A Night of Giving Back

August 29th was a night of giving back to the fans at Salina Speedway. One of the most anticipated events of the season, Kids Night. Drivers, sponsors, and fans came together and donated 113 new bikes for the Big Worm Bike Give Away. These were all given away to lucky kids during the intermission. Also on hand was Durham School Services for their annual Pack the Bus school supply drive, which surpassed the donated school supplies of previous years. And if that wasn't enough to give to the future of the Sport; whether it be fans, future drivers, or just the future of the community, the Solomon High School class of 2028 was out with a 50/50 raffle. They were able to raise $1,065. This money was split between one lucky winner, and the class to fund some of their activities. The giving nature of the racing community is, without a doubt, one of the greatest aspects of this sport we love so much. With all of this off track excitement, it could be considered a successful night, but the drivers had other plans and they delivered with one great night of racing.

The first feature to hit the track, after the extended intermission, was the Bird Contracting IMCA Sport Compacts. 14 entries competed in a pair of 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. Heat 1 winner was 1TK of Trinket Kinderknecht. Heat 2 winner was 4U Alex Boyden. The feature got off to a rough start. The opening lap went yellow after several cars got together coming down the front stretch. And while all of the cars were able to continue, there was a bumper cover left on the track. After getting the cars lined back up the race went green again. The racing was exciting as drivers navigated through the field, and stayed green until the checkered flag. 45K Colton Halpain was the winner. 77 Branston Arnder Jr. was the hard charger gaining 6 spots for a third place finish.

Results: 1st 45K Colton Halpain, 2nd 4U Alex Boyden, 3rd 77 Branston Arnder Jr., 4th 45 Dave Kappel, 5th 88C Zach Montague, 6th 19J Jacob Schwab, 7th 14 Ashlyn May, 8th 81 Jacob Kappel, 9th 16L Grant Logue, 10th 48 Cody Rigsby, 11th 9M Brandie Poe, 12th 1TK Trinket Kinderknecht, 13th 49 Seth Johnson,

The second class to take the track for their feature was the Central Siding and Windows Crown Vic Nation. For the first time in their initial season at Salina Speedway, the Crown Vics had a full 20 car field entered for the night. The 20 entries competed in three 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. Heat race 1 went to 91 Anthony Self. Heat 2 winner was 321 Jeremy Richmond. Heat 3 winner was 42K Chris Phillips. The feature got a turbulent start when the 57S stretch limo of Shaun Woods got sideways in the middle of turns 1-2, leaving several cars nowhere to go. With the big car pulled safely to the infield, the class was restacked, and the race began again. On lap 2, the 42K Chris Phillips got into the front stretch wall, bringing out the caution flag. Racing went green again until lap 6 when the 94S Sami Walker spun in the middle of turns 1-2 with the leaders closing in behind her. Green flag racing didn't last long when the caution came back out again. This time the 26B Austin Mortimer and 40 Matthew Schmitz got tangled together, and the caution was extended due to the 42K car going off the backstretch as he maneuvered to avoid the wreck. WIth the green flag back, it didn't take long to see yet another yellow flag. This time the 321 of Jeremy Richmond hit the infield tractor tire, moving it onto the racing surface. Going back green, the race made it to the checkers, with the 49 Trent Peltier getting the victory. 37 Jimmy Lawson was the hard charger, gaming 11 spots to finish 6th.

results: 1st 49 Trent Peltier, 2nd 27C Matthew Mortimer, 3rd 26B Austin Mortimer, 4th 53J Nathan Brownell, 5th 91 Anthony Self, 6th 37 Jimmy Lawson, 7th 55M Alex Manwaring, 8th 72 Paco Montague, 9th 28 Weston Labonte, 10th 8T Cory Jones, 11th 84 Mike Lehman, 12th 321 Jeremy Richmond, 13th 38X Chasen Sowell, 14th 42K Chris Phillips, 15th 78 Caleb Miller, 16th 40 Matthew Schmitz, 17th 33 Austin Ferguson, 18th 94S Sami Walker, 19th 57S Shaun Woods.

The third feature class was the Coors Light IMCA Hobby Stocks. 20 entries competed in three 6 lap heat races, and a 20 lap A feature. Heat 1 went to 5K Mike Traskowsky. Heat 2 winner was D68 Dion Priddy. And the third heat winner was 8 Jason Cleveland. The feature got off to a good start with drivers making their way around the 3/8 mile track until lap 4 when the 82 Quenten Baxter slid into the front stretch wall coming out of turn 4. Back to green flag racing and the drivers were making their way with some exciting racing. Then on lap 7 the caution came out when the 80 Travis Lobdell spun around in the middle of 1-2. Back to racing, and the fans were given one heck of a show with the 8 Jason Cleveland leading, and the 7N Nicholaus Ronnebaum right with him battling for the lead; with the 3H Gauge Hubbard, 007 Brandon Wise, 5K Mike Traskowsky, 55C Garrit Caswell, and 23T Trey Collins closely behind. Lap 14 the caution came out again when the 3H was stopped at the top of 3-4 with a blown right front tire. Hubbard was able to hot pit, and get back into the race. The racing went back green, until lap 16 when the 8 car suffered a mechanical failure, which caused him to spin in the middle of turns 3-4. The race went green after that until the checkered flag. 7N Nicholaus Ronnebaum was the winner and also hard charger, gaining 11 spots in the race.

Results: 1st 7N Nicholaus Ronnebaum, 2nd 55C Garrit Caswell, 3rd 5K Mike Traskowsky, 4th 58B Brent Beaumont, 5th 007 Brandon Wise, 6th 23T Trey Collins, 7th D68 Dion Priddy, 8th 3H Gauge Hubbard, 9th 106 Charlie Slowthower, 10th 22A Jarret Arasmith, 11th 26L Dylan Ludden, 12th 7D Chase Davis, 13th 55N Noah Marshall, 14th 80 Travis Lobdell, 15th 8 Jason Cleveland, 16th 22 Dennis Berry, 17th 12 Chris Lohrey, 18th 82 Quenten Baxter, 19th 23 Hayden Traskowsky.

The Big Corner Creative IMCA Northern Sport Mods took the track as the night's fourth feature. 23 entries competed in three 6 lap heat races, and a 20 lap A feature. Heat 1 winner was 26X Shane Meeks. Heat 2 winner 11 Trevin Frye. And heat races 3 went to 7C Connor Barnes. Another feature race that got off to a great start. Fantastic racing until lap 6 when the 70 Jeremie Myers car spun out coming off turn 2. The restart went to caution almost immediately when the 43 Josh Buser machine got into the front stretch wall, ultimately ending his night. Going back green, and it seemed like the drivers found a little more speed, and then, the caution came out on lap 8. The 26X went for a spin coming out of turn 2, and unfortunately collected the 74 Jeremy Mauro, 63C Austin Carter, 23H Hayden Howard, and 11 of Trevin Frye. While the track crew was busy clearing this off the track, the race went full stop red flag conditions as the medics were needed in the pits to tend to an injured person. The restart went to caution right away, as there was debris on the track along the front stretch. When racing resumed, it was quickly slowed down when the 55H of Blaine Hickel went for a spin coming out of turn 2. On lap 11 it was the 1 machine of Conner Fuller spinning and bringing out another caution. And then 5J of Sterling Judy also went for a spin and brought out a caution on lap 13. After this it was green flag racing. And it was some exciting racing as the 7C Connor Barnes led, and the 77 Cody Williams was fighting for the lead. Barnes was able to break away and get the win. 77 Cody Williams was the hard charger gaining 14 spots.

Results: 1st 7C Connor Barnes, 2nd 77 Cody Williams, 3rd 70 Jeremie Myers, 4th T12 Trenton Brooks, 5th 18D Dallas Chambers, 6th 23 Fred Traskowsky, 7th 2W Jake Welsh, 8th 42J Brian Judy, 9th 5S Sterling Judy, 10th 1 Conner Fuller, 11th 21G Greyson Goodaker, 12th 6 Stan Huiting, 13th 55H Blaine Hickel, 14th 112 Koby Rigsby, 15th 26X Shane Meeks, 16th 74 bJeremy Mauro, 17th 63C Austin Carter, 18th 11 Trevin Frye, 19th 23H Hayden Howard, 20th 43 Josh Buser, 21st 9 Alex Johnson

The Busch Light IMCA Stock Cars was the 5th Feature of the night. 22 drivers were entered to race in 3 heat races, and the 20 lap A feature race. Heat race 1 winner was 2X of Trevor Schmidt. Heat 2 went to the 34H of Doug Holzmeister. And heat 3 was won by 194 Scott Phillips. The feature was off to a scary start as the trunk cover from the 17 Calvin Davis car came off and flew into the 194 car, covering the windshield area of his machine. With racing resumed, it wasn't long until the caution came out again, this time for the 19D stopped on the track in turns 3-4. While slowing for the caution the 75M Marvin Griffith Jr. and the 42J Alec Jeske got together in turns 1-2. Racing went back green and the 2X Trevor Schmidt car was tearing around the track looking like the car to beat, until lap 5 when the caution came out for the 9K of Kaden Lambeth who had spun out on the backstretch exiting turn 2. Racing got back to green and again it was Schmidt leading the field. On lap 10 the 42J got too high in turn 1, hitting the wall and leaving the track, bringing out another caution. On the restart, the caution came out almost immediately as the 194 and 29X got together leaving the restart zone, with the 29X getting turned. The majority of the field was able to avoid this, but the 55P A'Den Peterson and M1 Scott Miller both ended up being involved. Lap 11 saw another caution as the 88 Tyler Heath car had a single car spin in turns 1-2. When the racing resumed, it stayed green until the checkered flag. 55T Tyler Frye got the victory. 43 Brian Calhoon was the hard charger advancing 13 spots for a 9th place finish.

Results: 1st 55T Tyler Frye, 2nd 2X Trevor Schmidt, 3rd 194 Scott Phillips, 4th 75 Zane Hansen, 5th 19 Ryan Ayers, 6th 09B Kaleb Dale, 7th 15E Elliot May, 8th 33 BJ Dauer, 9th 43 Brian Calhoon, 10th 17 Calvin Davis, 11th 19D Dylan Chambers, 12th M1 Scott Miller, 13th 55P A'Den Peterson, 14th 42J Alec Jeske, 15th 18 Brandon Sprott, 16th 32S Kipp Shupe, 17th 9K Kaden Lambeth, 18th 88 Tyler Heath, 19th 30 Gary Bradford, 20th 55J Josh Marshall, 21st 34H Doug Holzmeister, 22nd 75M Marvin Griffith Jr.

The night's finale was the Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds. 15 entries raced in two 8 lap heats, and a 20 lap A feature race. Heat 1 winner was 7B Curtis Barnes. Heat 2 went to 24BF Bobby Eubanks. The feature got off to a rough start, with several early cautions. Storting on lap 1 when the 33 Jason Ward car went off the track in the middle of turns 3-4. Lap 2 got a caution when the 94 of Austin Huehl spun around exiting turn 2. On the lap 2 restart the caution came out again when the 33 got into the 16 of Cody Kretchmar on the backstretch. Lap 3 it was the 92 John Rawson and the 5W Lance Ward that spun out in turns 1-2. When the green flag came back out, it was a lengthy period of great racing. 22B Dalton Bell had a commanding lead over the rest of the pack. Then on lap 17 the caution came out again as the 17 car of Casey Brown spun around in turn 2. This set up a three lap shootout, and it was the 22B of Bell that found the way to Victory Lane. Hard Charger was 92 John Rawson gaining 7 places for a 6th place finish.

Results: 1st 22B Dalton Bell, 2nd 7B Curtis Barnes, 3rd 9D Dalton Murphy, 4th 24 Corey Lagroon, 5th 24BF Bobby Eubanks, 6th 92 John Rawson, 7th 09 Paxton Dody, 8th 17 Casey Brown, 9th 33 Jason Ward, 10th 29C Cooper Weiss, 11th 5W Lance Ward, 12th 35D Dwight Housh, 13th 70 Brad Morris, 14th 94 Austin Huehl, 15th 16 Cody Kretchmar.

There was a total of 112 cars entered for Saturday night's races. Salina Speedway will not be racing next weekend, as many area drivers are headed to Boone Iowa for the IMCA Prelude, and the Super Nationals. I'd like to wish them all safe travels and good luck.

The next event at Salina Speedway is September 12th when the Revival Super Dirt Series late models come to town racing for a $10,000 to win event. They will be joined by the United Rebel Sprint Series 305's, and the Crown Vic Nation.