as they came to complete lap ten, but the move was nullified when the caution came out for Zach Hilzer of Fort Morgan, Colorado and Jason Gallentine of North Platte. Brack was placed back at the front, but when they came around to complete lap ten, Murray again had found the way by. The race would be slowed a couple of more times for cautions, but each time, Murray would pull away from Brack and drive on for the win. John Hansen of Brush, Colorado started in third place and was able to finish there as well. Zane DeVilbiss of Farmington, New Mexico was able to come home in fourth place for his first visit to the track. Ronnie Wallace of McCook started in the twelfth spot and had to scramble to make it to the top five. Murray, Wallace, and Hansen were also the night’s heat race winners. Come Tuesday night, many of the drivers made the changes they thought they needed to improve their positions and perhaps take maybe the win and the championship from Murray, who has won or tied for the championship the previous three years and a total of four times. Charley Brown of Maxwell and Matt Brack of Mead, Colorado, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, joined Murray in winning the three heat races. On this night, the IMCA Modifieds ran a pole dash to determine the first six spots. Murray took that win, which earned him the pole for the A Feature, as well as the over $300 raised in the 50/50 raffle. Where Monday’s night’s feature was a pretty clean race, Tuesday’s Modified A Feature started ugly, with three caution periods during the first three laps, one of them causing a red flag so the cars of Ronnie Wallace, Josh Sabin of North Platte, and Josh Leonard of Gibbon could be pulled apart from each other. When the green flag came out after the lap three caution, the drivers did finish the remaining twenty-two laps without stoppage. Murray took the lead at the start, and had nearly a half lap lead on fourth place at the finish line. Brack’s birthday wishes didn’t come true, and the night went even worse after he did not stop in the claim area after the race, which mean he lost his second place finish. Third place finisher Jeremy Frenier of Fort Morgan, Colorado accepted the move up to second place. Chris Bragg from Springtown, Texas was satisfied moving into third place, and despite the start of the event, Ronnie Wallace was very happy to move up from fifth to fourth place at the finish. Charley Brown became the one to round out the top five. The IMCA Stock Car drivers had the pole dash on Monday night, then it was the luck of the draw for starting position on Monday night. Mike Nichols fought off Charley Brown for the pole dash win, which was also worth about $260 in 50/50 raffle money. The Monday night Stock Car feature was a good race to watch, and the drivers were all fighting hard for position. At times, the racing got too tight, much like the racing that resulted in a multi-car pileup before the halfway point that had corner four look like closing time at the local bar. Most of the cars drove away, and that was the most extreme of the three cautions periods for the twenty-five lap race. Nichols led all twenty-five laps, but for much of race had eventual second place finisher Casey Werkmeister of Maywood on his tail. It was only after the final caution with six laps to go that The Iowa driver earned some breathing room. Josh Grape of Bellwood stayed in the mix and race for top five, getting by Charley Brown for the third spot. Colton Osborn of Cozad raced to a fifth place finish. Monday night’s heat winners were Nichols, Brown, and Osborn. For the Tuesday night IMCA Stock Car heat races, Jay Hachmeister of Lenora, Kansas replaced Osborn as a heat winner, then drew the feature starting position of outside front row to the driver that drew the pole . . . Mike Nichols. Nichols would take the lead at the start only to have the field kept close by seven caution periods during the race. The hard driving Monday was replaced by harder driving on Tuesday night, and that meant for more incidents. After a restart on lap three, fourth place Josh Grape spun in corner four, collecting Osborn, Werkmeister, and others. Casey Werkmeister’s chances of the championship ended when his car was towed to the pits. Grape and Osborn were able to stay in the race, with the Haymaker Osborn making hay out of his night and finishing in fourth place, ahead of brother Cale Osborn. Nichols and Charley Brown stayed out ahead of the field for the bulk of the race, with Ogallala driver Casey Woken not too far behind in third place. As the race wound down, Nichols wound up the tach on his car and pulled off for the win and the championship. On the corner of the last lap, Woken caught and snuck underneath Charley Brown to take second place. Nichols had previously won the IMCA Stock Car portion of the Sandhills Shootout in 2006. Ed Milne and staff will be back running Lincoln County Raceway on Saturday night, July 31, with a 7 p.m. starting time. The IMCA Hobby Stocks and IMCA Northern SportMods will also to the track that night.
IMCA
Modifieds
Heat 2
Heat 3
A Feature
July 20
results
Heat 2
Heat 3
Pole Dash
A Feature
97M-David Murray, Jr.--Modified Shootout Champion
IMCA
Stock Cars
Heat 2
Heat 3
Pole Dash
A Feature
July 20
results
Heat 2
Heat 3
A Feature
63-Mike Nichols--Stock Car Shootout Champ
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