SALINA, Kan. — Mother Nature dropped a lot of moisture on Salina Speedway over the past 6 days. The crew did everything they could to get the track ready to go for Friday night’s races and with a full moon and Friday the 13th, anything was to be expected.
The BSB Manufacturing NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Models have been gaining in popularity lately. The division has been averaging 16 cars per race night over the past 3 races and one things has remained the same in 2 of the past 3 races, Darrick Klima.
Tracy Holloway took out to the early lead in the A Main from his pole position. Klima, on the other hand, started 9th and would have to get going early to keep pace with the front runners.
Klima was up to the task as he would click off the competition one at a time before finding himself at the front of the field.
It would take Klima a little longer to get win #3 on the season as Holloway would bicycle off the corner and a red flag situation would stop the A main. Once back to green flag racing it was all Klima for the 2nd week in a row.
The Iceman, Delbert Smith, started 12th in the feature and would finish in the runner up spot, the big mover of the night, Jill Roberg, came home 3rd after starting 16th in the main event, 4th was Daniel Smith and Shaylon Holloway rounded out the top 5.
BSB Manufacturing NeSmith Chevrolet Weekly Racing Series Late Model Heat Races were won by Klima, Daniel Smith and Tracy Holloway.
It has been a few races since Brian Knoell ripped off 2 straight wins in the Belleville Motor Sports IMCA Modified ranks. After Friday night it appears that Knoell is back up on his A Game.
Joe Caldwell and Randy Wilson would bring the A Main to the green flag, but it wasn’t long before a battle that started in an early heat race between Knoell and Corey Lagroon would carry over into the feature.
Both Knoell and Lagroon would work their way up to the front of the field and the two would battle as Knoell reversed the finish from the heat race and took the top spot in the A Main. At the top spot he would battle with Lagroon and hold him off for his 3rd win of the season. It’s the most wins in the Modified division this season.
Mike Petersilie gave the fans a show by finishing 3rd after starting 16th on the feature, Danny Morrison Jr. finished in the 4th position and coming in 5th was Van Gemmill.
Belleville Motor Sports IMCA Modified Heat Races were won by Wilson, Lagroon and Morrison.
It was a trifecta in the AutoHouse Towing Mod Lite feature event.
Danny Morrison Jr. and Justin Kinderknecht have dominated this division in 2014. It can be a misleading stat. Yes, they both tend to win a lot but there is a lot of action going on each time these mighty mites hit the track.
On Friday night Morrison would sprint to his 3rd feature win of the season and yes it was his 3rd win in a row. As a matter of fact it was his 6th consecutive win of the season as he has won 3 straight at Salina Speedway and 3 straight at other area tracks.
Trey Morgan was the early leader of the main event. Will Morgan and Mike Zrubek set the pace for the green, but Morgan got the early advantage.
Morgan did everything he could to stay up front, but the horses were coming.
Morrison would get to the lead after a caution on lap 3, but it would be Brandon Gray who would get by Morrison 3 laps later looking to unseat the hot driver, Morrison.
It wouldn’t go the way Gray wanted it to. Morrison would get back by Gray for the lead and motored on to the victory.
Gray wouldn’t be done battling as Justin Kinderknecht would give Gray another test and it would be Kinderknecht getting by for the 2nd place finish, Gray would settle for 3rd, 4th went to Morgan and Earl Kinderknecht found a 5th place finish on the night.
AutoHouse Towing Mod Lite Heat Race winners were Morgan and Kinderknecht.
One thing that is evident at Salina Speedway is all the passing that goes on. Very little do you see a driver start up front and finish up front. In the M&H Motors IMCA Northern Sport Mod division there was a ton of passing going on Friday night. As a matter of fact, Friday night’s feature winner had to come through the B Feature to get into the A Main.
Tyler Frye, who is one of the strongest Sport Mod drivers around, was looking to add to his win total for 2014. Frye worked his way to the point after starting the feature 11th. It looked as if he was going to pick off his 2nd win of the season, but Daniel Gottschalk was on the move from his 14th place starting spot as was Austin Carter, who started the feature in the 13th spot.
Frye would hold on to the lead until lap 10. Gottschalk and Carter would go by as the two worked their way to the front of the pack.
Gottschalk would stay in the top spot and finish first. It would be his first win of the season. In just 5 features this season the Sport Mods have produced 4 different winners. A stat that shows just how competitive this division is. Another stat worth noting is that the top 3 cars all started no closer than the 6th row for the feature. Impressive.
Frye would get back around Carter and finish 2nd, Carter settled for the 3rd position, 4th went to Kurtis Pihl and Clay Money rolled in at 5th.
The B Feature winner on the night was Carter.
M&H Motors IMCA Northern Sport Mod Heat Race winners were Nate Ginest, Brenden Damon and Money.
It was wild and wooly finish in the Budweiser IMCA Hobby Stock class.
Just like the Sport Mods, the Hobby Stocks had a lot of passing in their main event too. The top 4 drivers in this division started no better than 7th on the grid.
It would take 5 races for a driver to repeat win in the class. Mike Traskowsky picked up his 2nd win of the season on Friday night after all the dust settled.
Traskowksy, who picked up a win on race night #2, drove his way from 10th to win feature number 2 on the season.
Aaron McBride finished 2nd, 3rd would be Tony Slothower, a post race DQ of Pete Beaumont would put Tommy Shomaker in 4th and Kelly Pihl brought home another top 5 finish on the season.
Budweiser IMCA Hobby Stock Heat Races were won by Beaumont and Traskowsky.
Another stat to note, a whopping total of 94 cars checked in to race on Friday night.
Racing action continues at Salina Speedway again next Friday night, June 20th!
Racing gets underway with Hot laps at 7:15 p.m. and heat races shortly after that.
Adult admission is $10, with kids 15 & under FREE with paid adult. All seniors 55 and up are HALF PRICE with ID. All active & retired military are FREE with appropriate ID as well! Pit passes are $25.
Fans wanting to get the 411 on Salina Speedway just need to stay logged in to their home on the world wide web at https://www.racesalinaspeedway.com. As fans visit the site take a look at the 2014 schedule to see what classes are running, great stories and results and sign up for the Text & Email Blasts! You can also like their Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/SalinaSpeedway or Follow on Twitter @SalinaSpeedway1.