Salina Speedway Fourth of July Race Recap

The Fourth of July is a special day for most Americans. Family gatherings, cook outs, and fireworks are the norm for celebrating the birth of our great nation. On this, the 250th anniversary, it was no different. We gathered with our race family, we ate hamburgers and hot dogs, and there was plenty of fireworks- both on the track and in the night sky. The week leading up to Saturday's race show had Chuck Fairchild and his crew hard at work getting the track in shape, and getting the "character" worked out of the 3/8th's mile clay oval. Their hard work paid off with a very fast track. There were five IMCA classes, and the Crown Vic Nation on display, with a total of 91 cars signed in for the night's event.

The first class to hit the track were the Big Corner Creative IMCA Northern Sport Modifieds. This is one of three $1,000 to win classes on the night. With 12 entries, they had 2 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap feature. Heat 1 was won by the 77 of Cody Williams of MInneapolis Kansas. Heat two went to 94 Warren Huffman, Salina Kansas. The 15 lap A feature had the 94 take an early lead, and he stayed up front for the first 8 laps, until a caution came out for the 1 car of Conner Fuller going off the backstretch. On the restart the 63C of Austin Carter, Jamestown Kansas, was able to get to the front and he stayed there until the checkered flag flew. Congratulations to the 63C Austin Carter, not just for winning, but also the hard charger moving up 9 spots, from 10th to 1st.

Results: 1st 63C Austin Carter, 2nd 7C Connor Barnes, 3rd 77 Cody Williams, 4th 5S Sterling Judy, 5th 4M Matthew Miller, 6th 112 Koby Rigsby, 7th 64 Dylan Brozek, 8th 2W Jake Welsh 9th 1 Conner Fuller, 10th 23H Hayden Howard, 11th 41G Joe Buser, 12th 94 Warren Huffman

The second class on the schedule were the Coors Light IMCA Stock cars, another $1,000 to win class. 19 drivers completed in 3 6 lap heat races, leading to the 15 lap A feature. Heat 1 went to the 194 of Scott Phillips of Salina Kansas. Heat 2 went to the 88 Tyler Heath of Salina Kansas, and the final heat races was won by 16Z Jeremy Zorn from Russell Kansas. This set the field for the nights A feature. 32S Kipp Shupe took the lead early on. Lap 5 had the 6 car of Justin Kinderknecht gain the top spot. Lap 8 had a caution for a front cover in turn 2. Cautions breed cautions, and the restart didn't make a lap before the yellow flag flew again when several cars got tangled up in turn 2. Racing resumed until lap 11 when safety crews noticed flames coming from the 75 Zane Hansen machine. Checked out in the infield and it did have an oil leak dripping onto the header, bringing his night to an early end. Back to green flag racing and the 6 car continued to lead, but the real excitement was the 2nd through Fourth place drivers of 10 Eric Cross, 91J Jaylen Wettengel, and M1 Scott Mitchell in a fierce battle. The 32S spinning around in turn 2 brought out another caution on lap 13, leading to a green, white, checkered finale, until on the restart the 6AM of Aaron Mallory and 55P A'den Peterson both spun in turn 1. After getting the cars cleared off the track, we were ready for the finish. The 6 of Justin Kinderknecht was a rocket, but the 10 was able to get caught up to him, but when the checkers waved it was 6 taking the victory. Hard charger was the 33 BJ Dauer of Marquette Kansas, moving up 10 spots to a 5th place finish.

Results: 1st 6 Justin Kinderknecht, 2nd 10 Eric Cross, 3rd 91J Jaylen Wettengel, 4th 11 Jason Dove, 5th 33 BJ Dauer, 6th 19D Dylan Chambers, 7th 11B Blake Spear, 8th 15E Elliot May, 9th 32S Kipp Shupe, 10th A'den Peterson, 11th M1 Scott Miller, 12th 6AM Aaron Mallory, 13th 75 Zane Hansen, 14th 194 Scott Phillips, 15th 88 Tyler Heath, 16th 660S David Brown, 17th 17 Calvin Davis, 18th 16Z Jeremy Zorn.

The Third class, also a $1,000 to win competition, were the Mel Hambelton Ford Racing IMCA Modifieds. 13 drivers completed in a pair of 8 lap heat races, and the 20 lap A feature. Heat races 1 was won by 94 Dustin Huehl, Bennington Kansas. Heat races two winner was 09 Paxton Dody, Claflin Kansas. The 20 lap A feature was packed with the hard racing excitement that these cars are known for, and the cautions flew several times. 94 Dustin Huehl led the field to the green flag and he shot off to an early lead until lap 4 when the caution came out for the 23 Dalton Heiter spinning around in turn 2. Restacked and ready to go the cars ran two laps until lap 6 when the caution came out for the 76 K.C. Mullin machine spinning out in turns 3 and 4. Another caution came out on lap 7 when the 23S 23, and 33 were involved in a messy incident in turn 1 that had the field once again closed up. The restart lasted for a quarter lap when the yellow came out again, this time another turn 1-2 incident that had the front end of the 76 car resting on the hood panel of the 17 car of Casey Brown, and also had the 33 of Jason Ward spinning. When racing resumed, 94 once again led the field, going a fast 11 laps until lap 18 saw the 5th caution of the feature when the 29C of Cooper Weiss spun coming out of turn four and hit the front stretch wall. The final restart was more of 94 taking the green, where he kept the lead until the checkered flag flew, and he led every lap of the race. Hard charger was 24C Cale Lagroon Salina Kansas up 8 spots to a 5th place finish.

results: 1st 94 Dustin Huehl, 2nd 7B Curtis Barnes, 3rd 22B Dalton Bell, 4th 09 Paxton Dody, 5th 24C Cale Lagroon, 6th 5W Lance Ward, 7th 76 K.C. Mullin 8th 23S Heath Myers, 9th 33 Jason Ward, 10th 23 Dalton Heiter, 11th 29C Cooper Weiss, 13th 24 Corey Lagroon.

Busch Light IMCA Hobby Stocks were the 4th class of the night, with 16 entries, 2 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap A feature. Heat races 1 was shortened by half a lap when the 82 of Quentin Baxter, Salina Kansas summersaulted on the front stretch,landing on it's side at the entrance to turn 1. 23T Trey Collins won the heat race. Heat 2 was won by the 58B Brent Beaumont, Concordia Kansas.

The A feature was 15 laps of great racing, early lead was 26L Dylan Ludden, Salina Kansas. Lap 6 brought a new leader when the 58B of Beaumont took the point, where he stayed until the checkered flag waved. This race went green to checkers, without a caution. Winner 58B Brent Beaumont, Hard charger 7N Nicholas Ronnebaum, Onaga Kansas up 8 spots to 2nd.

Results: 1st 58B Brent Beaumont, 2nd 7N Nicholas Ronnebaum, 3rd 55C Garrit Caswell, 4th 3H Gauge Hubbard, 5th 23T Trey Collins, 6th 5K Mike Trakowsky, 7th 26L Dylan Ludden, 8th 70 Billy McBride, 9th 7D Chase Davis, 10th 8 Jason Cleveland, 11th 55N Noah Marshall, 12th 5 Trace Lobdell, 13th 80 Travis Lobdell.

Next we had the Bird Contracting IMCA Sport compacts. Saturday had 16 drivers entered, racing two 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. Heat 1 was won by 03K Kyle Mortensen, Hays, Kansas. Heat 2 winner was 2 Jayden Johnson, Topeka Kansas. The A feature had an exciting back and forth for the lead between the 04 Alison Jeske, Brookeville Kansas, and 03K of Mortensen for 11 laps. Meanwhile, the 72X of Xander Montague, Salina Kansas was methodically passing cars and on the final lap was able to grab the lead and take the checkered flag. Montague was also the hard charger moving up 7 spots to 1st. Another feature race that went green to checkers without a caution.

Results: 1st 72X Xander Montague, 2nd 03K Kyle Mortensen, 3rd 04 Alison Jeske, 4th 77 Branston Arnder Jr. 5th 48B Alex Boyden, 6th 81 Jacob Kappel, 7th 2 Jayden Johnson, 8th 45 Dave Kappel, 9th A0K Cam Adams, 10th 9 Brandie Poe, 11th 60K Charles Mendenhall, 12th 55 Michael Hart, 13th 44 Jonah Bundy, 14th K29 Trenton Thompson, 15th 26X Danny Kruse, 16th 14 Ashlyn May.

The final class of the night was the Central Siding Crown Vic Nation. 15 entries, competing in two 6 lap heat races and a 12 lap A feature. Heat races 1 winner was the 37 Jimmy Lawson, Partridge Kansas, heat races two winner was 26B Austin Mortimer, New Cambria Kansas. The A feature was the third feature of the night to go green to checkers without a caution. 26B Austin Mortimer led every lap, winning the race. 49 Trent Peltier, Aurora Kansas was hard charger moving up 10 spots to a third place finish.

Results: 1st 26B Austin Mortimer, 2nd 321 Jeremy Richmond, 3rd 49 Trent Peltier, 4th 91 Anthony Self, 5th 72 Paco Montague, 6th 42K Chris Phillips, 7th 27C Matthew Mortimer, 8th 90 Matt Ramsey, 10th 32 John Bender, 11th 94S Sami Walker, 12th 37 Jimmy Lwason, 13th 822 Angela Finkbiner.

After the races, there was a spectacular fireworks display celebrating the 250th birthday of our great nation. Next on the schedule for Salina Speedway is the July 11th weekly racing.

Photo credit: Photos by Red, Carl "Red" Larson