Dodge City Raceway Park

Easy Weather, Tough Competition
by Ami K. Claussen, Track Press

Milder weather was much enjoyed by everyone attending the races at DCRP Saturday night, though the event itself was quickly over to allow racers to make both the DCRP and Jetmore shows.

A different arrangement of the standard line-up had the Modifieds rolling onto the track first, in just two heats. B21 (Chadd Brown, Great Bend) shot to the front, 98 (Danny Keller, Dodge City) on his tail. Keller stole the lead on the low side, but enjoyed a short run as the caution came out for a spin off turn two by 13 (Mitch Bergkamp, Meade). Brown led on the restart, and Keller again took the lead down low, followed by the 0 (David Brock, Great Bend). Keller skated high into turn four, allowing Brock to get by for a lead change. Keller tried to fight back, side by side through the turns, but Brock pulled away for a nice lead and the win. Heat two had 210 (Clay Oakes, Dodge City) as the early leader, as 03 (Matt Rucker, Dodge City) charged to the second spot on the outside. 21z (Mark Zorn, Russell) joined the fight for second, door to door with Rucker. 70 (Kevin Maloney, Dodge City) spun off turn two, and 83 (Zach Woods, Wichita) got sideways into turn three as the field was late in slowing. Oakes led on the restart, but Zorn, looking high, took the lead going into turn four. Rucker challenged Oakes for second on the white flag lap, and got by him on the front stretch. Zorn grabbed the win.

The Pure Stocks ran next, 17 (William Price, Meade) with ajump on the field. 31 (Raymond Blackburn, Dodge City) got by on the back stretch, while 82 (Robin Bailey, Dodge City) grabbed third. Price got into the rear bumper of Bailey, spun her off turn three, and, unable to slow, 80 (Travis Figger, Dodge City) plowed into her left front. Blackburn led on the restart, the 58 (David parker, Cimarron) by Price on the inside of turn one. Blackburn took the win.

The Super Stocks took the oval in two heats, 66 (Tim Loomis, Tyrone, OK) the pace setter for heat one. 27 (Trent Armstrong, Holcomb) was snug on Loomis' bumper, but Loomis pulled away. 4 (Scott Claussen, St. John) shot by Holcomb on the back straight-away to grab the second spot. Holcomb tried to nose low, and almost spun Claussen off of four, but cagey-Claussen held on tight. While Claussen and Holcomb continued to circle each other in a battle for second, Loomis grabbed a big lead, and the checkered. Heat two started with a battle for the lead between 57 (Joel Lane, Ulysses) and 76 (Jamie French, Hugoton). French just squeezed by, and set a furious pace Lane couldn't mactch. French crossed the line several seconds ahead of the field.

The Street Stocks, as usual, turned their heats into a heavy metal boxing match. 46 (Cole Wilson, Dodge City) grabbed the early lead, but 22 (Brandon Nau, Spearville) was quickly by on the lowside. The 97 (Justin Weil, Dodge City) was in hot pursuit, by Wilson and sights set on Nau. With not enought laps left on the board to lessen the lead, Weil crossed the line second to Nau's win. 69 (Danny Schulte, Dodge City) jumped ahead, the 15 (Ben Gordon, Cimarron) and the 18 (Chris Schultz, Dodge City) vying for second. Schultz held the spot on the low side, as 12 (Tyler Kraus, Ransom) challenged the mix for third. Schulte spun off two for caution one, and Schultz led on the restart. Kraus went to work on the high side, and grabbed the lead on the outside of four. Kraus widened a big lead for the win.

The Modifieds, usually the grand finale, led the Feature line-up as well. Brown was off the blocks first, but Keller got by on the inside as the field balled up behind them. Rucker slid by both on the high side for the lead, Brock in tow for second. Rucker widened a good lead as the pack spread out to run single file. Brown spun off turn three for the first caution. Rucker set the pace on the restart, and held off a determined charge by Brock for the win.

Blackburn shot to the front at the drop of the green flag as the Pure Stock Feature got underway, Price and Bailey up to second and third. Bailey tried to take second on the inside, and pulled ahead on the off-side of turn one. Debris was detected on the track, and the caution flag was out. Blackburn led on the restart, the 57 (Chad Kelley, Dodge City) by on the highside to take the third spot from Price. Bailey struggled to catch Blackburn, and lost second to Kelley on the white flag lap. Price spun, halting the race to the checkered. The race resumed with a green/white/checkered finish, Bailey restarting ahead of Kelley. Kelley tried to regain the spot on the outside of the back stretch, and scuffed the wall in the process. Bailey held until Kelley spun her racing to the line. Blackburn grabbed the win.

Next up, the Super Stocks got busy with an early battle between French and Loomis. Loomis pulled ahead as the caution came out for a spin on the back stretch by the 18 (Brian Peterson, Dodge City), and the stalled 20h (Hunter Humbree, Great Bend) on the inner track. Loomis led on the restart, French battling to keep Lane at bay. French tried on the inside, but was thwarted as the caution flew again for another spin by Peterson. Loomis set the pace on the restart, the field barely up to speed before Peterson lost control once more. Just off the restart, Armstrong got loose and spun off turn three for caution four. The second green/white/checkered of the evening, Loomis set the pace, and, untouchable, took the checkered.

Schulte kick-started the action with the jump as the Street Stocks went four wide into turn two. Nau stole the lead as Schulte, in trouble on the back stretch, came to a dead stop off three. Nau led on the restart with Schultz in second, the front three wide as Gordon and Weil joined the chase. Weil, loose off turn three, got into the wall for caution two. Nau led on the restart, Kraus by Schultz on the high side for second. Wilson spun, and the caution flag was out for a third time. As the field came around for the restart, Schulte spun for caution four. Nau brought the field 'round again, and immediately Kraus was on his bumper to slide by on the inside. Nau refused to go quietly, and battled Kraus while held off Schultz. Wilson spun again, off turn three and into the wall, for caution five. The battle resumed between Kraus, Schultz and Nau. 29r (Tom Rosedahl, Lacrosse) had worked steadily up to the front, and got by Nau on the low side as Nau scuffed the back stretch wall. Kraus widened his gap, and, coming to the white flag lap, Nau cut a left front tire. He never lifted, but Kraus sealed the win three spots ahead.

The action is clearly just heating up at DCRP. Don't miss a minute of what's to come! Information is available at the DCRP website www.dodgecityraceway.com. See you on the dirt!