Olmstead, Watts, Sproul Sweep Ellis County Fair Races!
- Sheldon Wickwar
- Jul 13
- 9 min read
07/13/2025
RPM Speedway
Hays, KS
By: Sheldon Wickwar
The Ellis County Fair hosted two thrilling nights of IMCA racing action in Hays this weekend, with the duo of Chris Lohrey and Taron Burkhart winning the cruisers feature Friday night, Connor Schwien the sport compact feature, Zach Olmstead the hobby stock feature, Tyler Watts the sport mod feature, Johny Yutterman the stock car feature and Dakota Sproul the modified feature event.
Saturday night the action picked right back up, and the fans were treated to another exciting night of IMCA racing, as the racetrack featured multiple grooves, and a fast surface. The night was also special as hobby stock driver Brooke Russell was able to make her season debut with a special tribute wrap to honor her late Uncle Danny, who was a longtime track worker at the RPM Speedway!
Jake Schwien Outduels Brother Connor in Sport Compact Action!
Connor Schwien and Brock Leibhart picked up the two sport compact heat race victories, as their twelve-lap feature had a front row of Kiowa Higdon and Kaishen Brack. However, the Schwiens fired from their second row starting positions to battle side by side throughout the event. The brothers battled it out while Gage Porter stormed to third place hoping for brotherly love to take over and open the door for a chance to steal the feature win. The chance never came though as the Schwien's raced hard but clean with Jake outdueling his brother late in the feature event. Jake Schwien grabbed his second win of the season, both coming at RPM, second was Connor Schwien, third was Gage Porter, fourth was Brock Leibhart and fifth was Kiowa Higdon.
Olmstead Sweeps Hobby Action!
Zach Olmstead, Ted Trumbo and Carson Hageman all grabbed heat race wins for the hobby stock class. Their twenty-lap feature event started with a front row of Cole Schulte and Zach Olmstead, quickly Olmstead got to the race lead, while holding off charges from Schulte and Randie McRoberts. Nick Sherfick ran well early on before spinning out from his third-place position. Olmstead restarted the field and started clicking laps off. Mitchell Fischer and James Phelps used the caution filled event to make big moves on the restart and try to learn from Olmstead on a night that Olmstead was running well. Zach Olmstead led every lap to grab the weekend sweep, running his total to seventeen wins on the season. Second was Mitchell Fischer, third was Randie McRoberts, fourth was James Phelps, and fifth was Nick Sherfick. Hard charger in the event was James Phelps who gained fourteen spots; other nice runs included Mitchell Fischer up ten spots, Brendan Rich up nine spots and Brooke Russell up eight spots in her return to racing while honoring her late Uncle Danny!
Watts Sweeps Sport Mod Action!
Tyler Watts, Preston Donovan and Blaine Walt all picked up sport mod heat race victories, and their twenty-lap main event featured a front row of Carson Lang and Tyler Watts. Lang fired off with the early lead and led for a few laps before being overtaken by the faster Watts. The feature event saw Jacob Olmstead, Blaine Walt and Kamren Gruber battle closely throughout the event, while Watts set sail in his Rage Chassis. Jonathan Saliba started eighteenth place and charged to a solid top ten run. The class also saw Shannon Maughlin filling in for his daughter Brianna, who was sick. Shannon had a good start to the night but unfortunately found himself on his lid. After contacting Brian May who had spun and Maughlin had nowhere to go and went for a slow roll, he was able to walk away and was fine! Tyler Watts joined Zach Olmstead and Dakota Sproul in sweeping the Ellis County Fair Races in their respective classes. Watts picked up his sixth win of the season. Second was Jacob Olmstead, third Blaine Walt, fourth Cody Gearhart and fifth Kamren Gruber. Hard charger in the event was Jonathan Saliba who gained eleven spots, other nice runs included Landyn Plummer up six spots, and Cody Gearhart up five spots.
Tathan Burkhart Wins Stock Thriller!
The class “too tough to tame” put on an amazing show all weekend, Saturday night saw Jason Rogers and Garrett Hager grab heat race wins. Their twenty-lap feature event started with a front row of Johnny Yutterman and Michael Pepper. Pepper held an early lead, but it took almost no time for Tathan Burkhart and Jason Rogers to slice through the field. The duo battled closely throughout the event with “TwoFiddy” Tathan Burkhart claiming the feature win. Tathan Burkhart grabbed his fifth win of the season, second was Jason Rogers, third was Michael Pepper, fourth was Garrett Hager, and fifth was Johnny Yutterman. Hard charger in the event was Tathan Burkhart who grabbed seven spots on his way to victory lane. Other nice runs included Jason Rogers and Quinton Yutterman up four spots each, and Garrett Hager gained three spots.
Sproul Dominates Mod Action!
Dakota Sproul fresh off his Dakota Mod Tour run returned home to Kansas and dominated the weekend’s events in Hays. A thrilling last lap pass gave him the win Friday night over Kyle Rohleder, and Sproul quickly went back to work Saturday night winning heat one, while Jeremy Frenier won heat two. Dakota Sproul and Kyle Rohleder brought the field to the start of the twenty-lap feature event, quickly Sproul shot out of a cannon to the race lead and was virtually untouchable. Cautions never slowed down Sproul, and he easily cruised to his sixth win of the season. Kyle Rohleder finished second, Clay Money charged to finish third, Jeremy Frenier finished fourth, and Clay Sellard rounded out the top five. Hard charger in the event was Clay Money who gained five spots. Other nice runs included Clay Sellard up four spots and Jeremy Frenier up two spots.
FULL RESULTS:
SATURDAY:
Golden Plains Trucking IMCA Sport Compacts
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 16-Jakob Schwien[4]; 2. 16C-Connor Schwien[3]; 3. 69G-Gage Porter[10]; 4. 15B-Brock Leibhart[7]; 5. 17-Kiowa Higdon[1]; 6. 8B-Kaishen Brack[2]; 7. 16L-Grant Logue[5]; 8. 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[9]; 9. 7J-Kayden Hudson[6]; 10. (DNF) 03K-Kyle Mortensen[8]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[2]; 2. 16-Jakob Schwien[3]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[4]; 4. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[5]; 5. 7J-Kayden Hudson[1]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 15B-Brock Leibhart[2]; 2. 69G-Gage Porter[5]; 3. 8B-Kaishen Brack[3]; 4. 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[1]; 5. 16L-Grant Logue[4]
22 entries
Augie's Towing IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[2]; 2. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[12]; 3. 22B-Randle McRoberts[4]; 4. 11M-James Phelps[18]; 5. 66N-Nicholas Sherfick[3]; 6. 8J-Levi Jones[6]; 7. 48H-Carson Hageman[10]; 8. T21-Ted Trumbo[7]; 9. 12R-Brooke Russell[17]; 10. 93-Jake Wharton[5]; 11. 11X-Brendan Rich[20]; 12. D68-Dion Priddy[11]; 13. 69-Danny Schulte[14]; 14. 22Z-Zach Esplund[13]; 15. (DNF) 12S-Cole Schulte[1]; 16. (DNF) 37-Bingston Rogers[16]; 17. (DNF) 6T-Taylor Croisant[8]; 18. (DNF) 58-Bret Conness[9]; 19. (DNF) 11A-Austin Rich[19]; 20. (DNF) M69-Anna Minks[21]; 21. (DNF) 6X-Roger Garrison[15]; 22. (DNS) 8H-Hunter Esplund
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[3]; 2. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[2]; 3. 12S-Cole Schulte[1]; 4. 8J-Levi Jones[5]; 5. 22Z-Zach Esplund[4]; 6. M69-Anna Minks[8]; 7. (DNF) 37-Bingston Rogers[7]; 8. (DNF) 11A-Austin Rich[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. T21-Ted Trumbo[2]; 2. 6T-Taylor Croisant[1]; 3. 93-Jake Wharton[3]; 4. 66N-Nicholas Sherfick[7]; 5. 69-Danny Schulte[6]; 6. 12R-Brooke Russell[5]; 7. 11X-Brendan Rich[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 48H-Carson Hageman[2]; 2. 58-Bret Conness[1]; 3. 22B-Randle McRoberts[6]; 4. D68-Dion Priddy[5]; 5. 6X-Roger Garrison[3]; 6. 11M-James Phelps[4]; 7. (DNS) 8H-Hunter Esplund
20 entries
Walt's Machine IMCA Sport Mods
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[2]; 2. 88J-Jacob Olmstead[3]; 3. 14W-Blaine Walt[6]; 4. 1M-Cody Gearhart[9]; 5. 27G-Kamren Gruber[5]; 6. 48-Preston Donovan[8]; 7. 5S-Jonathan Saliba[18]; 8. 32G-Jasen Gray[12]; 9. 1-Paul Donovan[11]; 10. 99R-Jeff Ray[14]; 11. 49-Aiden Miller[7]; 12. 8-Brian May[4]; 13. 88K-Gunner Kuker[17]; 14. 11-Landyn Plummer[20]; 15. (DNF) 99-Justin Meserve[19]; 16. (DNF) 54-Carson Lang[1]; 17. (DNF) 9Z-Ethan Zweygardt[16]; 18. (DNF) 17M-Shannon Maughlin[13]; 19. (DNF) 7M-Sam McCune[10]; 20. (DNF) 11J-Josiah Lopez[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[3]; 2. 1M-Cody Gearhart[6]; 3. 49-Aiden Miller[1]; 4. 32G-Jasen Gray[4]; 5. 17M-Shannon Maughlin[5]; 6. 11J-Josiah Lopez[2]; 7. 11-Landyn Plummer[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 48-Preston Donovan[2]; 2. 1-Paul Donovan[3]; 3. 88J-Jacob Olmstead[6]; 4. 7M-Sam McCune[4]; 5. 99-Justin Meserve[7]; 6. 9Z-Ethan Zweygardt[5]; 7. (DQ) 5S-Jonathan Saliba[1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[2]; 2. 27G-Kamren Gruber[4]; 3. 54-Carson Lang[3]; 4. 8-Brian May[5]; 5. 99R-Jeff Ray[1]; 6. 88K-Gunner Kuker[6]
12 entries
Advantage Auto Glass IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[8]; 2. 37-Jason Rogers[6]; 3. 22-Michael Pepper[2]; 4. 68-Garrett Hager[7]; 5. J10-Johnny Yutterman[1]; 6. 38-Quinton Yutterman[10]; 7. 25P-Mike Petersilie[3]; 8. 25X-Troy Burkhart[4]; 9. 55R-George Ramey[9]; 10. 49-Drew Miller[12]; 11. 11-Jason Dove[11]; 12. (DNF) 11W-Tim Watts[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Jason Rogers[1]; 2. 38-Quinton Yutterman[6]; 3. 55R-George Ramey[4]; 4. 22-Michael Pepper[5]; 5. 25P-Mike Petersilie[3]; 6. 11-Jason Dove[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 68-Garrett Hager[1]; 2. 25X-Troy Burkhart[2]; 3. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 5. J10-Johnny Yutterman[6]; 6. 49-Drew Miller[3]
10 entries
Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul[1]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[2]; 3. 7-Clay Money[8]; 4. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[6]; 5. 85C-Clay Sellard[9]; 6. 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[5]; 7. 10G-Mike Goodson[4]; 8. 33-Jason Ward[3]; 9. (DNF) 7R-Paxton Dody[10]; 10. (DNF) 87-John Webb[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul[2]; 2. 87-John Webb[4]; 3. 7-Clay Money[5]; 4. 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[1]; 5. 7R-Paxton Dody[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[2]; 2. 85C-Clay Sellard[3]; 3. 10G-Mike Goodson[1]; 4. 0-Kyle Rohleder[5]; 5. 33-Jason Ward[4]
FRIDAY:
Wild and Wacky Cruisers
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 12-Chris Lohrey[2]; 2. 79-Weston Kraus[5]; 3. 2-Colby Hagans[1]; 4. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[3]; 5. 01-Dakota Bliss[4]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 2-Colby Hagans[1]; 2. 12-Chris Lohrey[2]; 3. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[3]; 4. 01-Dakota Bliss[5]; 5. 79-Weston Kraus[4]
12 entries
Golden Plains Trucking IMCA Sport Compacts
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[5]; 2. 16-Jakob Schwien[7]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[8]; 4. 15B-Brock Leibhart[9]; 5. 69G-Gage Porter[1]; 6. 26X-Dan Kruse[3]; 7. 63-Makennon Sanders[2]; 8. 16L-Grant Logue[10]; 9. (DNF) 03K-Kyle Mortensen[4]; 10. (DNF) 7J-Kayden Hudson[11]; 11. (DNF) 8B-Kaishen Brack[6]; 12. (DNF) 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[12]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16-Jakob Schwien[3]; 2. 15B-Brock Leibhart[1]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[5]; 4. 26X-Dan Kruse[4]; 5. 63-Makennon Sanders[2]; 6. 7J-Kayden Hudson[6]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[3]; 2. 69G-Gage Porter[4]; 3. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[2]; 4. 8B-Kaishen Brack[1]; 5. 16L-Grant Logue[5]; 6. (DNF) 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[6]
21 entries
Augie's Towing IMCA Hobby Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[7]; 2. 57-Eric Cross[20]; 3. 187-Tyler Heath[9]; 4. 11M-James Phelps[6]; 5. 11-Dillon Thompson[11]; 6. 70-Billy McBride[8]; 7. 11A-Austin Rich[2]; 8. 24W-Wade Kolbo[13]; 9. 14-David Kraus[5]; 10. 11X-Brendan Rich[17]; 11. 6T-Taylor Croisant[15]; 12. T21-Ted Trumbo[18]; 13. (DNF) 31-Dylan Bell[12]; 14. (DNF) 37-Bingston Rogers[1]; 15. (DNF) 93-Jake Wharton[16]; 16. (DNF) 77-Cody Williams[10]; 17. (DNF) M69-Anna Minks[21]; 18. (DNF) 48H-Carson Hageman[3]; 19. (DNF) D68-Dion Priddy[4]; 20. (DNF) 77F-Mitchell Fischer[14]; 21. (DNF) 55-Blake Holmes[19]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 187-Tyler Heath[7]; 2. D68-Dion Priddy[2]; 3. 11A-Austin Rich[3]; 4. 14-David Kraus[5]; 5. 24W-Wade Kolbo[1]; 6. 93-Jake Wharton[4]; 7. T21-Ted Trumbo[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Dillon Thompson[1]; 2. 37-Bingston Rogers[3]; 3. 11M-James Phelps[5]; 4. 48H-Carson Hageman[7]; 5. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[4]; 6. 11X-Brendan Rich[2]; 7. 55-Blake Holmes[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Cody Williams[3]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[1]; 3. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[2]; 4. 70-Billy McBride[4]; 5. 6T-Taylor Croisant[5]; 6. M69-Anna Minks[7]; 7. (DNF) 57-Eric Cross[6]
14 entries
Walt's Machine IMCA Sport Mods
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77W-Tyler Watts[1]; 2. 14W-Blaine Walt[3]; 3. 1M-Cody Gearhart[5]; 4. 63C-Austin Carter[9]; 5. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[2]; 6. 48-Preston Donovan[13]; 7. 1-Paul Donovan[10]; 8. 49-Aiden Miller[12]; 9. 32G-Jasen Gray[7]; 10. (DNF) 99-Justin Meserve[14]; 11. (DNF) 27G-Kamren Gruber[4]; 12. (DNF) 88J-Jacob Olmstead[8]; 13. (DNF) 99R-Jeff Ray[6]; 14. (DNS) 7M-Sam McCune
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32G-Jasen Gray[1]; 2. 27G-Kamren Gruber[7]; 3. 1M-Cody Gearhart[2]; 4. 63C-Austin Carter[5]; 5. 1-Paul Donovan[4]; 6. 7M-Sam McCune[6]; 7. (DNF) 48-Preston Donovan[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[1]; 2. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[3]; 3. 88J-Jacob Olmstead[5]; 4. 77W-Tyler Watts[4]; 5. 99R-Jeff Ray[2]; 6. 49-Aiden Miller[6]; 7. 99-Justin Meserve[7]
14 entries
Advantage Auto Glass IMCA Stock Cars
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. J10-Johnny Yutterman[6]; 2. 250-Tathan Burkhart[2]; 3. 09B-Brett Berry[8]; 4. 37-Jason Rogers[3]; 5. 25P-Mike Petersilie[7]; 6. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[14]; 7. 38-Quinton Yutterman[4]; 8. 1-Bobby Eubanks[5]; 9. 68-Garrett Hager[12]; 10. 11W-Tim Watts[10]; 11. 25X-Troy Burkhart[9]; 12. 11-Jason Dove[11]; 13. (DNF) 3-Chris Oliver[1]; 14. (DNF) 49-Drew Miller[13]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38-Quinton Yutterman[1]; 2. 25X-Troy Burkhart[6]; 3. 3-Chris Oliver[3]; 4. 250-Tathan Burkhart[7]; 5. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 6. 11-Jason Dove[2]; 7. 49-Drew Miller[4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25P-Mike Petersilie[1]; 2. 09B-Brett Berry[3]; 3. J10-Johnny Yutterman[2]; 4. 1-Bobby Eubanks[4]; 5. 37-Jason Rogers[7]; 6. 68-Garrett Hager[5]; 7. (DNF) 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[6]
16 entries
Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul[5]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[4]; 3. 44T-Tanner Black[14]; 4. 7-Clay Money[9]; 5. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[7]; 6. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[2]; 7. 85C-Clay Sellard[6]; 8. 24C-Cale Lagroon[3]; 9. 87-John Webb[12]; 10. 10G-Mike Goodson[16]; 11. 22B-Dalton Bell[15]; 12. 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[1]; 13. 33-Jason Ward[13]; 14. (DNF) 711-Kade Ogle[8]; 15. (DNF) 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[10]; 16. (DNF) 7R-Paxton Dody[11]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24C-Cale Lagroon[2]; 2. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[3]; 3. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[5]; 4. 85C-Clay Sellard[1]; 5. 10CZ-Colton Czapanskiy[4]; 6. 7R-Paxton Dody[6]; 7. 33-Jason Ward[7]; 8. 22B-Dalton Bell[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Clay Money[1]; 2. 08-Dakota Sproul[6]; 3. 0-Kyle Rohleder[4]; 4. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[8]; 5. 711-Kade Ogle[2]; 6. 87-John Webb[3]; 7. 44T-Tanner Black[7]; 8. (DNF) 10G-Mike Goodson[5]
FRIDAY VICTORY LANE PHOTOS:
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