Graham, Watts double up at Elmwood Park Speedway
By Mike Hughes
NORTON, KS (April 13) – Race fans were treated to double features at Elmwood Park Speedway in Norton, KS, on Saturday, April 13, as 2 make-up sprint car heats and 5 make-up features from a March 30th rainout were run first, followed by a complete program. When the evening was over, Cody ‘Bam Bam’ Graham of Hays and Beloit’s Tim Watts made two appearances in victory lane.
In the make-up features, Graham led all 15 laps in the IMCA Hobby Stock main event to extend his winning streak to 3 as he won two features the previous weekend at RPM Speedway in Hays. ‘The Wild Child’ Garrett Hager finished second, followed by Dillon Thompson, Mike Giesenhagen and Theron Martin.
Watts did the same in the IMCA Modified feature as he led all 12 laps and held off ‘The Wichita Lineman’ Randy Wilson to the checkers. Brian Calhoon, Dave Pederson and Scott Eaton completed the top five.
Defending IMCA Stock Car track champion Jay Hachmeister of Lenora passed early leader Dustin McClurg on lap 8 in the 20-lap feature and drove on to the win. McClurg was second, trailed by Casey Werkmeister, Jason Davis and Michael Dancer.
Cory Struckhoff took the early lead in the IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature and led the first 6 laps before Nebraska’s Chad Dolan took over the top spot and held off Struckoff to the checkers in the 20-lap event. Bryan Herrick was third, followed by Tyler Watts and Brandon Clough.
In the Heartland Sprint Series make-up feature, Luke Cranston of Plains took the win. Ty Williams charged his way to second, followed by Tommy Williams, Jake Bubak and Zach Blurton.
After a full set of heat races, the second set of features took to the track.
Graham took the lead from Russ Specht on lap 7 of the hobby stock feature and drove away for his fourth feature win in a row in the caution free race. Specht held on to second, followed by Hager, Colton Pfeifer and Thompson.
Watts passed brother-in-law Calhoon on lap 6 in the modified feature and led the remaining distance for his double. Calhoon held off Wilson for second, with Pederson and Eaton rounding out the top five.
The sport mod feature was close all 15 laps. Henry Henderson led the opening lap, then gave way to Watts on lap 2. But Henderson regained the lead on lap 3, only to be passed by Watts again on the following lap. Then after a caution on lap 6, Kensington’s Struckhoff passed Watts. Watts got back past Struckhoff to lead lap 8, but was passed again by Struckhoff the following lap. Dolan worked his way through the field and chased down Struckhoff, but at the checkers, Struckhoff won in a photo finish. Watts finished third, followed by Clough and Herrick.
The stock car feature finished under caution. Eric Kinderknecht led the field to the halfway mark, then was passed by Logan’s McClurg on lap 13. The caution waved on lap 19, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. As the field came to the white flag, Hachmeister and Brendon Eilts made contact on the front straightaway, sending Eilts hard into the inside guardrail. Track officials called the race to make repairs and went back to the last completed lap for the finish. McClurg got the win, followed by Kinderknecht and Dancer. Officials also deemed Hachmeister the cause for the caution, so Eilts was given his spot back and finished fourth, with John Annon rounding out the topf five.
In the sprint car feature, the ‘Hill City Hotshoe’ Jeff Radcliffe led all 20 caution free laps to make his way to the winner’s circle. Toby Walters was second, followed by Bubak, Blurton and Cranston.
Racing action returns to the ½-mile oval on Saturday, May 11, with a 7:00 p.m. start time.
RESULTS
Make-up Features 3-30
IMCA Hobby Stocks: 1. Cody Graham, 2. Garrett Hager, 3. Dillon Thompson, 4. Mike Giesenhagen, 5. Theron Martin, 6. Jason McIntyre, 7. Travis Coop, 8. Colton Pfeifer, 9. Russ Specht (DNF), 10. Jeromy Wagner (DNS), 11. Brian Stich (DNS), 12. Marshall Carson (DNS), 13. Ray Caldwell (DNS).
IMCA Northern Sport Mods: 1. Chad Dolan, 2. Cory Struckhoff, 3. Bryan Herrick, 4. Tyler Watts, 5. Brandon Clough, 6. Paul Donavan, 7. Kaid Calhoon, 8. Henry Henderson, 9. Brian Williams, 10. James Stewart, 11. J.R. Ewing, 12. Ben Hobbs (DNF), 13. Dan Lauer (DNF), 14. Tyler Frye (DNS), 15. Kurtis Pihl (DNS), 16. Anthony Martin (DNS).
IMCA Stock Cars: 1. Jay Hachmeister, 2. Dustin McClurg, 3. Casey Werkmeister, 4. Jason Davis, 5. Michael Dancer, 6. John Annon, 7. Eric Kinderknecht, 8. Bob Rutherford, 9. Brendon Eilts, 10. Daren Racek, 11. Curt Trusty, 12. Dana Morgan (DNF), 13. Jason McCartney (DNF), 14. Cole Miller (DNS).
IMCA Modifieds: 1. Tim Watts, 2. Randy Wilson, 3. Brian Calhoon, 4. Dave Pederson, 5. Scott Eaton.
Heartland Sprint Series: 1. Luke Cranston, 2. Ty Williams, 3. Tommy Williams, 4. Jake Bubak, 5. Zach Blurton, 6. Toby Walters, 7. Darren Berry, 8. Jeff Radcliffe, 9. Tom Belsky, 10. Mike Madden, 11. Greg Reiners, 12. Aaron Ploussard, 13. Tommy Huber, 14. Howard Van Dyke, 15. Zac Taylor (DNF), 16. Ron Hadley (DNS).
Features 4-13
IMCA Hobby Stocks: 1. Graham, 2. Specht, 3. Hager, 4. Pfeifer, 5. Thompson, 6. Coop, 7. Giesenhagen, 8. McIntyre, 9. Martin.
IMCA Northern Sport Mods: 1. Struckhoff, 2. Dolan, 3. Watts, 4. Clough, 5. Herrick, 6. Henderson, 7. Calhoon, 8. Donavan, 9. Ewing, 10. Martin (DNF), 11. Williams (DNF), 12. Stewart (DNS), 13. Hobbs (DNS), 14. Lauer (DNS).
IMCA Stock Cars: 1. McClurg, 2. Kinderknecht, 3. Dancer, 4. Eilts, 5. Annon, 6. Rutherford, 7. Hachmeister, 8. Morgan, 9. McCartney (DNF), 10. Davis (DNF), 11. Racek (DNF), 12. Werkmeister (DNF), 13. Trusty (DNS).
IMCA Modifieds: 1. Watts, 2. Calhoon, 3. Wilson, 4. Pederson, 5. Eaton.
Heartland Sprint Series: 1. Radcliffe, 2. Walters, 3. Bubak, 4. Blurton, 5. Cranston, 6. Ty Williams, 7. Berry, 8. Tommy Williams, 9. Belsky, 10. Reiners, 11. Madden, 12. Plousard, 13. Huber.
Category: Elmwood Park Speedway, Kansas / Nebraska
