The Usual Suspects: Salina Speedway 08-08-2026.

August is just starting, but it's also the beginning of the end of summer. Don't fret, the racing action is still just as hot as the temperatures. This week there was a lot of racing across the Sunflower State. With thoughts of state championship points, track championship points, and preparations for Boone and Super Nationals, many drivers are working hard to get in as much racing as they can. So you definitely don't want to miss the action still happening on the track. Saturday night at Salina Speedway showed the fans why the season isn't over yet.

First feature of the evening was the Bird Contracting IMCA Sport Compacts. With 17 entries, two 6 lap heat races, and a 12 lap A feature. The first heat races was won by the 117 Kevin Tremblay, of Salina, Kansas. Heat race two went to the 77 of Branston Arnder Jr., Salina Kansas.

The Sport Compact A feature was 12 laps of four cylinder adrenaline. Tremblay's 117 machine started from the pole and led the first three laps, until the 77 of Arnder was able to get by him on the front stretch. On lap 6 the cation came out when the 8B of Kaishen Brack and A0K of Cam Adams got together coming out of turn 4, with Adam's car also getting into the front stretch wall, ending his night early. When racing resumed, the 77 shot out to a several car lengths lead. While Arnder was cruising around the track, the real racing action was happening just behind him, as the 26X Dan Kruse, 72X Xander Montague, and the 117 battled for second through fourth positions. 77 Branston Arnder Jr was the winner. 26X Dan Kruse was the hard charger, gaining 14 spots, and finishing in the runner up position.

Results: 1st 77 Branston Ardner Jr. 2nd 26X Danny Kruse 3rd 72X Xander Montague 4th 117 Kevin Tremblay 5th 55 Michael Hart 6th K29 Trenton Crowder 7th 45K Ariel Halpain 8th 14 Ashlyn May 9th 9M Casey Mendenhall 10th A0K Cam Adams 11th 8B Kaishen Brack 12th 6 Zach Montague

The Central Siding Crown Vic Nation was the second feature of the night. There were 17 entries, two 6 lap heat races and a 12 lap feature. The first heat winner was the 321 of Jeremy Richmond, Wichita Kansas. Heat race 2 winner was the 49 of Trent Peltier, Aurora Kansas.

The 12 lap feature had a rough start; on lap 2 the 63 Halie Richmond, 91 Anthony Self, and 42K Chris Phillips ended up spinning and colliding coming out of turn 2. When racing resumed it wasn't long, and the caution came out again. This time the 72 of Paco Montague got sideways coming off turn 4, and the J5 Justin Betzner, and 88 James Burress collided trying to avoid the 72. When the green flag came back out, it was 9 laps of Crown Vic racing; cars spinning and getting going again, and then there was the 57S Shaun Woods with his stretch limo which was definitely a fan favorite. The 49 Trent Peltier, and 37 Jimmy Lawson had a great 1-2 run through these 9 laps, with 49 taking the win. The hard charger has two versions. My Race Pass shows the 55M Alex Manwaring at +8 spots up to 8th. Then there's the 25AX Austin Mortimer, who started the feature from the rear in a car that was driven by Corey Davis in his debut; as the 26C suffered a serious mechanical failure in the heat race. 25AX went 16th to 5th gaining 11 spots. It was great driving by both drivers.

Results: 1st 49 Trent Peltier, 2nd 37 Jimmy Lawson, 3rd 321 Jeremy Richmond, 4th 27C Matthew Mortimer, 5th 25AX Austin Mortimer, 6th 91 Anthony Self, 7th 57S Shaun Woods, 8th 55M Alex Manwaring, 9th 72 Paco Montague, 10th 88 James Buress, 11th 33 Austin Ferguson, 12th 94S Sami Walker, 13th 69 Greg Freeman, 14th J5 Justin Btzner, 15th 63 Halie Richmond, 16th 42K Chris Phillips

Third on the schedule of the night's features was the Busch Light IMCA Hobby Stocks. 14 entries, two 6 lap heat races, and a 15 lap A feature. Heat race 1 went to 7D Chase Davis. Heat race 2 went to 3H Gauge Hubbard.

After a very scary accident in the second heat, and the two previous features having multiple cautions, the hobby stock feature went smooth. Running green to checkers without a caution. The action was there, with the 7N Nicholaus Ronnebaum and 23T Trey Collins charging through the field and having a great 1-2 run and finish. 7N was the winner, and the hard charger; moving up 8 spots to get the win.

Results: 1st 7N Nicholaus Ronnebaum, 2nd 23T Trey Collins, 3rd 58B Brent Beaumont, 4th 3H Gauge Hubbard, 5th 106 Charlie Slothower, 6th 55C Garrit Caswell, 7th 22 Dennis Berry, 8th 7D Chase Davis, 9th 55N Noah Marshall, 10th 5 Trace Lobdell, 11th 5K Hayden Traskowsky, 12th 80 Travis Lobdell, 13th 4C Colton Boxum,

The fourth feature of the night was the Coors Light IMCA Stock Cars. There were 16 entries, with a pair of 6 lap heat races and a 15 lap A feature. Heat race 1 winner was 15E of Elliot May. Heat race 2 went to the 3T of Tanner Thiel.

The IMCA Stock car class is one of the most exciting classes in motorsports. And they definitely brought the energy and excitement with them to Salina Speedway. On the second lap, coming off of turn four, the 75 Zane Hansen got squirrelly, and went hard into the front stretch wall. The wreck also collected the 33 car of BJ Dauer, ending the evening for both of those drivers. On lap 3, the 3T of Tanner Thiel was involved in a single car spin off turn 2, and with the leaders approaching, the yellow came out again. We were able to quickly get back to racing and everything was going smooth, a little bit of pushing and shoving as drivers jockeyed for position. And then on lap 8 the 9K of Kaden Lambeth was in a single car spin off turn 4, and traffic was coming fast, so the yellow waved again. Again under green flag, the racing was getting even more exciting as the laps were winding down, until lap 10, when the 11W of Tim Watts spun coming off of four, during a great 3 way battle for the lead with 11B Cody Williams, and 55J of Josh Marshall. The racing got back to green, and there was still a lot of excitement to watch as the 11B and 55J continued to fight for the lead, with the 88 Tyler Heath and M1 Scott Miller also running in this four car lead break out pack. When the checkered flag flew it was 11B Cody Williams getting the win, and also the hard charger at plus 9 positions.

Results: 1st 11B Cody Williams, 2nd 55J Josh Marshall, 3rd 88 Tyler Heath, 4th M1 Scott Miller, 5th 11W Tim Watts, 6th 19D Dylan Chambers, 7th 15E Elliot May, 8th 55P A'Den Peterson, 9th 660S David Brown, 10th 18 Brandon Sprott, 11th 9K Kaden Lambeth, 12th 169 Justin McReynolds, 13th 3T Tanner Thiel, 14th 75 Zane Hansen, 16th 33 BJ Dauer, 17th 29D Greg Deters.

The Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds were the 5th class on track for their feature. They had 12 entries, 2 8 lap heat races, and a 20 lap A feature. Heat race 1 went to the 09B of Brett Berry. Heat race 2 winner was 24 Corey Lagroon.

The race started off with a caution on lap one, when the 5W of Lance Ward spun off turn 4, causing them to restack and restart; with the 5W going to the back of the line up. When the green came back out the 24BF Bobby Eubanks shot out to an early lead, until lap 4 when the 70 of Brad Morris was able to run him down and get around him on the front stretch. The next caution came out at lap 6 when the 92 of John Rawson went off the track in turn 3. On the restart the 09B of Brett Berry looked like he was shot out of a canon as he quickly took the lead on the front stretch. The laps were winding down when the cation came out for a single car spin in turn 2 for the 4B of Brandon Verbeek. Going back green, the last four laps went by quickly and when the checkered flag came out it was the 09B of Brett Berry taking the win and the hard charger at plus 5 spots.

Results: 1st 09B Brett Berry, 2nd 70 Brad Morris, 3rd 7B Curtis Barnes, 4th 24 Corey Lagroon, 5th 24C Cale Lagroon, 6th 29C Cooper Weis, 7th 17 Casey Brown, 8th 92 John Rawson, 9th 4B Brandon Verbeek, 10th 5W Lance Ward, 11th 24BF Bobby Eubanks.

The grand finale, with a $1,000 to win purse, was the Big Corner Creative IMCA Northern Sport Modifieds. With 24 entries, and a trio of 6 lap heat races, and a 20 lap A feature. The first heat races went to the 32 Todd Wichman. The second heat races winner was 63C Austin Carter. And the final heat races winner was 70 Jeremie Myers.

The A feature was buzzing with excitement as soon as the cars came onto the track for their parade lap. The first caution came out when the 43 of Josh Buser spun in lap 4. When we got back to green, it was short lived, as the caution came out on lap 3 for the 55H Blaine Hickel in a single car spin in turn 2. On the restart not even a full lap in, the caution came out again for the 21G Greyson Goodaker spinning in turn 2. Back under green flag conditions for two laps before the yellow once again came out for the 55H, in his second single car spin. This brought his night to an early end. Once again we were racing and on lap 8 the 7C of Connor Barnes was able to get past the 94 of Warren Huffman, who had led all of the previous laps. Lap 11 saw another caution as the 21G was again in a single car spin in turn 4, sending him back to the pits for the night. the rest of the race went by under the green flag, and when the checkered flag waved, it was the 7C of Connor Barnes taking the win. The hard charger went to the 29 Taylor Metz, moving forward 11 spots for a fourth place finish.

Results: 1st 7C Connor Barnes, 2nd 77W Tyler Watts, 3rd 63C Austin Carter, 4th 29 Taylor Metz, 5th 94 Warren Huffman, 6th 77 Cody Williams, 7th 10J Alex Loveless, 8th 112 Koby Rigsby, 9th 70 Jeremie Myers, 10th 32 Todd Wichman, 11th 5S Sterling Judy, 12th 23 Fred Traskowsky, 13th 1 Conner Fuller, 14th 2W Jake Welsh, 15th 42J Brian Judy, 16th 23H Hayden Howard, 17th 43 Josh Buser, 18th 6 Stan Huiting, 19th 21G Greyson Goodaker, 20th 18D Dallas Chambers, 21st 55H Blaine Hickel, 22nd 41G Joe Buser, 23rd 26X Shane Meeks.

There was a total of 100 cars total entered for the night. Then next event on the Salina Speedway schedule is August 15th, with a $1,000 to win Modifieds special.

Photo credit Michelle Froelich, Trackside Exposures.