October third was historic

Saturday night October 3rd will go down as one of the most fun nights of racing of the year.  Stocktober will return next year we just hope the Sun follows it.  Not only was it cloudy and cold but the moisture in the air made you feel like it was football weather - not racing weather.  Track conditions were too wet to rubber up the track but it was fast and racey.

The 50 Lap Stock Car Main Event was broken down to two 25 lap features.  This tightened up the group and also gave teams a chance to do repairs to their cars.  We had the asphalt track lined with pit stalls and drivers would pull into the pits and then drive to their pit area and the crew would go to work.  Jacks and wrenches flying and tires rolling away it was exciting to watch as the pit crews flogged on the cars to get them back in the race. 

Jumping out in the lead in the 50 Lap race was then Brian Sauser came flying thru the pack and took the point.  He and Dustin Daniels from Colby would trade the lead several times – without trading paint.  They raced side by side many many laps only to have one or the other squeak by coming out of the corner.  Keeping their lines and not using each other for traction showed the finess these guys have in this class. 

Racing hard up thru the pack was a number of drivers, Randy Tipton in the last 15 or so laps came up and joined the dance with Sauser and Daniels but they picked up the pace and Tipton had to settle for third.  Sauser would not give up but Daniels had learned how to be smooth and finally put a car and maybe two car lengths at the finish. 

Overall the race was one of the best in the history of Dodge City.   Back in the pack guys like Alan Judy who usually runs up at the front drove right to the back clear back to 15th place and then struggled back to 7th place.  Cool track conditions had many searching for the answer to set up with the track way tackier than the last month it was so different that home track advantage went away fast. 

Chuck Taylor was another driver that showed promise and to be named in this elite group is good but seeing him charge to the front was worth the price of admission.  The most suprising ride of the night came from Mel Law.  Remember last week Mel took a tumble as he rolled his car down in Liberal after smacking the wall dealing with a lap car.  Well you would not have known anything was wrong with his car because he was making moves all through the laps to his finish posiiton of 5th place. 

During the interview Daniels said he loved the track and would be back to defend his title next year.  He also praised the way the other guys raced and especially Brian Sauser. 

The STOCKTOBER 100 Lap ENDURO was basically a Thunder Car Shootout but seriously there were some fast cars that were built for this and seeing those two guys driving the Cruiser Car was hysterical!  They were probably having the most fun of everyone. 

Starting up front Justin Schulte, Dalton Bauer,  Andy Barton, Jordan Randle, Jeremy Nix and  Rob Sellard were in a dog fight.  Nix in his trusty old Ford was in the lead then Sellard was in the lead for many laps, but a mechanical put both of them out.   Schulte lost some laps due to a flat tire after some bumpn then Bauer lost a tranny.  

So now the fight was between the big orange pumpkin the Lane County Flash Andy Barkton and the Krazy Jordan Randles.  It was MOPAR vs CHEVY and Jordan was on him like a shadow.  Sometimes Jordan would actually pull ahead but not for long as the big old Orange Dodge would hang it out just a little more.  Lap after Lap these two were battling it out maybe even closer than the Daniels / Sauser battle we had seen before.  

At 97 Laps they were so close you could have thrown a beach towel and it would have covered them both.  Side by side until the last corner and by a car length at the Checkers it was Barton who has won the last 4 races out of 5!   Randles gave it everything he had, just like always.  Schulte was third, Jay Simpson was fourth, and our old friend from the DC Speedway days Brian Habiger was fifth. 

The IMCA Modifieds were fun to watch.  Some were driving cars for the first time, just like Brad from BMI said to me today, ”Them things are a handfull,” and that came from a guy who drove race trucks and raced good!  Well up to the front went George Tyler and the Dodge City crowd was all smiles until Scott Brown from Great Bend blew past George.  Brown put some big distance right away on the rest of the modifieds.  He was hooked up and ’Had everything right,” he said.  Brown took his first win at DCRP Saturday and Tyler was second followed by Chuckie Taylor from Dodge in third and fourth was Chadd Brown (Scott’s brother) and then fifth was Chad Taylor.   

The Hornet winner was Cody Lampe.  The kid hit the big track like he was in a late model.  Smooth on the entry and hard and smooth out of the corner,  this kid needs someone to get him into a Thunder!  2009 Track Champion Brady Schulte looked like he had a mechanical right before he slammed the wall while in second place. 

It’s going to be 7 months til race season begins in mid May and these drivers that were here the last night were part of one of the greatest nights of racing to ever hit this area.