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Features Go Caution-Free In McCook Speedway
By Darin Racek
Mc COOK, Nebraska (August 5) - Fans at McCook Speedway were witnesses to
something pretty rare in racing. In five A Features on August 5th, there
were no caution periods. In spite of no rest, Darren Berry and Ronnie
Wallace of McCook, Casey Werkmeister of Maywood, Bryan Herrick of Curtis,
and Austin Davis of Benkelman were able to stay in the throttle and take
those five victories.
Ron Hadley of Norton, Kansas started on the front row of the IMCA 305 Sprint
Car A Feature after taking care of business in his heat race. He took the
lead in the race and tried to stretch out a lead on the field. After Darren
Berry worked through the rest of the field, he caught Hadly on lap eight.
Two laps later, Hadley missed his marks in corner two, and that allowed
Berry to drive underneath him and pull away with the win. A gasket gave out
on the Norton’s driver’s engine, making it lose oil pressure and forcing
Hadley to take it to the pits. That allowed fellow Norton driver Randy
Bantam to finish in second place. Greg Reiners of McCook Mike Madden of
Norton had some of their best Sprint Car finishes taking third and fourth
places.
Ronnie Wallace knew when he took the lead early in the IMCA Modified A
Feature he better make hay while the sun was shining. He amassed a large
lead on the field, and by the time second place Jeremy Frenier of Fort
Morgan, Colorado was gaining on him, Wallace had built a high pile of hay,
or in this case a large enough lead, that he would be denied his second
McCook Speedway win of the year. McCook drivers Don Hagan, Jr. and Brent
Bohmont took the checkered flag in third and fourth places. Heat winner
Charles Stryker of Eddyville, driving his old race car, finished in fifth
place.
Thirteen cars started the twenty lap IMCA Stock Car A Feature, and twelve
were following Bob Chalupa of McCook at the start. Heat winner Casey
Werkmeister quickly moved into second place and got by Chalupa on lap five.
While Werkmeister pulled away from the field, there were good battles within
it, especially for fifth place between point leaders Cale Osborn of Cozad
and Dave Plowman of Gretna. That battle eventually included more cars and
came to a head in corner three on the final lap when several cars tangle. By
the time it happened, Casey Werkmeister had already crossed the finish line,
closely followed by Casey Woken of Ogallala and distantly followed by Jesse
Taylor of Fort Morgan Colorado. The scorekeepers went back to how the cars
completed the previous lap, moved the car officials deemed responsible to
the end of the lead lap, and that was how the official finishes of fourth on
back were made. Osborn was credited with fourth place, and Lloyd Meeske of
Champion fifth place. Plowman’s seventh place finish should make a tie for
the lead between he and Osborn for the point lead.
Bryan Herrick has not had a lot of good nights this year with his IMCA
Northern SportMod, but it would be difficult for him to say Friday was a bad
night. After winning his heat race with a last lap pass on Hunter Cantrall
of Overton, Herrick won the 50/50 raffle. The good luck continued on in the
A Feature where he took the lead on the opening lap and paced the entire
fifteen lap affair. Colton Osborn of Cozad was not too far behind for second
place. Jamey Kennicutt of Gothenburg and Shane Stout of North Platte had a
heated battle for third place for over half of the event, with the two
nearly crashing at times. Stout made a high line pass down the front
straight in the waning laps to claim third spot. Matt Matson of McCook
brought his car to the finish line in fifth place.
Again, IMCA Hobby Stock numbers were down, so only an A Feature was run.
Austin Davis was able to get ahead of Chuck Ledbetter of Loomis and take his
fourth consecutive win of the year.
The next night of racing at McCook Speedway will be Friday night, August 19,
with racing starting at 8 p.m., Central Time. It will be the final race of
the season at the 3/8-mile action track. Promoter Jerry Bantam has decided
not to run the September 2 night against high school sports, most notably
the McCook -Aurora football game to be held in McCook.
August 5 results
IMCA Modifieds
Heat
19-Chuck Stryker
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
4H-Don Hagan, Jr.
A Feature
3RW-Ronnie Wallace
17J-Jeremy Frenier
4H-Don Hagan, Jr.
18S-Brent Bohmont
19-Chuck Stryker
4D-Pat Donovan
IMCA Stock Cars
Heat 1
6C-Cale Osborn
24-Bob Chalupa
20B-Brandon Clough
Heat 2
24W-Casey Werkmeister
05-Jesse Taylor
11K-Kyle Clough
A Feature
24W-Casey Werkmeister
35JW-Casey Woken
05-Jesse Taylor
6C-Cale Osborn
32-Lloyd Meeske
42W-Kyle Werkmeister
P42-Dave Plowman
11K-Kyle Clough
09H-Bob Hoing
413-Larry Pollmann
20B-Brandon Clough
24-Bob Chalupa
25W-Karl Wickizer (DNF)
IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature
22-Austin Davis
5-Chuck Ledbetter
IMCA Northern SportMod
Heat
0-Bryan Herrick
4DJ-Hunter Cantrall
15K-Jamey Kennicutt
A Feature
0-Bryan Herrick
50-Colton Osborn
5S-Shane Stout
15K-Jamey Kennicutt
98-Matt Matson
4DJ-Hunter Cantrall
20K-Cody DeWester
34B-Josh Bopp
IMCA 305 Sprint Cars
Heat 1
47H-Ron Hadley
5R-Randy Bantam
22-Mike Madden
A Feature
12-Darren Berry
5R-Randy Bantam
R62-Greg Reiners
22-Mike Madden
47H-Ron Hadley (DNF)
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