LEXINGTON, NE- The Red, White and Blue were prevalent all around Dawson County Raceway as competitors showcased their patriotism towards Veterans and all First Responders including tow truck crews during an actioned-packed evening of racing at Dawson County Raceway during Holbein Lawn Care and KLawn of Lexington night at the races on Sunday. Beaming with happiness as a result of winning their respective feature events were Tripp Gaylord, Jacob Olmstead, Jesse Sobbing, Zach Olmstead and Rileigh Flohrs.
It was all about the fives that came up golden for Tripp Gaylord of Lakewood, Colorado in winning the IMCA Modified Feature. Gaylord started in the fifth row and was able to take the lead on the fifth lap from early leader Bryan Herrick of Curtis and never look back on his way to the victory. A caution on lap 16, extinguished the cushion that Gaylord had built but it wasn’t a factor, as Gaylord continued to flourish on his way to the Chesterman’s Coca-Cola Winners Circle. Finishing strong during the final laps, the efforts of veteran wheelman Chuck Stryker of Eddyville were rewarded with a runner-up finish. The Eddyville-Flyer was able to stay among the lead group throughout the feature and took advantage of the late opportunities to score the podium finish. Continuing to gain confidence at Lexington, Trevor Geist of Yuma, Colorado saw his best finish of the season on Sunday evening with third place accolades being earned. Geist started on the inside of row two and was able to stay in that position from the onset until the checkered flag was waved. Brandon Clough of Wallace and Brandon Conkwright of Wamego, Kansas rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth place overall.
Taking just four laps to get to the front after starting in the fourth row at the onset, Jacob Olmstead of Overton was a man on a mission in winning the IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature. Olmstead was able to use his outside of the fourth row starting position to his advantage, as he was able to avoid early lap incidents to gain the lead. Once through the flurry of caution flags, Olmstead was able to run away and hide from the field to claim the victory in convincing fashion. Coming from deep in the field, Cade Richards of Lincoln, Nebraska was able to reap the benefits of his efforts with a runner-up finish. Following Richards it seems through traffic, Paul Donovan of McCook was able to cross the finish line in third place overall, after starting in the seventh row of the feature lineup at the onset. Ty Weidner of Chandler, Arizona and early leader Troy Bayne of North Platte were fourth and fifth place in the feature.
In one of the most exciting races of the evening, a pair of heavy hitters from Iowa duked it out for the lead and the win during the IMCA Stock Car feature. During the second half of the 20-lap feature, Jesse Sobbing of Malvern, Iowa and Harlan, Iowa wheel man Mike Nichols did battle. Getting the final pass that resulted in the victory was Jesse Sobbing, as he led the final four laps of the feature event after starting in the fifth row. The Harlan Hustler Mike Nichols was able to snatch the lead away from Sobbing for laps 15 and 16 before Sobbing went cat fishing around the bottom of the corners to regain the lead. Nichols was in a position that he would have driven into the lead if Sobbing would have bobbled, but he didn’t and Nichols would finish in second place overall. Developing into Mr. Consistency, Casey Woken of Norton, Kansas seems to always be around the leaders especially during the waning laps. Woken was able to avoid all incidents and score a third place finish after starting on the inside of row four when the green flag was dropped. Early leader Bo Egge of Kearney and Gibbon’s Robert Leonard crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth place overall.
Continuing to flourish behind the wheel of his hot rod, Zach Olmstead of Overton picked up his second straight IMCA Hobby Stock feature victory at Dawson County Raceway on Sunday evening. Not without a little competition chomping at the bit to make a drive for the lead during the waning laps. Coming from the fifth row starting position, one row further back that Olmstead, Awesome Luke Wassom of Broken Bow was able to ‘bob and weave’ through traffic to close the gap on Olmstead and put the pressure on the leader. Wassom was forced to settle with runner-up honors for his efforts. Leading the way from the drop of the green flag was Tanner Clough of Wallace before he relinquished the lead to Olmstead on lap seven. Clough was able to stay among the leaders to earn a third place finish. Coming home with top five accolades was Tyler Barribo of Grand Island and Nate Refior of Sutton in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Riding a wave of success, Rileigh Flohrs of Blue Hill continued his winning streak as he claimed yet another IMCA Sport Compact Feature victory. Flohrs was able to use his outside starting spot to drive around the outside and use the cushion to his advantage to score the lead on the first lap and never look back to win the feature. Steve Moock of Grand Island was able to put the pressure on Flohrs for the lead throughout the spotlighted contest but wasn’t able to reel in Flohrs nor pass for the lead and settled for runner-up accolades. Kaden Dady of North Platte saw his efforts get rewarded with a third place finish, after starting in the third row when the green flag was dropped. Robert Clanton of Oxford and Lonnie Lenser Jr. of Valentine were able to round out the top five finishers in the feature.
Coming up on Sunday, August 16th, the Dawson County Raceway will host a Kids Back to School Night at the races. General Admission gates open at 3 p.m. with racing slated to get started at 6 p.m.
(Unofficial Results)
--IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 77t-Tripp Gaylord; 2. 19-Chuck Stryker; 3. 10t-Trevor Geist; 4. 20b-Brandon Clough; 5. 24c-Brandon Conkwright; 6. 10g-Don Geist; 7. 50c-Colton Osborn; 8. 12a-Ayden Steffens; 9. 848-Troy Douglas; 10. 0hp-Bryan Herrick.
--IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 88j-Jacob Olmstead; 2. 1r-Cade Richards; 3. 1-Paul Donovan; 4. Z28-Ty Weidner; 5. 2-Troy Bayne; 6. 68-Craig Howard; 7. 15d-Jacob Slough; 8. 69-Adam Kackmeister; 9. 69z-Zane Turner; 10. 8-Andrew Rayburn.
--IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 99-Jesse Sobbing; 2. 63-Mike Nichols; 3. 35jw-Casey Woken; 4. 1x-Bo Egge; 5. 85-Robert Leonard; 6. 11k-Kyle Clough; 7. 16w-Jeff Whiting; 8. 71-Andrew Dillenburg; 9. 5d-Travis Demilt; 10. 19-Dana Morgan.
--IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 98z-Zach Olmstead; 2. 2w-Luke Wassom; 3. 20-Tanner Clough; 4. 14jr-Tyler Barribo; 5. R89-Nate Refior; 6. 12t-Tanner Jones; 7. 99m-Allyn Myers; 8. 45r-Riley Kort; 9. 72b-Jacob Hagan; 10. 5-Chuck Ledbetter.
--IMCA Sport Compact Feature: 1. 14-Rileigh Flohrs; 2. 56-Steve Moock; 3. 84d-Kaden Dady; 4. 74x-Robert Clanton; 5. L2-Lonnie Lenser Jr., 6. 47L-John Lee; 7. 29e-Justin Schmidt; 8. 7c-Chad Carlson; 9. 11x-Angela Witherwax; 10. 93-Jessica Egri.