2004 NEWS

8/8/04

SALINA, Kan. -- The NCRA-O’Reilly Auto parts 360 Sprint cars thundered into Salina Speedway Saturday night with JD Johnson of Goddard taking the top honors. Johnson was 25 in the series point race coming into Saturday’s event when he swept the heat and A feature. Luke Cranston led the opening lap and Johnson took over on the second lap. Johnson was in control until lap 26 when CJ Johnson briefly led the race. Mike Peters finished second and Dereck Drown finished third. CJ Johnson, JD Johnson and Cranston won the heat races.

Squirt Betzner led the early laps of the IMCA Modified A feature before Belleville’s Darrick Klima took the lead on lap 3. Klima held off a hard charge by Corey Lagroon who finished second. Betzner finished third. Betzner won the Pro Motor Sports heat 1. The Belleville Motorsports heat 2 went to Jeff Dame, Wes Obannon took the Pit Stop Liquor heat 3. Bob Loveless won heat 4 sponsored by Salina Engine and Pepsi 5th heat went to Scott Phillips.

Robert Shepard led all the way to take the first qualifying feature followed by Kenny Cross and Ron Dauer. The second qualifier went to Brad Morris. Rick Dauer was second and Jerry Breeden, Jr. was third.

Ryan Riarden led the super stock A feature until lap 7 when he lost power giving the lead to Troy Davis of Salina. Davis held on for the victory with Bobby Arnold second and Jeff Hilt, third. Curtis Barnes, Danny Morrison and Hilt were the heat winners.

Jason Caldwell of Salina led the opening lap of the IMCA Hobby Stock A feature then John Berry brought out the red flag when he rolled his car in turn 3 as cars were racing three wide into the turn. Barry was able to make the restart but managed a 12th place finish. Tony Slothower of Salina mounted a challenge for the lead on lap 5 and he took control on lap 7. Slothower held on for the checkered flag with Dustin Forsberg second and Tony’s brother, Rick Slothower third. Heat winners were Caldwell and Forsberg.

The 360 modifieds and the mini stocks did not race Saturday. They will return when all 5 regular classes compete next Saturday.

 

 

7/10/04

SALINA, Kan. -- 120 cars signed in for competition Saturday night at Salina Speedway for the Pepsi Mid-Season Point Championships. The car count was the largest of the 2004 season with 25 races run during the evening. The field included 46 IMCA modifieds with only 21 of those making the A feature. Tim Echecarria of Junction City held the lead for the entire 20 laps holding off close challenges by Brad Morris and Darrick Klima. At one point the three were running 3 wide down the backstretch. Morris finished second and Klima was third.

Rick Dauer led all the way to take the first of 3 qualifying features. Joe Cleveland finished second and Joe Cleveland was third. Scott Phillips took the second qualifier ahead of Ron Dauer and Chad Blockolsky. Jeff Welsh took the Third qualifier followed by Mark Abell and Bob Loveless. Heat winners were Justin Murdock, Klima, Gary Clements, Morris, Larry Sutton and Corey Lagroon.

Bobby Arnold of Salina led all the way to win the Super Stock A feature. Curtis Barnes was second and Warren Huffman was third. Troy Davis, Warren Huffman, and Nick Watts were the heat winners. Davis and Danny Morrison are tied for the mid-season point lead.

Craig Colgin of Canton took top honors in the 360 modified division with Jeff Welsh second and John Cragg, third. Heat winners were Don Morris, Welsh, and Grady Fielder.

B.J. Dauer of Marquette continued his winning ways in The IMCA Hobby Stock A feature. John Berry led the early going until lap 7 when a 3-way race developed between Berry, Dauer and Scott Granzella. Dauer took control on lap 8 and held on for the win. Brent Fielder was second and Granzella was third. Heat winners were Dustin Forsberg, Dauer, and Granzella.

David Weber of Delphos swept the mini stock division leading all he way to take the A feature. Jeff Dame was second and Daryl Brunsell was third. Heat winners were Brunsell and Weber.

The 410 cu. in. Outlaw Sprint Cars invade the Salina Speedway next Saturday night. The race is part of a challenge tour featuring the NCRA- O’Reilly Auto Parts Outlaws and the Sprint Car Owners of Arizona. Racing Begins at 7:30pm.

 

6/12/04
Woodruff sweeps NCRA 360 Sprints

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- The NCRA O’Reilly Auto Parts 360 Sprint Cars blew into Salina Speedway like the stiff wind that brought cooler temperatures Saturday night. Mike Woodruff of Santanta swept the division by winning the second heat race and the A feature. Woodruff led all the way in the 25-lap feature. He was followed by Steve King until lap 8 when King spun in turn 2. Luke Cranston finished second and Shane Howard was third. C.J. Johnson, Woodruff and King were the heat winners.

Jeremy Petty of Smolan led the IMCA Modified A feature until he crossed the line with 2 laps to go. A puff of white smoke came from the engine and he was out of the race. That allowed Darrick Klima of Belleville to take the lead and the victory. Bob Loveless finished second and Brian Knoell finished third. Dean Brungardt led all the way to win the first qualifying feature followed by Knoell and Gary Clements. Ron Dauer took the other qualifier followed by Lauren Dauer and Corey Lagroon. Dustin Huehl, Rick Dauer, Mark Abell and Klima were the heat winners.

Clements and Lagroon are now tied for the lead in the IMCA Modified point standings with 227. Knoell is 1 point behind with 226. Robert Shepard has 214 and Jeff Welsh has 211.

Tom Hilt of Lindsborg swept the super stock division. After winning the third heat race he led all the way to take the A feature. Danny Morrison, Jr. finished second and Warren Huffman was third. Huffman, Jeff Hilt and Tom Hilt were the heat winners.

Danny Morrison leads the super stock point rate with 254 followed by a tie for second between Troy Davis and Huffman with 247. Curtis Barnes has 217 and Mike Dungy has 212.

John Berry led the early going in the IMCA hobby stock A feature until John Krenowicz rolled in turn 4 bringing out the red flag. Krenowicz was not hurt. Brent Fielder of Chapman used the restart to take then lead while Berry and Rick Slothower raced for second. Scott Granzella made a move on the final lap and took second and Slothower finished third. Fielder, Granzella, and B.J. Dauer were the heat winners. Dauer leads the point race with 271 followed by Slothower with 256, Troy Wachsnicht with 250, Dustin Forsberg with 247 and Granzella with 246.

The mini stock and 360 modified classes had the night off. All 5 classes will return to action Saturday night at 7:30.

 

6/5/04
Phillips leads all they way to win IMCA Mod feature at Salina

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- The super stock division took center stage Saturday night at Salina Speedway for the annual Garry Abel memorial race. Abel raced for years in the super stock division. Mike Dungy of Manhattan took the lead on lap 9 of the 20 lap A feature and held on for victory while Jeff Hilt, Shannon Johnson and Travis Hoppes raced for second. Hilt made his move on the final lap to take second with Johnson finishing third. Clark Fritz, Tom Hilt and Hoppes were the heat winners.

Danny Morrison leads the super stock point standings with 219 followed by Troy Davis with 213, Warren Huffman with 209, Curtis Barnes with 184 and Nick Watts with 177.

Scott Phillips of Salina led all the way to win the IMCA Modified A feature but not without a stiff challenge from Jerry Breeden, Jr. on the last lap. The two crossed the finish line side by side with Phillips just a bumper ahead. Josh Loveless finished third and Bran Morris was fourth. Larry Sutton led all the way to win the first qualifying feature followed by Roger Peck and Loren Dauer. Jeff Welsh took the second qualifier with Robert Shepard second and Mark Abel third. Heat winners were Loveless, Morris, Joe Cleveland, Corey Lagroon and Breeden.

Gary Clements moved into the lead in the IMCA modified point standings with 195 followed by Lagroon with 194, Brian Knoell with 188, Shepard with 185 and Breeden with 183.

Jeff Welsh drove to victory in the 360 modified division followed by Gary Rholoff, Jr., and John Stroh. Danny Copeland and Rob Bramlage won the heat races. Rholoff leads the point standings with 190, Welsh has 187, Craig Colgin has 181, Stroh has 180 and John Cragg has 177.

Brent Fielder led the IMCA Hobby Stock A feature until he spun on lap 10 to give the lead to B.J. Dauer of Marquette. Dauer took the checkered flag followed by Troy Wachnicht, and Fielder. Scott Cossel and Fielder were the heat winners. Dauer leads the point standings with 234 followed by Dustin Forsberg with 221, Tony Slothower with 220, Wachsnicht with 216 and Scott Granzella with 207.

Marty Miller of Bennington took top honors in the Mini stocks A feature followed by B.J. Halpain and Jeanie Rodie. David Weber, Miller and Halpain were the heat winners. Halpain leads the point standings with 181 followed by Shawn James with 176, Rodie with 174, Mitch Rupert with 165 and Miller and Troy Wente tied at 159.

The NFTRA motorcycles will see action again on Friday night. The 360 Modified and Mini stocks will take the night off on Saturday as the NCRA O’Riley auto parts 360 Sprint Car Series comes to Salina Speedway.

 

5/22/04
Cross sweeps IMCA Modifieds at Salina

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- Kenny Cross of Salina moved from third to the lead following a restart on lap 13 of the 20 lap IMCA Modified A feature Saturday night at Salina Speedway. Cross held off challenges by Bob Loveless to take the victory. Loveless was second and Larry Sutton was third. Brian Knoell led all the way to take the first qualifying feature followed by Rick Dauer and Joe Cleveland. The second qualifier went to Robert Shepard who took the lead from Dean Brungardt on lap 8. Brungardt finished second and Bran Morris was third. IMCA Modified heat winners were Bob Loveless, Wes Obannon, Corey Lagroon, Cross and Josh Loveless.

Lagroon leads the point standings with 143 followed by Knoell with 133, Shepard with 127, Gary Clements 125, and Cleveland, 119.

Twenty-four cars started the super stock A feature but attrition came early as several cars tabgled on the first lap in turn 2. On the second try Kevin Reynolds hit the wall out of turn 4 and collect Tim Talbert and Jim Stolzenberg. Travis Hoppes took the lead and held off Kelly Dunn Jeff Hilt and Ryan Rairden. Rairden and Hilt ran side by side for second on lap 9 then Rairden moved in front on lap 10. Hilt moved to second and challenged Rairden for the top spot. Danny Morrison moved into third. Riarden took the checkered flag followed by Hilt and Morrison.

Super stock heat winners were Stolzenberg, Warren Huffman and Hilt. Morrison leads the point race with 153, just 1 point ahead of Warren Huffman with 152. Troy Davis is third with 140, Mike Dungy has 135 and Danny Morrison Jr. has 134.

Grady Fielder of Chapman led all the way to take the 360 modified A feature followed by Jeff Welsh and John Stroh. Welsh and Fielder were the heat winners. Gary Rholoff Jr. leads the point standings with 115 followed by Stroh with 111, Welsh with 108, Ken Berry and Craig Colgin are tied with 107.

Dustin Forsberg of Salina took the lead on the 6 lap and held on for victory in the IMCA Hobby stock A feature. Scott Granzella held on for the second place spot and Rick Slothower was third. John Berry and Scott Cossel were the heat winners. B.J. Dauer leads the point standing with 154 followed by Forsberg with 148, Tony Slothower with 147, Troy Wachsnicht with 142 and Granzella with 141.

Troy Wente of Salina led all the way to take the mini stock A feature. The race was halted on lap 6 when Steve Baker hit the wall coming out of turn 4 and rolled. He was not injured. A 3-way race developed for second between Shawn James, Marty Miller and B.J. Halpain. James took second and Miller was third. Mini stock heat winners were Halpain, Jeanie Rodie and Stacey Fuller. Halpain leads the point standings with 117 followed by Daryl Brinsell with 111, James with 109, Mitch Rupert with 104 and Rodie with 103.

 


5/15/04
Five classes return to action at Salina Speedway

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- All 5 regular classes returned to action Saturday night at Salina Speedway for the first time in a month. 2 rainouts and a late model special last week kept the mini stocks and the 360 modifieds from racing. 108 cars were on hand as the speedway celebrated Armed forces night and welcomed the Kansas Cagerz professional basketball team as special guests.

The racetrack stayed tacky throughout the program making for some very fast and close racing. Lauren Dauer jumped into the lead of the IMCA modified A feature. Randy Wilson of Wichita took the lead on lap 6 while Dauer, Jeff Welsh and Steve Burch battled closely for second. Dauer spun around in turn 4 on lap 8 but was able to recover. Welsh and Burch kept the pressure on Wilson. Welsh was running second when he lost power on the backstretch of the final lap. Wilson took the checkered flag followed by Burch and Robert Shepard.

Joe Cleveland took the lead on lap 4 of the first IMCA modified qualifying feature and held on for the win ahead of Corey Lagroon and Jeff Dame. Shepard passed Rick Rogers on lap 9 to take the lead in the second qualifier. Gary Clements finished second and Rogers was third. Heat winners were Larry Sutton, Sammy Brittendahl, Burch and Lauren Dauer. Rick Dauer had an exciting moment in the third heat race when he flipped his car coming out of turn 4 of the first lap. He was not injured.

Lagroon leads the IMCA Modified point standings with 111 followed by Shepard with 101, Brian Knoell with 98, Joe Cleveland with 96 and Gary Clements with 95.

Warren Huffman of Salina moved through the pack to take the super stock A feature and a sweep in the division. Mike Dungy led the early going then Ryan Rairden took over on lap 6. Huffman took the lead for good on lap 12. Danny Morrison was second and Rairden was third. Heat winners were Huffman, Jeff hilt and Dungey.

Huffman holds a 1-point lead in the super stock point race with 116. Danny Morrison is second with 115. Troy Davis has 106, Dungey 100 and Danny Morrison, Jr. has 97.

John Cragg of Manhattan led all the way to win the 360 modified A feature. Gary Bradford was second and Gary Rohloff, Jr. was third. Ken Berry and Jason Erbert were the heat winners. Rohloff leads the point standings with 78 followed by Craig Colgin with 75. John Stroh has 73, Berry, 71 and Bradford, 70.

B.J. Dauer or Marquette scored his third consecutive A feature victory in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. Dauer passed John Berry, who had led from the green flag, on the last lap. Berry finished second and Tony Slothower was third. Slothower and Scott Granzella were the heat winners. Dauer leads the point standings with 120. Slothower is second with 110. Dustin Forsberg has 108, Tray Wachnighht with 106 and Normandin 104.

B.J. Halpain of Salina swept the mini stock division after taking the lead on lap 10 of the A feature. Mitch Rupert was second and Anthony Engling was third. Halpain and Daryl Brunsell were the heat race winners. Halpain has the lead in the point race with 80- followed by Brunsell has 76, Engling, 74, Ropers, 71 and Shawn James, 70.

 

5/8/04
Huehl wins IMCA Modified feature at Salina

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- Salina Speedway returned to action after two consecutive rainouts Saturday Night. Bennington’s Dustin Huehl drove to a sweep in the IMCA Modified division. Huehl jumped into the lead on the opening lap and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the race. Kenny Cross held second until he tangled with Bob Loveless on lap 10. That moved Joe Cleveland into second as Brian Knoell and Corey Lagroon battled for third. Lagroon held off the challenge as Cleveland took the second place spot and Lagroon was third.

Jerry Breeden, Jr. led all the way to take the first qualifying feature. A.J. Scott was second and Jeff Dame was third. Knoell took the second qualifier followed by Justin Murdock and Rick Rogers. Cross, Cleveland, Rick Dauer, Huehl and Lagroon were the heat winners. Lagroon leads the IMCA Modified point standings with 78 followed by Knoell with 76, Mark Abell with 66, Gary Clements with 65 and Rick Dauer and Robert Shepard tied at 63.

Kelly Dunn of Salina led from flag to flag to take the Super stock A feature. Ryan Rairden mounted a challenge with 4 laps to go but he spun in turn 4 on the final lap. Danny Morrison finished second and Warren Huffman was third. Mike Dungy, Rairden and Morrison were the heat winners. Huffman and Morrison are tied for the lead in the super stock point standings with 76 points. Jim Bell is third with 75. Troy Davis and Dunn are tied for 4th with 70.

Tony Slothower maintained an early lead in the IMCA Hobby stock division as B.J. Dauer of Marquette moved up. Slothower held off the challenge until the white flag as the cars ran side by side. Dauer pulled into the lead on the final lap to take the checkered flag. Tony Slothower was second and Pat Huggins was third. Rick Slothower and Dustin Forsberg were the heat winners. Dauer leads the hobby stock point race with 80 followed by Dustin Forsberg with 74, Mark Normandine with 73, Tony Slothower with 72 and Troy Wachnicht with 71.

The Central Nebraska Circle Track association Late Models also competed Saturday night. Randy Hall led the A feature until lap 18 when he pulled out of the race. Eddie Moore of Milford, NE. was the winner followed by Travis Dickes, and Al Humphrey. Hall and Moore were the heat winners and Hall won the pole dash.
 

4/17/04
115-car field opens season at Salina Speedway

by Basil Price
SALINA, Kan. -- Salina Speedway’s 2004 season opened with a car count of 115 racecars Saturday Night. The drivers competed in the 5 regular classes on the 3/8-mile clay oval.

Corey Lagroon of Salina took the lead on lap 4 of the IMCA Modified A feature and held on for the victory ahead of the 2003 point champion Brian Knoell and Jeff Welsh. Monty Albrecht led all the way to win the first qualifying feature followed by Darin Schartz and Clinton Gilmore. The second Qualifier went to Gary Clements followed by Robert Shepard and Darrick Klima. Tim Watts took the third qualifier followed by Ron Dauer and Joe Cleveland. IMCA Modified heat winners were Brad Morris, Jerry Phillips, Jerry Breeden, Jr., Randy Wilson, Knoell, and Welsh.

Jim Bell led the Super stock a feature until Kelly Dunn took advantage of lapped traffic on lap 18. Dunn then tangled with Mike O'Flannagen in turn 4 on the final lap. Danny Morrison, Jr. moved into the lead to take the checkered flag. Bell finished second and Warren Huffman was third. Dunn, Bell and Morrison, Jr. were the heat winners.

B.J. Dauer of Marquette swept the IMCA Hobby stock division winning the second heat and the A feature. Troy Wachsnicht finished second and Mark Normandin was third. Dustin Forsberg won the other heat race.

B.J. Halpain of Salina led all the way to sweep the mini stocks. Daryl Brunsell finished second and John McWhorter was third. The other heat races went to Jeanie Rodie and David Webber.

Gary Rholoff won the 360 modified A feature.