Summer Nights, Dirt Track Lights

As summer fades into the beginning of autumn, and thoughts start to drift to other things such as back to school and football, the normalcy of a Saturday night at the dirt track offers a simple comfort. And while our focus on the future might be shifting gears, we paused the planning and instead reflected on the past. Saturday, August 15, 2026, was the 19th annual Barry Brittendall Memorial Race at Salina Speedway. Barry, a young man gone too soon at just 15 years old, left a lasting impression on racing. Specifically, Sport Compacts, which he drove. So on this Saturday evening we raced to honor his memory and lasting legacy.

It's not often, but sometimes the main event is the opening act. Like the Daytona 500,and on Saturday night it was the Bird Contracting IMCA Sport Compacts race. The class had 16 entries, two 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. Heat race 1 went to the 8B of Kaishen Brack. Heat race 2 was won by 14 Ashlyn May. The feature began with the 45K of Colten Halpain jumping out to an early lead from the outside of the front row. Lap 4 brought out the yellow as the 1 car of Brandon Amack went off the backstretch. When racing resumed, it was again the 45K leading the field, but a charge from the 14 of Ashlyn May saw a change at the front briefly, until she and Halpain came together, and she fell back. The Sport Compacts definitely were running this race with the "rubbin' is racin'" mindset, and several cars showed it with plastic body panels flapping in the breeze. On lap 10 the yellow came out again for debris in turn 4, when a rear bumper came off one of the cars. This set up a Green, White, Checkered finish. When he got to the restart zone, Halpain set sail and never looked back. Taking the win and becoming the Barry Brittendall Memorial Race Champion for the second year in a row. Hard Charger went to 03K of Kyle Mortensen, with 7 spots advanced to finish third.

Results: 1st 45K Colton Halpain, 2nd 8B Kaishen Brack, 3rd 03K Kyle Mortensen, 4th 14 Ashlyn May, 5th 45 Dave Kappel, 6th 77 Branston Arnder Jr. 7th 72X Xander Montague, 8th 68+1 Chase Duckett, 9th 81 Jacob Kappel, 10th 88C Zach Montague, 11th 55 Michael Hart, 12th 9M Brandie Poe, 13th 1 Brandon Amack, 14th 26X Dan Kruse

The second class to take the track was the Central Siding Crown Vic Nation. There were 14 entries competing in a pair of 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. Heat lap 1 winner was the 49 Trent Peltier. Heat race 2 went to the 37 of Jimmy Lawson. The feature race was filled with the excitement that the Crown Vic class has come to be known for, with cars spinning, and getting going again just as quickly, typically avoiding a caution, with cars capable of running lap times that rival the Hobby Stock class. The caution flew on lap 3 when the 44 of Lane Manners spun coming out of turn 2 and got sunk in the mud of the infield. A quick push, and they were back on the track and racing again. Until lap 9, when the caution again came out. The 49 of Peltier went off the track in the middle of 3 and 4, requiring the tow truck to get his car out, and pulled to the pits. When racing resumed, the 26C of Austin Mortimer continued his charge to the front, getting the lead and holding on to it until the checkered flag waved. 26C was also the Hard Charger gaining 10 spots to claim the victory.

Results: 1st 26C Austin Mortimer, 2nd 37 Jimmy Lawson, 3rd 72 Paco Montague, 4th 44 Lane Manners, 5th 316 Taylor Russell, 6th 321 Jeremy Richmond, 7th 42K Chris Phillips, 8th 91 Anthony Self, 9th 2 Bryan Ward, 10th 25A Corey Davis, 11th 33 Austin Ferguson, 12th 94S Sami Walker, 13th Trent Peltier, 14th 27C Matthew Mortimer

The third class to run their feature was the Busch Light IMCA Hobby Stocks. They had 16 entries, racing in two 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap heat race. Heat race 1 winner was 70 Billy McBride. Heat race 2 winner was 7N Nicholas Ronnebaum. The racing in the feature started and soon was under caution, when on lap 2 the 55N Noah Marshall and 19L Alex Lundgrin got tangled up on the backstretch going into turn 3. Green flag racing resumed until lap 7, when the 80 Travis Lobdell was in a single car spin, coming to a stop against the infield tractor tire. Going back to racing, didn't last long, as the 5 of Trace Lobdell had a similar single car spin in turn 2, bringing out the third caution flag of the feature. Racing resumed and when the checkered flag waved, it was the 7N of Nicholas Ronnebaum getting the win and the hard charger, gaining 8 spots to get to victory lane.

Results: 1st 7N Nicholas Ronnebaum, 2nd 23T Trey Collins, 3rd 3H Gauge Hubbard, 4th 55C Garrit Caswell, 5th 70 Billy McBride, 6th 7X Brent Beaumont, 7th 106 Charlie Slowthower, 8th 22 Dennis Berry, 9th 49 Aiden Miller, 10th 82 Quinten Baxter, 11th 80 Travis Lobdell, 12th 5 Trace Lobdell, 13th 8 Jason Cleveland, 14th 19L Alex Lundgrin 15th 55N Noah Marshall.

The fourth class to take to the track was the Big Corner Creative IMCA Northern Sport Mods. 18 entries, three 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap A feature. Heat 1 went to the 63C of Austin Carter, heat 2 winner was the 112 Koby Rigsby, and heat 3 went to the 7C of Connor Barnes. With lightning flashing through the sky, the call was made to reduce the remaining features to 15 laps in hopes of beating Mother Nature, and getting the night's full show ran. The Sport Mods were putting on a great show, with lots of movement in the ranks, drivers moving forward and some going back. At lap 5 the caution came out when the 23H of Hayden Howard spun in turn 4. The caution was extended when he was pulling off the track, but lost his drive shaft, requiring a debris clean up, and a push truck to get him back to the pits area. Racing resumed, and on lap 7, the yellow came out again when the 5S Sterling Judy got loose out of turn 4 and hit the front stretch wall. Back to racing we went to lap 10 and got another caution when the 55H of Blaine Hickel had a single car spin in turn 4. We went back green for two laps, until lap 12 when the 17D of Dalton Chambers spun around in turn 3, setting up another Green White Checkered finish. The 63C of Austin Carter got the victory. 7C Connor Barnes was the Hard Charger moving up 9 spots to finish third.

Results: 1st 63C Austin Carter, 2nd 112 Koby Rigsby, 3rd 7C Connor Barnes, 4th 77 Cody Williams, 5th 26X Shane Meeks, 6th 17D Dalton Chambers, 7th 1 Conner Fuller, 8th T12 Trenton Brooks, 9th 2W Jake Welsh, 10th 55H Blaine Hickel, 11th 10J Alex Loveless, 12th T25 Tim Stallbaumer, 13th 6 Stan Huiting, 14th 74 Jeremy Mauro, 15th 5S Sterling Judy, 16th 23H Hayden Howard, 17th 43 Josh Buser

The Coors Light IMCA Stock Cars were the 5th class of the night. With 18 entries, three 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap A feature. Heat race 1 went to the M1 Scott Miller. Heat race 2 winner was 55J Josh Marshall. The third heat races winner was 10 Eric Cross. The feature started with a sense of urgency, as lightning continued to fill the night skies. On lap 2 the caution came out when the 11 Jason Dove, and 6 Justin Kinderknecht got together going into turn 3. Green flag racing resumed, but was short lived when the caution flag waved on lap 3 for the 19D Dylan Chambers getting turned around on the front stretch. Lap 4 saw the caution again, when the 55X Mike Burian spun around in turn 2. Lap 5 got a caution flag for debris on the track in turn 3. And just when you think it's back to racing, another caution on lap 7 when the 18 Brandon Sprott had a single car spin in the middle of turns 3 and 4. Back under the green, racing went to lap 9, when the caution again waved. This time for the M1, Scott Miller stalled in turn 1. He was able to get going again, but not without losing a lot of the places he had advanced. The race went back green, and we didn't see another caution as the laps counted down. When the checkered flag flew it was the 10 Eric Cross getting the victory. Hard Charger 91J Jaylen Wettengel gaining a massive 15 spots.

Results: 1st 10 Eric Cross, 2nd 775 Jayce Reimer, 3rd 91J Jaylen Wettengel, 4th 88 Tyler Heath, 5th 91 Brad Labonte, 6th 194 Sott Phillips, 7th 6 Justin Kinderknecht, 8th 55J Josh Marshall, 9th 55X Mike Burian, 10th 19D Dylan Chambers, 11th 11B Blake Spears, 12th M1 Scott Miller, 13th 11 Jason Dove, 14th 18 Brandon Sprott, 15th 55P A'Den Peterson, 16th 75 Zane Hansen, 17th 15E Elliot May, 18th 17 Calvin Davis.

The final class of the night was the Mel Hambelton IMCA Modifieds. 16 entries competed in a pair of 8 lap heat races, and a 15 lap A feature. Heat race 1 winner was 24BF Bobby Eubanks. Heat 2 winner was 94 Dustin Huehl. The feature to close out the evening was slowed on lap 2 when the caution waved for the 44 Braden Stoner spinning in the middle of turns 3 and 4. After that, it was great green flag racing. Drivers making moves to gain positions, others pulling off for various reasons. But the race stayed green until the end. When the checkered flag came out it was the 94 Dustin Huehl that got the victory. 24 Corey Lagroon was the hard charger gaining 7 spots to the runner up position.

Results: 1st 94 Dustin Huehl, 2nd 24 Corey Lagroon, 3rd 17 Casey Brown, 4th 33 Paxton Dody, 5th 24C Cale Lagroon, 6th 7B Curtis Barnes, 7th 29C Cooper Weis, 8th 211 Tim Eaton, 9th 92 John Rawson, 10th 33X Jason Ward, 11th 5W Lance Ward, 12th 10 Ryan Richmeier, 13th 70 Brad Morris, 14th 24BF Bobby Eubanks, 15th 22B Dalton Bell, 16th 44 Braden Stoner.

There was a total of 98 cars entered for the night.

Each feature winner received an additional $50 courtesy of Hot Rod Chicken & Just Good Old Racing Photos.

The next event on the schedule for Salina Speedway is August 22, for their weekly racing series.

Victory Lane photos courtesy of Michelle Froelich, Trackside Exposures.

Barry Brittendall Memorial Trophy courtesy of Branston Lee Arnder.