Sproul Wins Modified Thriller!

05/18/2025

WaKeeney Speedway

WaKeeney, KS

By: Sheldon Wickwar

Eighty-seven race teams checked into the "Historic" WaKeeney Speedway for the final night of the John Fose Memorial/Wall of Fame Weekend! The track surface was top tier, and the racers thrilled the fans all night long, with multiple late race passes, a very slim margin of victory in the sport mod feature, and a thrilling four car battle for the modified feature. Visiting victory lane were Chris Lohrey in the cruisers, Gage Porter in the sport compact, Blaine Walt in the sport mod, Zach Olmstead in the hobby stock, Tathan Burkhart in the stock car and Dakota Sproul in the modified!

Lohrey Cruises to Cruisers Victory Lane!

The cruisers ran the first heat race of the night, Chris Lohrey won. Their feature event started with a front row of Colby Hagans and Dylan Pfeifer, quickly Lohrey got to the race lead, and a couple cautions shortened the action. Lohrey never looked back and easily scored the win.

Chris Lohrey Celebrates his cruisers win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Porter Shines in Sport Compact Action!

Connor Schwien and Kyle Mortensen picked up heat race wins for the sport compacts. Their main event started with a front row of Grant Logue and Mortensen; Mortensen took an early lead and held it throughout the first half of the feature. Gage Porter got by in the second half of the race and held on to pick up win number three on the season! Second went to Kyle Mortensen, third was Connor Schwien, fourth was Brock Leibhart and fifth was Kaishen Brack. Hard charger in the event was Gage Porter who gained five spots, other nice runs included Leibhart and Brack up three spots each, and Schwien gained two spots.

Gage Porter celebrates his IMCA Sport Compact win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Walt Back-to-Back in Sport Mod Action!

Cody Gearhart, Brianna Maughlin, and Chad Dolan all scored heat race wins for the sport mods. Their feature event started with a front row of Austin Carter and Carson Lang, Carter dominated the field and led nineteen laps, before Carson Lang stopped in turn four. A restart ensued and saw Blaine Walt get the better of Carter, narrowly beating the young gun to the line with a margin of .011 seconds, Walt picked up the weekend sweep in WaKeeney in the sport mod. Walt now has three wins on the season, second was Austin Carter, third was Cody Gearhart, fourth was Tyler Watts and fifth was Chad Dolan. Hard chargers in the event were Jasen Gray and Jeff Ray who both gained seven spots each, after having to compete in the b-main just to make the show. Other nice runs included Blaine Walt and Cody Gearhart up six spots each, Tim Watts up five spots, Tyler Watts, Jack Kirchoff and Dustin Lampe gained four spots each.

Blaine Walt celebrates his IMCA Sport Mod win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Olmstead Wins! Bell’s Streak Lives On!

Zach Olmstead and Dylan Bell won the hobby stock heat races; the main event started with a front row of Trent Matson and Wade Kolbo. Quickly the feature turned into the Bell and Olmstead show, as Bell led the majority. With a handful of laps left, Bell got too high coming out of turn four and handed the lead to Zach Olmstead. When Olmstead got to clean air, it was too much for Bell to recover from. Zach Olmstead grabbed win number eight on the season, in twelve attempts. Second was Dylan Bell who saw his streak of top three finishes continue through another weekend. Third was Tyler Heath, fourth was Mitchell Fischer and fifth was Trent Matson. Hard charger in the event was Mitchell Fischer who gained eight spots, other nice runs included Tyler Heath up six spots, and Bret Conness up five spots.

Zach Olmstead celebrates his IMCA Hobby Stock Win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

2Fiddy to stock car Victory Lane!

“2Fiddy” Tathan Burkhart and Brett Berry won the stock car heat races, their feature started with a front row of Bill Brack and Doug Holzmeister. On the initial start, Berry forced the front row to go three wide, and that put Berry in control of the race. Berry appeared to have a great shot at picking up a weekend sweep in the stock car, but with a handful of laps he faltered, and allowed Burkhart and Pfeifer to get by. Tathan Burkhart ran away with the feature once he found clean air, to grab his second win of the season. Second went to Brett Berry, third went to Kyle Pfeifer, fourth was Doug Holzmeister, and Troy Burkhart finished fifth. Hard chargers in the event were Garrett Hager and David Murray Jr who gained five spots each. Kyle Pfeifer and Troy Burkhart gained four spots each, while Tathan Burkhart gained three spots on his way to victory lane.

Tathan Burkhart celebrates his IMCA Stock Car Win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

Sproul Wins Modified Thriller!

Dakota Sproul and Eddie Belec grabbed the modified heat race wins; their feature lineup had a front row of Jeremy Frenier and Daniel Gottschalk. Frenier stormed away with an early race lead, but Gottschalk got by after a few laps. Meanwhile, Kyle Rohleder and Dakota Sproul were on their way forward and set up an exciting four car battle for the win. Gottschalk lost control of the race to Kyle Rohleder around halfway, and Sproul never slowed down. On the final lap Sproul was able to get by Rohleder to pick up his second win of the season. Rohleder finished second, Frenier third, Gottschalk fourth and Greg Gustus fifth. Hard charger in the event was Kyle Rohleder who gained seven spots, Dakota Sproul gained five spots on his way to victory lane, and Clay Money gained three spots.

Dakota Sproul celebrates his IMCA Modified Win! Photo courtesy of Carl Red Larson!

The drivers and track staff all brought their a-game to WaKeeney Saturday Night, as the race fans were treated to several top-notch battles. Racing returns to WaKeeney on Friday, May 30th for the "Prelude to the Buzzard Bash."

FULL RESULTS:

Cruisers

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 12-Chris Lohrey[3]; 2. 79-David Kraus[5]; 3. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[2]; 4. 01-Dakota Bliss[4]; 5. (DNF) 2-Colby Hagans[1]; 6. (DNF) 666-Shaun Woods[6]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 12-Chris Lohrey[1]; 2. 2-Colby Hagans[2]; 3. 01-Dakota Bliss[5]; 4. 10 32-Dylan Pfeifer[6]; 5. (DNF) 79-David Kraus[4]; 6. (DNF) 666-Shaun Woods[3]

16 entries

Solutions North Bank Stock Cars

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 2. 10-Brett Berry[3]; 3. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[7]; 4. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[2]; 5. 25X-Troy Burkhart[9]; 6. 38-Quinton Yutterman[6]; 7. 19K-Kolby Stegman[10]; 8. 68-Garrett Hager[13]; 9. J10-Johnny Yutterman[8]; 10. 97M-David Murray Jr[15]; 11. 19B-Bill Brack[1]; 12. 1X-Bo Egge[14]; 13. 1C-Cody Ghumm[11]; 14. 7-Bobby Eubanks[16]; 15. 34-Ben Bogle[5]; 16. 19-Keith Stegman[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[4]; 2. J10-Johnny Yutterman[1]; 3. 34-Ben Bogle[2]; 4. 38-Quinton Yutterman[3]; 5. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[7]; 6. 1C-Cody Ghumm[6]; 7. 68-Garrett Hager[8]; 8. 97M-David Murray Jr[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Brett Berry[2]; 2. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[3]; 3. 25X-Troy Burkhart[5]; 4. 19B-Bill Brack[4]; 5. 19K-Kolby Stegman[7]; 6. 19-Keith Stegman[1]; 7. 1X-Bo Egge[6]; 8. 7-Bobby Eubanks[8]

15 entries

Ghumm's Autos Hobby Stocks

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[5]; 2. 31-Dylan Bell[4]; 3. 187-Tyler Heath[9]; 4. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[12]; 5. 2M-Trent Matson[1]; 6. 8J-Levi Jones[3]; 7. T21-Ted Trumbo[6]; 8. 58-Bret Conness[13]; 9. 7-AJ Davenport[11]; 10. 93-Jake Wharton[8]; 11. 37-Kevin Thompson[7]; 12. 66N-Nicholos Sherfick[14]; 13. 55-Blake Holmes[10]; 14. 24W-Wade Kolbo[2]; 15. M69-Anna Minks[15]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[6]; 2. T21-Ted Trumbo[2]; 3. 2M-Trent Matson[5]; 4. 37-Kevin Thompson[1]; 5. 55-Blake Holmes[3]; 6. 7-AJ Davenport[7]; 7. 58-Bret Conness[4]; 8. M69-Anna Minks[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Dylan Bell[4]; 2. 187-Tyler Heath[1]; 3. 8J-Levi Jones[2]; 4. 93-Jake Wharton[5]; 5. 24W-Wade Kolbo[6]; 6. (DNF) 77F-Mitchell Fischer[3]; 7. (DNF) 66N-Nicholos Sherfick[7]

14 entries

Finish Line Lease Service Modifieds

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul[6]; 2. 0-Kyle Rohleder[9]; 3. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[1]; 4. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[2]; 5. 14G-Greg Gustus[3]; 6. 3B-Eddie Belec[5]; 7. 7-Clay Money[10]; 8. 09B-Brett Berry[8]; 9. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[7]; 10. 8R-Jesse Richter[4]; 11. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[14]; 12. 51-Mike Bainter[11]; 13. 22B-Dalton Bell[13]; 14. 98-Danny Keller[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul[1]; 2. 14G-Greg Gustus[3]; 3. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[4]; 4. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[7]; 5. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[5]; 6. 51-Mike Bainter[2]; 7. (DNF) 22B-Dalton Bell[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3B-Eddie Belec[2]; 2. 09B-Brett Berry[6]; 3. 0-Kyle Rohleder[4]; 4. 7-Clay Money[7]; 5. 8R-Jesse Richter[3]; 6. 98-Danny Keller[1]; 7. 7R-Ryan Richmeier[5]

26 entries

Moeder's Meats Sport Mods

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14W-Blaine Walt[7]; 2. 63C-Austin Carter[1]; 3. 1M-Cody Gearhart[9]; 4. 77W-Tyler Watts[8]; 5. 87D-Chad Dolan[4]; 6. 99H-Nicholas Hankins[6]; 7. 11W-Tim Watts[12]; 8. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[11]; 9. 02-Justin Lampe[5]; 10. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[14]; 11. 99R-Jeff Ray[18]; 12. 8X-Justin Bell[13]; 13. 32G-Jasen Gray[20]; 14. 11J-Josiah Lopez[3]; 15. 01-Dustin Lampe[19]; 16. (DNF) 48-Preston Donovan[16]; 17. (DNF) 1-Paul Donovan[17]; 18. (DNF) 54-Carson Lang[2]; 19. (DNF) 64-Jimmy Brozek[15]; 20. (DNF) 17M-Brianna Maughlin[10]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 48-Preston Donovan[1]; 2. 1-Paul Donovan[8]; 3. 99R-Jeff Ray[2]; 4. 01-Dustin Lampe[3]; 5. 32G-Jasen Gray[9]; 6. 20B-Brady Henderson[7]; 7. 36W-Willie Wynn[6]; 8. 8-Brian May[5]; 9. 810-Terry Vignery[11]; 10. (DNF) 99-Justin Meserve[10]; 11. (DNF) 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Cody Gearhart[5]; 2. 54-Carson Lang[1]; 3. 99H-Nicholas Hankins[3]; 4. 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[6]; 5. 8X-Justin Bell[2]; 6. 48-Preston Donovan[4]; 7. 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[8]; 8. 20B-Brady Henderson[7]; 9. 810-Terry Vignery[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[2]; 2. 02-Justin Lampe[4]; 3. 63C-Austin Carter[6]; 4. 11W-Tim Watts[5]; 5. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[8]; 6. 99R-Jeff Ray[3]; 7. 8-Brian May[7]; 8. 99-Justin Meserve[9]; 9. (DNF) 32G-Jasen Gray[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 87D-Chad Dolan[1]; 2. 14W-Blaine Walt[3]; 3. 77W-Tyler Watts[5]; 4. 11J-Josiah Lopez[2]; 5. 64-Jimmy Brozek[8]; 6. 01-Dustin Lampe[6]; 7. 36W-Willie Wynn[4]; 8. 1-Paul Donovan[7]

10 entries

Gibson Health Mart Sport Compacts

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 69G-Gage Porter[6]; 2. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[2]; 3. 16C-Connor Schwien[5]; 4. 15B-Brock Leibhart[7]; 5. 8B-Kaishen Brack[8]; 6. 16L-Grant Logue[1]; 7. 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[4]; 8. 7J-JayDee Hudson[10]; 9. (DNF) 6M-Madison Reed[3]; 10. (DNF) 6%-Mitch Conner[9]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 16C-Connor Schwien[2]; 2. 8B-Kaishen Brack[4]; 3. 16L-Grant Logue[3]; 4. 1N-Nathan Vollbracht[5]; 5. 6%-Mitch Conner[1]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[1]; 2. 69G-Gage Porter[2]; 3. 15B-Brock Leibhart[3]; 4. 6M-Madison Reed[4]; 5. 7J-JayDee Hudson[5]