Thome Strikes in Hays!
- Sheldon Wickwar
- Oct 6
- 10 min read
10/06/2025
RPM Speedway
Hays, Kansas
By: Sheldon Wickwar
Two hundred and nineteen race teams checked into the legendary RPM Speedway in Hays, Kansas, this past weekend for the 19th Annual Fall Nationals! The five IMCA classes, sport compacts, sport mods, hobby stocks, stock cars and modifieds brought plenty of action as Friday night they ran heat races and qualifiers with twelve drivers from the five classes each locking into Saturday’s A-main events. Saturday night’s events included the last chance qualifiers for each class, along with the main events where event champions were crowned. Taking home the big hardware were Alex Boyden in the sport compact, Morgan Olmstead in the hobby stock, Brandon Spanjer in the sport mod, Tathan Burkhart in the stock car and Robbie Thome in the modified.
The sport compacts started the program off each night, with Alex Boyden, Gage Porter, Connor Schwien, Kyle Mortensen, Kaishen Brack, James Embree, Brock Leibhart, Kiowa Higdon, Jakob Schwien, Jacob Kappel, Kayden Hudson and Mitch Conner all locking in by virtue of their qualifier performances on Friday night.
Colten Halpain, Zach Montague, Dave Kappel, Grant Logue, Christopher Glass, Ella Allen, Melanie Robinson, Makennon Sanders, Abigail Davis, Kaleb Horn, Paul Whittenburg and Dan Kruse were all able to race their way into Saturday’s a-main event by virtue of the last chance qualifier.
By virtue of a redraw, Jakob Schwien and Kyle Mortensen started the twenty-lap main event from the front row, Jakob Schwien got the early lead, but caution came out immediately as Jacob Kappel spun from contact from Connor Schwien. The field restarted and Jakob Schwien would take the lead again, with Gage Porter and Kyle Mortensen in tow. Lap four saw Alex Boyden get the pass completed on Gage Porter for second place and would start chasing Jakob Schwien. Schwien and Boyden would enter lapped traffic just a couple laps shy of the halfway point, and the duo would continue to race closely. With six laps remaining Boyden grabbed his first lead of the night, while Jakob Schwien hung around tight on his bumper for the remainder of the feature. Alex Boyden grabbed the sport compact Fall Nationals title, while Jakob Schwien settled for second place, third went to Kiowa Higdon, fourth to Connor Schwien and fifth to Kyle Mortensen. Hard charger in the event was Dan Kruse who gained eleven spots, other notable runs included Alex Boyden up seven spots, while Colten Halpain, Makennon Sanders, Abigal Davis and Paul Whittenburg all gained five spots each.
The hobby stocks were second on the program, their Friday night lock ins were Morgan Olmstead, Dylan Bell, Travis Landauer, Ted Trumbo, Ryan Fajman, Riley Kort, Zach Olmstead, Dillon Thompson, Tyler Heath, Trent Matson, Andrew Burg and Brayden Hilzer.
Saturday’s last chance lock ins were Eric Cross, Trey Collins, Mitchell Fischer, Zach Gimpel, Brayden Hurley, Dion Priddy from LCQ One. LCQ Two brought in Tyler Thompson, Garrit Caswell, Carson Hageman, Tylan Lambertus, Kordeal Schmidt, and Jordan Encinger.
Saturday’s a-main event started with a front row of Tyler Heath and Morgan Olmstead. Olmstead got the early lead, as Tyler Heath slipped back to second place on the opening lap. Caution came out on lap two as Ryan Fajman went for the spin cycle and had to restart in the back. Morgan Olmstead brought the field to green, and the field would single file out rather quickly with Morgan Olmstead surging ahead. Lap nine saw a caution for a spin in turn four, and that forced Morgan Olmstead to endure another restart. Morgan Olmstead was rather untouchable as no one could run him down, late in the feature heavy hitters Zach Olmstead and Dillon Thompson closed the gap, but Morgan prevailed. Morgan Olmstead captured his first Fall Nationals title, a race he had been wanting to win for several years. Second was Zach Olmstead, third was Travis Landauer, fourth was Dillon Thompson and fifth was Tyler Heath. Hard charger in the event was Zach Gimpel with eleven positions gained, other notable performances included Jordan Encinger up ten spots, Tylan Lambertus and Brayden Hurley up nine spots each, Dillon Thompson and Kordeal Schmidt both up seven spots, Zach Olmstead up six spots and Tyler Thompson up five spots.
The sport mods were third on the program, their Friday night lock ins included Trevin Frye, Conner Barnes, Riley Osantowski, Jasen Gray, Jack Kirchoff, Justin Lampe, Brady Bencken, Ryan Kirchoff, Brandon Spanjer, Tyler Watts, Blaine Walt and Chad Dolan.
Saturday’s lock ins were Preston Donovan, Cody Gearhart, Chris Burke, Monty Nordyke, Brianna Maughlin and Bree Marie from LCQ One. Lee Horky, Jordan Winn, Luke Stallbaumer, Dustin Lampe, Josiah Lopez and Sterling Judy all locked in from LCQ Two.
Saturday’s a-main began with a front row of Brandon Spanjer and Jack Kirchoff, Spanjer jumped to the outside right away and started to pull away from the field, meanwhile young gun Trevin Frye had gotten by veteran driver Jack Kirchoff for second. Two laps in saw caution come out for Monty Nordyke breaking, and Spanjer brought the field back to green. Spanjer would not be phased by his competitors and was able to lead the main event from flag to flag. Brandon Spanjer captured the sport mod Fall Nationals championship, with Tyler Watts racing his way to second place late, Blaine Walt finishing third where he had run the bulk of the night. Fourth was Trevin Frye who was as high as second place for multiple laps, and fifth went to Riley Osantowski. Chris Burke charged through the field with eleven spots gained to give him the hard charger title, other notable runs included Bree Marie up eight spots, Brianna Maughlin up seven spots, and Lee Horky up five spots.
The stock cars were fourth on the program, their Friday night lock ins were Angel Munoz, Cody Ghumm, Troy Burkhart, Jeff Tubbs, Brock Beeter, Justin Kinderknecht, Jeremy Zorn, Tyler Barribo, Jeff Ware, Tathan Burkhart, Kolby Stegman and Kyle Pfeifer.
Saturday’s lock ins were Brendyn Nordyke, Tyler Frye, Dillon Richards, Cole Younger, John Foley, and Johnny Yutterman from LCQ One. LCQ two locked in Bo Egge, Tim Watts, Quinton Yutterman, Dylan Holt, Trevor Schmidt and Chris Olvier.
Saturday’s main event had a front row of Brock Beeter and Angel Munoz, Munoz gained the early advantage and tried to find clean air right away, quickly veteran driver Jeff Ware closed in. Ten laps in Munoz still led, as Tathan Burkhart and Jeff Ware turned Hays into “Slide Job City” and the pair duked it out for second. Caution would come out and put everyone back on Munoz’s rear bumper. The restart came with nineteen laps to go, and chaos would ensue. The top three would race three wide, with Angel Munoz and Tathan Burkhart gaining the advantage. Tathan Burkhart would hit the top side and take the lead with eighteen laps to go. With fifteen laps to go caution came out for a spinning Jeff Tubbs. Tathan Burkhart would lead the field to a restart, that changed the complexion of the event. Troy Burkhart and Angel Munoz would get together on the restart, resulting in the bulk of the field finding each other. Numerous drivers saw their nights end, after the chaos was cleaned up, Tathan Burkhart would restart the field. Burkhart would restart well and hold off Jeff Ware to win back-to-back stock car Fall Nationals titles. Second was Jeff Ware, third was Brock Beeter, Tyler Frye was fourth and Johnny Yutterman was fifth. Hard charger in the event was Johnny Yutterman up eighteen spots, other notable movers were Trevor Schmidt up fifteen spots, Quinton Yutterman and Dylan Holt up twelve spots each, Tyler Frye up eleven spots, Chris Oliver up eight spots and Tathan Burkhart up five spots.
The modifieds closed out the program, Friday’s lock ins were Robbie Thome, Daniel Gottschalk, Kyle Rohleder, Greg Gustus, Clay Money, Dylan Sherfick, Dakota Sproul, Tony Acierno, Eddie Belec, Brett Berry, Brad Morris and Derrick Sprott.
Saturday’s lock ins were Ayden Steffens, William Nusser, Austin Caruthers, John Burrow, Kaid Calhoon and Paxton Dody from LCQ One. LCQ two locked in Jeremy Frenier, Dalton Bell, Cody Williams, Curtis Barnes, Cale Lagroon and Corey Lagroon.
Saturday’s main event rolled off with a front row of Eddie Belec and Robbie Thome. Eddie Belec took the early lead on the inside, while Robbie Thome charged back on the outside. Belec led the first lap with Thome threatening. Thome led lap two before a caution flew. The field returned to green flag action with Thome leading. On the restart Clay Money shot to second place, with Dakota Sproul throwing his hat into the top five by virtue of a three wide battle. Ten laps in Robbie Thome and Clay Money would start battling together with slide jobs. The battle would simmer down for a little while, but lapped traffic brought the heat back. With eight laps to go Derrick Sprott went for a spin in turns three and four, collecting Austin Caruthers in the process. Thome would lead the field back to the final restart, where he would hold off sliders from Money, and Sproul to capture the modified title. Second was Dakota Sproul, third was Clay Money, fourth was Daniel Gottschalk, and fifth was Kyle Rohleder. Hard charger in the event was Corey Lagroon who gained eleven spots, other notable runs included Jeremy Frenier and Cody WIlliams who gained eight spots each, and Dakota Sproul up five spots.
FULL RESULTS:
Golden Plains Trucking IMCA Sport Compacts
Championship Feature (20 Laps): 1. 4D-Alex Boyden[8]; 2. 16-Jakob Schwien[1]; 3. 17-Kiowa Higdon[6]; 4. 16C-Connor Schwien[4]; 5. 03K-Kyle Mortensen[2]; 6. 15B-Brock Leibhart[7]; 7. 69G-Gage Porter[5]; 8. 45K-Colten Halpain[13]; 9. 7J-Kayden Hudson[11]; 10. 6%-Mitch Conner[9]; 11. 45-Dave Kappel[15]; 12. 16L-Grant Logue[16]; 13. 26X-Dan Kruse[24]; 14. 07-Ella Allen[18]; 15. 63-Makennon Sanders[20]; 16. 14A-Abigail Davis[21]; 17. 10Q-Melanie Robinson[19]; 18. 66B-Paul Whittenburg[23]; 19. (DNF) 28K-Kaleb Horn[22]; 20. (DNF) 8B-Kaishen Brack[10]; 21. (DNF) 31R-James Embree[12]; 22. (DNF) 49C-Christopher Glass[17]; 23. (DNF) 81-Jacob Kappel[3]; 24. (DNS) 6-Zach Montague
Last Chance Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 45K-Colten Halpain[1]; 2. 6-Zach Montague[3]; 3. 45-Dave Kappel[11]; 4. 16L-Grant Logue[15]; 5. 49C-Christopher Glass[16]; 6. 07-Ella Allen[10]; 7. 10Q-Melanie Robinson[12]; 8. 63-Makennon Sanders[6]; 9. 14A-Abigail Davis[8]; 10. 28K-Kaleb Horn[2]; 11. 66B-Paul Whittenburg[5]; 12. 26X-Dan Kruse[4]; 13. 6T9-Anthony Simants[9]; 14. (DNF) 66-Audrianna Stephenson[14]; 15. (DNF) 74D-Dusty Lepper[7]; 16. (DNS) 1N-Nathan Vollbracht
56 entries
Augie's Towing IMCA Hobby Stocks
Championship Feature (25 Laps): 1. 88-Morgan Olmstead[2]; 2. 98Z-Zach Olmstead[8]; 3. 45-Travis Landauer[6]; 4. 11T-Dillon Thompson[11]; 5. 187-Tyler Heath[1]; 6. 2M-Trent Matson[4]; 7. 25Z-Zach Gimpel[18]; 8. 17-Tyler Thompson[13]; 9. 8B-Brayden Hilzer[9]; 10. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[19]; 11. 38-Brayden Hurley[20]; 12. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[16]; 13. 23E-Jordan Encinger[23]; 14. 8K-Kordeal Schmidt[21]; 15. 48H-Carson Hageman[17]; 16. T21-Ted Trumbo[10]; 17. 23T-Trey Collins[14]; 18. D68-Dion Priddy[22]; 19. (DNF) 97B-Ryan Fajman[3]; 20. (DNF) 78B-Andrew Burg[7]; 21. (DNF) 57-Eric Cross[12]; 22. (DNF) 31-Dylan Bell[5]; 23. (DNF) 11B-Garrit Caswell[15]; 24. (DNS) 45R-Riley Kort
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (12 Laps): 1. 57-Eric Cross[1]; 2. 23T-Trey Collins[8]; 3. 77F-Mitchell Fischer[4]; 4. 25Z-Zach Gimpel[2]; 5. 38-Brayden Hurley[7]; 6. D68-Dion Priddy[22]; 7. 42J-Alec Jeske[15]; 8. 3XL-Brad Orvedal[3]; 9. 53F-Gordon French[13]; 10. 55-Blake Holmes[14]; 11. 69-Danny Schulte[10]; 12. 66N-Nicholas Sherfick[11]; 13. 82-Quenton Baxter[18]; 14. 3H-Gauge Hubbard[20]; 15. (DNF) 12S-Cole Schulte[19]; 16. (DNF) 49-Aiden Miller[5]; 17. (DNF) 5-Trace Lobdell[16]; 18. (DNF) 03-Derick Coomes[12]; 19. (DNF) 37-Bingston Rogers[6]; 20. (DNF) 70-Billy McBride[17]; 21. (DNS) 11-Brendan Rich; 22. (DNS) 8J-Levi Jones
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (12 Laps): 1. 17-Tyler Thompson[1]; 2. 11B-Garrit Caswell[3]; 3. 48H-Carson Hageman[5]; 4. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[20]; 5. 8K-Kordeal Schmidt[9]; 6. 23E-Jordan Encinger[7]; 7. 12R-Brooke Russell[18]; 8. 6-Drew Barry[2]; 9. 37X-Cash Tubbs[4]; 10. 19-Brody Beeter[8]; 11. 77-Ken Barry[13]; 12. 22J-Jerrica Heidrick[16]; 13. 24W-Wade Kolbo[21]; 14. (DNF) 8KX-Hayden Kelly[22]; 15. (DNF) 420-Justin Yutterman[6]; 16. (DNF) 7D-Chase Davis[11]; 17. (DNF) 17H-Hayden Ogorzolka[12]; 18. (DNF) 4-Cody Cadwalader[15]; 19. (DNF) 04-Austin Sikes[17]; 20. (DNF) 6T-Taylor Croisant[10]; 21. (DNS) 11A-Austin Rich; 22. (DNS) 37XJ-Austin Janousek
52 entries
Walt's Machine IMCA Sport Mods
Championship Feature (25 Laps): 1. 19XX-Brandon Spanjer[1]; 2. 77W-Tyler Watts[6]; 3. 14W-Blaine Walt[7]; 4. 11-Trevin Frye[3]; 5. 38-Riley Osantowski[8]; 6. CB25-Chris Burke[17]; 7. 7C-Connor Barnes[5]; 8. 711-Brady Bencken[9]; 9. 7-Lee Horky[14]; 10. 48-Preston Donovan[13]; 11. 1M-Cody Gearhart[15]; 12. 88J-Jack Kirchoff[2]; 13. 87D-Chad Dolan[12]; 14. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[21]; 15. 33B-Bree Marie[23]; 16. 01-Dustin Lampe[20]; 17. 32G-Jasen Gray[10]; 18. 02J-Jordan Winn[16]; 19. L26-Luke Stallbaumer[18]; 20. 11J-Josiah Lopez[22]; 21. (DNF) 5S-Sterling Judy[24]; 22. (DNF) 02-Justin Lampe[4]; 23. (DNF) 28K-Ryan Kirchoff[11]; 24. (DNF) 9-Monty Nordyke[19]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (12 Laps): 1. 48-Preston Donovan[2]; 2. 1M-Cody Gearhart[4]; 3. CB25-Chris Burke[1]; 4. 9-Monty Nordyke[9]; 5. 17M-Brianna Maughlin[5]; 6. 33B-Bree Marie[8]; 7. 9L-Lane Heil[16]; 8. 99R-Jeff Ray[11]; 9. 25-Andrue Halpain[10]; 10. 11L-Landyn Plummer[20]; 11. 24-Douglas Beaman[7]; 12. 14A-Austin Johnson[13]; 13. 8G-Coltin Ghumm[19]; 14. 120-Stacey Huffman[14]; 15. D14-Derek Dechant[15]; 16. 31B-Blake Munster[18]; 17. 4M-Matthew Miller[6]; 18. (DNF) 58C-Nathan Chaput[12]; 19. (DNF) 1-Paul Donovan[3]; 20. (DNF) 4C-Colton Boxum[17]
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (12 Laps): 1. 7-Lee Horky[1]; 2. 02J-Jordan Winn[2]; 3. L26-Luke Stallbaumer[3]; 4. 01-Dustin Lampe[4]; 5. 11J-Josiah Lopez[6]; 6. 5S-Sterling Judy[5]; 7. 26S-Sage Luther[7]; 8. 74N-jason nelssen[9]; 9. 70-Jeremie Myers[10]; 10. V8-Billy Vodicka[12]; 11. 9Z-Ethan Zweygardt[11]; 12. 18D-Dallas Chambers[8]; 13. 318-Hayden Howard[14]; 14. 38C-Zach Craig[18]; 15. 43-Josh Buser[16]; 16. 7M-Sam McCune[15]; 17. (DNF) 20-Warren Huffman[17]; 18. (DNF) 4-CJ Pfannenstiel[19]; 19. (DNS) 21G-Jeff Goodaker; 20. (DNS) 141-Brady Skrdlant
53 entries
Advantage Auto Glass IMCA Stock Cars
Championship Feature (30 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart[6]; 2. 83-Jeff Ware[3]; 3. 48-Brock Beeter[1]; 4. 55-Tyler Frye[15]; 5. J10-Johnny Yutterman[23]; 6. 38-Quinton Yutterman[18]; 7. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[22]; 8. 711-Dylan Holt[20]; 9. 6-Justin Kinderknecht[5]; 10. 14JR-Tyler Barribo[11]; 11. 54P-Kyle Pfeifer[12]; 12. 1X-Bo Egge[14]; 13. 25X-Troy Burkhart[9]; 14. 37J-John Foley[21]; 15. 67W-Tim Watts[16]; 16. 3C-Chris Oliver[24]; 17. 3Y-Cole Younger[19]; 18. 1C-Cody Ghumm[4]; 19. (DNF) 10-Angel Munoz[2]; 20. (DNF) 19K-Kolby Stegman[8]; 21. (DNF) 9-Brendyn Nordyke[13]; 22. (DNF) 37X-Jeff Tubbs[10]; 23. (DNF) 96-Dillon Richards[17]; 24. (DQ) 16Z-Jeremy Zorn[7]
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (15 Laps): 1. 9-Brendyn Nordyke[2]; 2. 55-Tyler Frye[5]; 3. 96-Dillon Richards[3]; 4. 3Y-Cole Younger[1]; 5. 37J-John Foley[7]; 6. J10-Johnny Yutterman[12]; 7. 85-Robert Leonard[6]; 8. 34H-Doug Holzmeister[11]; 9. 3M-Eric Munoz[9]; 10. 49-Drew Miller[20]; 11. B21-Kyle Brennan[16]; 12. 91-Brad Labonte[15]; 13. 19D-Dylan Chambers[14]; 14. 53E-Tyler Easterday[13]; 15. (DNF) 71Z-Zach Lomasney[18]; 16. (DNF) 01-Jacob Wolsleben[4]; 17. (DNS) 12-Reed Payne; 18. (DNS) 43-Brian Calhoon; 19. (DNS) 24H-Chris Holle; 20. (DNS) 75-Zane Hansen; 21. (DNS) 76-Jason Davis
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (15 Laps): 1. 1X-Bo Egge[2]; 2. 67W-Tim Watts[4]; 3. 38-Quinton Yutterman[3]; 4. 711-Dylan Holt[1]; 5. 2X-Trevor Schmidt[5]; 6. 3C-Chris Oliver[10]; 7. 1-Hunter Vogan[6]; 8. 52T-Travis Baird[8]; 9. 63-Chris Vogan[7]; 10. 46-Josh Weekley[13]; 11. 55X-Mike Burian[12]; 12. 11A-Cole Egge[15]; 13. 11-Jason Dove[16]; 14. 24-Bob Chalupa[19]; 15. 19-Keith Stegman[11]; 16. 55P-A'Den Peterson[20]; 17. (DNF) 17-Calvin Davis[18]; 18. (DNS) 7-Bobby Eubanks; 19. (DNS) 19T-Tucker Shaver; 20. (DQ) 55Z-Zach Schultz[9]
33 entries
Mel Hambelton Ford IMCA Modifieds
Championship Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1T-Robbie Thome[2]; 2. 08-Dakota Sproul[7]; 3. 7-Clay Money[3]; 4. 3D-Daniel Gottschalk[5]; 5. 0-Kyle Rohleder[8]; 6. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[14]; 7. 3B-Eddie Belec[1]; 8. 66D-Dylan Sherfick[4]; 9. 14G-Greg Gustus[12]; 10. 77-Cody Williams[18]; 11. 14-Tony Acierno[10]; 12. 09B-Brett Berry[6]; 13. 24-Corey Lagroon[24]; 14. 12A-Ayden Steffens[13]; 15. 7N-William Nusser[15]; 16. 28-John Burrow[19]; 17. 43-Kaid Calhoon[21]; 18. 91C-Derrick Sprott[11]; 19. 70-Brad Morris[9]; 20. 7R-Paxton Dody[23]; 21. 28C-Austin Caruthers[17]; 22. (DNF) 24C-Cale Lagroon[22]; 23. (DNF) 7B-Curtis Barnes[20]; 24. (DNS) 22B-Dalton Bell
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12A-Ayden Steffens[1]; 2. 7N-William Nusser[3]; 3. 28C-Austin Caruthers[10]; 4. 28-John Burrow[5]; 5. 43-Kaid Calhoon[2]; 6. 7R-Paxton Dody[4]; 7. 9D-Dalton Murphy[6]; 8. 54-Carson Lang[9]; 9. 27-Grant Florence[7]; 10. 33-Jason Ward[8]; 11. 5W-Lance Ward[11]
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (15 Laps): 1. 17J-Jeremy Frenier[1]; 2. 22B-Dalton Bell[2]; 3. 77-Cody Williams[4]; 4. 7B-Curtis Barnes[3]; 5. 24C-Cale Lagroon[6]; 6. 24-Corey Lagroon[7]; 7. 04-Jim Sikes Jr[10]; 8. 74-Dewain Coleman[5]; 9. (DNS) 52-Cliff Shepard; 10. (DNS) 14B-Brandon Fisher
Comments