Olmstead Cashes in at RPM!

05/11/2025

RPM Speedway

Hays, KS

By: Sheldon Wickwar

Sixty-five race teams checked into the legendary RPM Speedway in Hays, on Saturday Night, to kick off the 2025 regular season. with the Cody Younger Memorial. Visiting victory lane were Zach Olmstead in the hobby stock, Tathan Burkhart in the stock car, Tyler Watts in the sport mod, Dave Kappel in the sport compact and Daniel Gottschalk in the modified.

Kappel Strongest in Sport Compact!

The sport compacts started the show with two heat races won by Connor Schwien and Brock Leibhart. Their main event started with a front row of Kaishen Brack and Jacob Kappel, quickly Dave Kappel found the lead from his third place starting point, and he started clicking off laps with Brock Leibhart in tow. The duo battled closely throughout the event, but Leibhart was never able to get by Kappel who went on to win his first feature of the season, second was Brock Leibhart, third was Kiowa Higdon, fourth was Kyle Mortensen and fifth was Gage Porter. Hard charger in the event was Kyle Mortensen who gained six spots, other nice runs included Kiowa Higdon up five spots, Dave Kappel and Brock Leibhart both gained two spots each.

Dave Kapell Celebrates his IMCA Sport Compact win! Photo Courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Tyler Watts Untouchable in Sport Mod Action!

The sport mods ran second on the program, their two heat races were won by Blaine Walt and Brianna Maughlin. Their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Tyler Watts and Tyler Beaman, Watts took an early lead and set a blistering pace. Blaine Walt charged to second place but never saw the caution he and the rest of the field were hoping for. Tyler Watts never looked back and never let lapped traffic phase him, as at several points Watts would be going into turn one, while Walt in second place was entering turn three. Tyler Watts dominated the feature to pick up his second win on the season, after picking up a win in WaKeeney in April. Second was Blaine Walt, third was Jack Kirchoff, fourth was Brianna Maughlin and fifth was Tim Watts. Hard charger in the event was the "Bounty Hunter" Brianna Maughlin who gained six spots, other nice runs included Blaine Walt up three spots, Jacob Olmstead, Ryan Kirchoff, Gunner Kuker and Justin Meserve all gained two spots each.

Tyler Watts Celebrates his IMCA Sport Mod Win! Photo Courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Tathan Burkhart Grabs First win as Dad!

The stock cars ran third on the program, they ran two heat races won by Brett Berry and Tathan Burkhart, their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Brett Berry and Tathan Burkhart. Tathan took an early race lead and started pulling away from the double-duty driver of Berry. Berry made several attempts to close in on Tathan in lapped traffic but was never able to do so. Troy Burkhart charged throughout the event to put both Burkhart drivers in the top five. Tathan Burkhart secured his first win of the season, and more importantly the first one as a father! Second was Brett Berry, third was Quinton Yutterman, fourth was new grandpa Troy Burkhart, and fifth was Kyle Pfeifer. Hard charger in the event was the "Gentle Giant" Troy Burkhart who gained five spots, other nice runs included Johnny and Quinton Yutterman both up three spots each.

Tathan Burkhart Celebrates his IMCA Stock Car Win! Photo Courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Gottschalk Strongest in Modified Action!

The modifieds ran fourth on the program, they ran two heat races won by Clay Money and Brett Berry, their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Drew Miller and Daniel Gottschalk. Gottschalk used his outside starting spot to pull away with the early race lead, with Dakota Sproul hot on his tail. The closing laps saw Dylan Sherfick, Clay Sellard and Clay Money enter the top five, but they did not have enough time to chase down the leaders of Gottschalk and Sproul. Sproul tried to find a way around Gottschalk but was unable to do so. Daniel Gotschalk earned his second win of the season, after winning in WaKeeney in April. Second was Dakota Sproul, third was Dylan Sherfick, fourth was Clay Sellard and fifth was Clay Money. Hard chargers in the event were Clay Money and Jim Beamen who gained four spots each, other nice runs included rookie Aiden Miller up three spots, Clay Sellard, Greg Gustus, and Jason Ward all gained two spots each. Jason Ward who went for a slow barrel roll in his heat race, not only got his car fixed, but had it good enough to gain spots in the feature.

Daniel Gottschalk Celebrates his IMCA Modified Win! Photo Courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Olmstead Cashes in at RPM!

The hobby stocks closed out the show as Augie's Repair and Towing owned by Cole Pfeifer added money to the race winner, making it the featured event of the night. They ran two heat races won by Cole Schulte and Roger Garrison; their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Dion Priddy and Cole Schulte. Schulte gained an early lead and led for a few laps until Dylan Bell came flying into the picture. Bell led for a good while until a late race bobble allowed Zach Olmstead to get around. Olmstead went on to pick up his seventh win of the season in ten events ran, also sweeping his weekend after winning in Colby, Friday Night. Second was Dylan Bell who continues his stellar season, Bell has run seven features and has not finished worse than third in any of them. Third was Mitchell Fischer, fourth was Cole Schulte, and fifth was Dion Priddy. Hard charger in the event was Zach Olmstead who gained eight spots, other nice runs included Mitchell Fischer up seven spots, and Dylan Bell up five spots.

Zach Olmstead Celebrates his IMCA Hobby Stock Win! Photo Courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

The races were broadcasted live on IMCATV and can be rewatched with a replay pass subscription! The next event will be on May 24th for another night of weekly IMCA points racing!

FULL RESULTS:

Golden Plains Trucking IMCA Sport Compacts

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 45-Dave Kappel[3]; 2. 15B-Brock Leibhart[4]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[8]; 4. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[10]; 5. 69G-Gage Porter[5]; 6. 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[7]; 7. 81-Jacob Kappel[2]; 8. 7J-JayDee Hudson[9]; 9. (DNF) 16C-Connor Schwien[6]; 10. (DNS) 8B-Kaishen Brack; 11. (DNS) Z17-Paul Whittenburg; 12. (DNS) 63-Makennon Sanders

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[4]; 2. 17-Kiowa Higdon[3]; 3. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[6]; 4. 69G-Gage Porter[1]; 5. 45-Dave Kappel[5]; 6. (DNF) 63-Makennon Sanders[2]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 15B-Brock Leibhart[6]; 2. 8B-Kaishen Brack[4]; 3. 81-Jacob Kappel[1]; 4. 7M-ZACK MCLAUGHLIN[5]; 5. 7J-JayDee Hudson[3]; 6. (DNF) Z17-Paul Whittenburg[2]

13 entries

Augie's Towing IMCA Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[9]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[7]; 3. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[10]; 4. 69-Cole Schulte[2]; 5. D68-Dion Priddy[1]; 6. 58-Bret Conness[6]; 7. 48H-Carson Hageman[8]; 8. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[3]; 9. 6X-Roger Garrison[4]; 10. 55-Blake Holmes[5]; 11. 93-Jake Wharton[11]; 12. M69-Anna Minks[13]; 13. (DNF) 03-Derick Coomes[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 69-Cole Schulte[2]; 2. 58-Bret Conness[4]; 3. D68-Dion Priddy[6]; 4. 31-Dylan Bell[3]; 5. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[5]; 6. 93-Jake Wharton[1]; 7. M69-Anna Minks[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6X-Roger Garrison[2]; 2. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[5]; 3. 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[6]; 4. 48H-Carson Hageman[4]; 5. 55-Blake Holmes[3]; 6. (DNF) 03-Derick Coomes[1]

14 entries

Walt's Machine IMCA Sport Mods

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[1]; 2. 14W-Blaine Walt[5]; 3. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[4]; 4. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[10]; 5. 11W-Tim Watts[3]; 6. 54-Carson Lang[6]; 7. 88JX-Jacob Olmstead[9]; 8. 7D-Dylan Jacobson[8]; 9. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[11]; 10. 21C-Brian Conness[7]; 11. 88K-Gunner Kuker[13]; 12. 99-Justin Meserve[14]; 13. (DNF) 32T-Tyler Beaman[2]; 14. (DNF) 73N-Noah Speicher[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[4]; 2. 7D-Dylan Jacobson[2]; 3. 54-Carson Lang[3]; 4. 32T-Tyler Beaman[5]; 5. 21C-Brian Conness[1]; 6. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[7]; 7. 88K-Gunner Kuker[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[1]; 2. 88JX-Jacob Olmstead[2]; 3. 77W-Tyler Watts[6]; 4. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[4]; 5. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 6. 73N-Noah Speicher[3]; 7. 99-Justin Meserve[7]

12 entries

Advantage Auto Glass IMCA Stock Cars

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[2]; 2. 09B-Brett Berry[1]; 3. 38-Quinton Yutterman[6]; 4. 25X-Troy Burkhart[9]; 5. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[7]; 6. 19K-Kolby Stegman[3]; 7. J10-Johnny Yutterman[10]; 8. 55R-George Ramey[5]; 9. 9-Brendyn Nordyke[8]; 10. 19-Keith Stegman[11]; 11. 6D-Don Dodds[12]; 12. (DNF) 68-Garrett Hager[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 09B-Brett Berry[4]; 2. 38-Quinton Yutterman[1]; 3. J10-Johnny Yutterman[3]; 4. 68-Garrett Hager[5]; 5. 9-Brendyn Nordyke[2]; 6. 19-Keith Stegman[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 2. 19K-Kolby Stegman[6]; 3. 25X-Troy Burkhart[3]; 4. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[5]; 5. 55R-George Ramey[2]; 6. 6D-Don Dodds[1]

14 entries

Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[2]; 2. 08-Dakota Sproul[3]; 3. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[4]; 4. 85C-Clay Sellard[6]; 5. 7-Clay Money[9]; 6. 14G-Greg Gustus[8]; 7. 69-Jim Beaman[11]; 8. 49-Drew Miller[1]; 9. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[5]; 10. 49M-Aiden Miller[13]; 11. 94-Jim Graves[7]; 12. 33-Jason Ward[14]; 13. (DNF) 09B-Brett Berry[10]; 14. (DNF) 5W-Lance Ward[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Clay Money[1]; 2. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[5]; 3. 08-Dakota Sproul[6]; 4. 14G-Greg Gustus[7]; 5. 49-Drew Miller[2]; 6. 69-Jim Beaman[3]; 7. 49M-Aiden Miller[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 09B-Brett Berry[3]; 2. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[7]; 3. 85C-Clay Sellard[2]; 4. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[5]; 5. 94-Jim Graves[1]; 6. 5W-Lance Ward[6]; 7. (DNF) 33-Jason Ward[4]