Lonnie Wheatley, DODGE CITY, Kan. (July 26, 2013) – It was all Goddard, KS, shoe J.D. Johnson in the 25-lap United Rebel Sprint Series feature that capped Friday’s Fire & Safety / EMS Appreciation Night at Dodge City Raceway Park as he led the final 23 rounds en route to his first series win of the year.
While Johnson drove to victory lane after a late bid from Brian Herbert, Troy Gemmill picked up IMCA Modified honors, Austin Walker nabbed another United Wireless IMCA Sport Modified triumph and Michael Pepper bested the IMCA Stock Car ranks.
Starting the URSS feature outside the second row, Johnson battled past front row outside starter Kris Miller to take command by the third round with third-row starters Brian Herbert and Jake Bubak making their way into second and third, respectively, by the seventh round.
Herbert tried to mount a challenge for the point when action resumed following a red flag after 18 laps. Johnson fought off the bid and raced on to the checkered flag as 13th-starter Luke Cranston nipped Herbert at the line for runner-up honors.
Bubak was fourth, was C.J. Johnson edging Zac Taylor at the line to round out the top five. Steven Richardson raced from 17th to seventh, with Tyler Knight, Jared Kern and Keefe Hemel completing the top ten.
The URSS feature was interrupted by a pair of cautions in the initial dozen circuits as Jordan Weaver got into the turn four wall after six laps and points leader Ray Seemann came to a stop with a broken front end after 11 rounds.
The red flag flew after 18 laps when Richie Dewell got upside down in turn two in an incident that sidelined June 29 DCRP winner Taylor Velasquez as well while battling for position among the top five.
Under that red flag, Jason Martin was forced pitside with overheating issues after rallying from 12th to third.
Kris Miller, Velasquez, Johnson and Seemann topped heat race action for the 29-car URSS field with Jordan Weaver and Jason Martin winning the “B” Mains.
After surviving an opening lap melee that eliminated a handful of cars, Troy Gemmill raced on to his second 20-lap IMCA Modified feature win of the year at DCRP.
While Gemmill started the feature tenth, the initial attempt was waved off when a car looped it in turn three and collected another half dozen cars.
Back under way, Jared Baird gunned into the lead from the pole position with Gemmill working up to second by the fifth lap. Gemmill reeled in Baird, putting the pressure on and quickly capitalizing when Baird bobbled and opened the door on the low side exiting turn four on the eighth round.
Gemmill checked out and raced on to the checkered flag with a straightaway advantage over Baird with “B” Main winner Kevin Gray claiming the show position. Jesse Smith advanced from “B” Main action as well to earn fourth with Kale Beavers rounding out the top five.
Austin Walker became the first driver to earn three DCRP feature wins in 2013 by holding off a late bid from Clay Sellard in the 20-lap United Wireless IMCA Sport Modified main event.
After starting fifth, Walker made his way past Jason Lunow for the point on the fourth lap. After surviving a string of four cautions in the initial ten laps, Walker led the way in front of Sellard, who moved into second on the tenth round after starting ninth.
Sellard closed in and pulled alongside Walker as the white flag flew. Walker fought off the bid, edging back into the lead down the backstretch and surging to the checkered flag two car-lengths ahead of Sellard. Matthew Crowell was third, with Bart Baker and Lunow rounding out the top five.
Michael Pepper survived a late caution in the 15-lap IMCA Stock Car feature to become the first repeat winner in nine events.
Pepper climbed from seventh to take the lead away from pole starter Mel Law on the third lap then held off Billy Phelps on the final green-white-checkered run to the stripe to secure the win. After Phelps bid for the win fell short, Matt O’Hair rallied on the final lap to edge Phelps at the line for second with Josh Crombie and Shane Tillery rounding out the top five.
Next up at Dodge City Raceway Park is the final two rounds of the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars Freedom Tour on Friday and Saturday, August 23-24, with IMCA Stock Cars and Thunder Cars in action on August 23 and then IMCA Modifieds and United Wireless IMCA Sport Modifieds on the August 24 card.
Dodge City Raceway Park
Fire & Safety / EMS Night July 26 Results:
URSS Sprint Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 33x-Kris Miller, 2. 1-Ty Williams, 3. 92-Jordan Weaver, 4. 007k-Jared Kern, 5. 86-Zac Taylor, 6. 83-Nick King, 7. 17x-Craig Jecha, 8. 0p-Brandon Sprott.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 112-Richie Dewell, 4. 33m-Jason Martin, 5. 20-Luke Cranston, 6. 0-Steven Richardson, 7. 12d-Steve Dalton.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 98-J.D. Johnson, 2. 77-Cody Caldwell, 3. 9x-Jake Bubak, 4. 80-Jerry Caldwell, 5. 9b-Darren Bowman, 6. 33-Koby Walters, 7. 15-Gavin Stout.
Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 72-Ray Seemann, 2. E85-C.J. Johnson, 3. 11k-Tyler Knight, 4. 11-Keefe Hemel, 5. 49-Kris Moore, 6. 24-Kade Hagans. DNS: 91-Christian Shriver.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 92-Jordan Weaver, 2. 20-Luke Cranston, 3. 11k-Tyler Knight, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 007k-Jared Kern, 6. 80-Jerry Caldwell, 7. 33-Koby Walters, 8. 17x-Craig Jecha, 9. 15-Gavin Stout, 10. 0p-Brandon Sprott.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 33m-Jason Martin, 2. 86-Zac Taylor, 3. 11-Keefe Hemel, 4. 9b-Darren Bowman, 5. 83-Nick King, 6. 49-Kris Moore, 7. 24-Kade Hagans, 8. 12d-Steve Dalton. DNS: 91-Christian Shriver.
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 98-J.D. Johnson, 2. 20-Luke Cranston, 3. 97-Brian Herbert, 4. 9-Jake Bubak, 5. E85-C.J. Johnson, 6. 86-Zac Taylor, 7. 0-Steven Richardson, 8. 11k-Tyler Knight, 9. 007k-Jared Kern, 10. 11-Keefe Hemel, 11. 77-Cody Caldwell, 12. 83-Nick King, 13. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 14. 112-Richie Dewell, 15. 33m-Jason Martin, 16. 1-Ty Williams, 17. 33x-Kris Miller, 18. 72-Ray Seemann, 19. 9b-Darren Bowman, 20. 92-Jordan Weaver.
IMCA Modifieds:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 18-Austin Allen, 2. 51-Pat McVicker, 3. 36-Travis Simmons, 4. 1n-Nick Link, 5. 22k-Brad Keller, 6. 9-Cole Traugott, 7. 3h-Ryan Heger, 8. 21-Van Gemmill, 9. 3c-Casey Jo Gemmill.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. B4-Jared Baird, 2. 7s-David Solberg, 3. 721-Troy Gemmill, 4. 98-Danny Keller, 5. 16-Kevin Gray, 6. G3-Brendon Gemmill, 7. 1m-Cody Gearhart, 8. A2-Randy Wilson.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 01x-Beau Davis, 2. 25-Kale Beavers, 3. 22T-Trent Gray, 4. 02-Tyler Wilson, 5. 88j-Jack Kirchoff, 6. 01-Jesse Smith, 7. 96jr-Jon Herring, Jr., 8. B21-Chadd Brown.
“B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 16-Kevin Gray, 2. 3h-Ryan Heger, 3. 1m-Cody Gearhart, 4. 22k-Brad Keller, 5. 01-Jesse Smith, 6. 96jr-Jon Herring, Jr., 7. 21-Van Gemmill, 8. 9-Cole Traugott, 9. 3c-Casey Jo Gemmill, 10. A2-Randy Wilson, 11. 88j-Jack Kirchoff, 12. G3-Brendon Gemmill. DNS: b21-Chadd Brown.
"A" Feature (20 Laps): 1. 721-Troy Gemmill, 2. B4-Jared Baird, 3. 16-Kevin Gray, 4. 01-Jesse Smith, 5. 25-Kale Beavers, 6. 21-Van Gemmill, 7. 3h-Ryan Heger, 8. 98-Danny Keller, 9. 9-Cole Traugott, 10. 36-Travis Simmons, 11. 7s-David Solberg, 12. 18-Austin Allen, 13. 02-Tyler Wilson, 14. 22T-Trent Gray, 15. 1m-Cody Gearhart, 16. 22k-Brad Keller, 17. 96jr-Jon Herring, Jr., 18. 01x-Beau Davis, 19. 1n-Nick Link, 20. 51-Pat McVicker.
United Wireless IMCA Sport Modifieds:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 44-Austin Walker, 2. 2c-Matthew Crowell, 3. 56m-Mike Appel, 4. 21j-Jeremy Sigler, 5. 2-Colby Hagans, 6. 31-Raymond Blackburn, 7. 3*-Adam Stenzel.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 33-Jason Lunow, 2. 85c-Clay Sellard, 3. 15b-Andy Barton, 4. 65j-Josh Appel, 5. 19-Bryan Harkness, 6. 22-Randle McRoberts, 7. 83-Mike Shenberger.
Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 92-Jeff Kaup, 2. 37-Bart Baker, 3. 8T-Ty Rogers, 4. 10T-Toby Witthuhn, 5. 91-Donald Kaup, 6. 39-Brian May, 7. 27g-Kameron Gruber.
"A" Feature (20 Laps): 1. 44-Austin Walker, 2. 85c-Clay Sellard, 3. 2c-Matthew Crowell, 4. 37-Bart Baker, 5. 33-Jason Lunow, 6. 10T-Toby Witthuhn, 7. 56m-Mike Appel, 8. 8T-Ty Rogers, 9. 65j-Josh Appel, 10. 21j-Jeremy Sigler, 11. 83-Mike Shenberger, 12. 91-Donald Kaup, 13. 39-Brian May, 14. 19-Bryan Harkness, 15. 15b-Andy Barton, 16. 31-Raymond Blackburn, 17. 27g-Kameron Gruber, 18. 92-Jeff Kaup, 19. 2-Colby Hagans, 20. 3*-Adam Stenzel. DNS: 22-Randle McRoberts.
IMCA Stock Cars:
First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 9s-Angel Munoz, 2. 88-Mel Law, 3. 22p-Michael Pepper, 4. 19-Brett Copeland, 5. 22x-Dan Rogers, 6. 58-Kyle Tillery, 7. 15-Scott Krausman.
Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 2m-Sonny O’Hair, 2. 11m-Billy Phelps, 3. 96-Shane Tillery, 4. 57-Josh Crombie, 5. 11j-Justin Lewis, 6. 33-Marlin Hogie, 7. 16-Wendy Krausman, 8. 07-Justin Temaat.
"A" Feature (15 Laps): 1. 22p-Michael Pepper, 2. 2m-Sonny O’Hair, 3. 11m-Billy Phelps, 4. 57-Josh Crombie, 5. 96-Shane Tillery, 6. 9s-Angel Munoz, 7. 88-Mel Law, 8. 22x-Dan Rogers, 9. 11j-Justin Lewis, 10. 58-Kyle Tillery, 11. 16-Wendy Krausman, 12. 07-Justin Temaat, 13. 19-Brett Copeland, 14. 15-Scott Krausman, 15. 33-Marlin Hogie.
- Admin Account on Jul 29, 2013
- Article Date: 7/29/2013 by Lonnie Wheatley