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By Anthony Ainslie

5/11/13

It was the eve of Mother’s Day, and Junction Motor Speedway was ready to have its second race of the 2013 season. The weather was not exactly what the fans wanted, but it was still clear enough to do some racing. The wind was terribly strong, and it continued to get colder and colder throughout the night. On the track, the surface was extremely dry and made for a very slippery racing surface. Drivers had a tough time keeping their cars in the right direction, and it made for a wild night of racing. With roses going to our favorite moms in the crowd, it was a special night for mothers of race fans, officials, and drivers.

The Moock Auto Sales-NASCAR 4-cylinders had two feature events for the night. This rule was put into effect for the first time tonight. The rule is if a class has 10 cars or less for the night, the class will run two main events. Points and money are split between the two races. Without further ado, let’s get to the racing action. For 4-cylinder feature number one, Ed Huxoll had early control of the race. With six laps remaining in the race, the reigning track champion, Steve Moock took the race lead. The race was not finished there because Moock had a challenge coming from Dalton Siebke. Both drivers have track titles to their credits, and the win was decided between the two of them. With four laps to go, Siebke caught and passed Moock for the lead. Siebke kept the lead the rest of the way to score his first win of the season. The track champion from 2011 showed he can still get around the Junction at a break-neck pace.

In 4-cylinder main event number two, the leader was Joe Baker out of Omaha. The second main event did not go well for Ed Huxoll and Clint John. They got into each other and tagged the wall in turn two to bring out the yellow flag. When racing resumed, it was a wild dogfight for second between Steve Moock, Dalton Siebke, and David Dembowski. Meanwhile, they could not catch the 9X of Joe Baker. Baker won a main event at I-80 Speedway the night before, and he showed no signs of slowing down. Baker drove his converted Chevy Cavalier to his first victory of 2013 at JMS.

Like the 4-cylinders, the Rev Honey-NASCAR hobby stocks had two main events. In main event number one, the early lead went to Zack Gimpel in the 75Z out of Giltner, Nebraska. His lead was short lived. With 9 laps to go, Gimpel tagged the wall in turn one while leading. That gave the number one spot to Shane Schneider. Schneider was out in front for good, but there was a good race for second between Terry Tritt and Derek Fralin. However, no one could catch Shane Schneider. The Fairmont native had them covered and picked up another feature win. This was Schneider’s second win in two races for 2013.

In the second main event, it was tough to get the race going. On the opening lap, Katie Renschler’s 8R broke and slammed hard into the turn two wall. When the race got back under way, the early lead went once again to Zack Gimpel. Gimpel eventually lost the lead, and then the lead was between Derek Fralin and Shane Schneider. Back and forth the two battle for the top spot. With 7 to go, Schneider took over for good. Despite a late caution by Jeff Timmermans, Schneider held on for back-to-back feature wins. Schneider fell short of winning the title last year when he and Travis Thelander battled it out for supremacy, but now he looks like a prime candidate for the 2013 hobby stock track championship.

The NAPA-NASCAR modifieds always put on amazing shows, and this night was no different. Early on, former Bmod driver, Scott Eaton, was in control. Andy Wilkinson, who won the main event on opening night, did not have a good run. He pulled off three laps into the 20-lap feature. He would return, but he pulled off later in the race. After Wilkinson’s caution, Stacy Stava took the race lead. The young lady from Lincoln, Nebraska already is a multiple feature winner, and she does relatively well on dry slick tracks. Stava led over half of the race, but on a restart after a pile up with 7 laps remaining, Tyler Iverson took over the race lead. Tyler Iverson almost won the main event on opening night, and before that, he won the 2012 Cool McCool 100 main event against a field that included NASCAR Sprint Cup driver, Ken Schrader. Iverson did not give up the lead after taking over, and he picked up his first win of the season. Hopefully, JMS will continue to see more great performances from the 98T of Iverson from Albion, Nebraska.

The NAPA NASCAR b-mods took center stage for their main event. This one got scary right off the start. Kyle Kalkuarf drove Mark Leiting’s 20M in the main event on this night, and the car tagged the turn one wall and flipped over two times. Kalkuarf got out of the car and was okay, but the car was totaled. When the race was started back up, Tony Rost was in the early lead. With 12 laps to go in the race, Dusty Blake got around the 69 of Rost for the lead. However, on the restart after a Tyler Mark spin, Rost took the lead back over. After a great win on opening night, Kevin Betzen was driving like he was on the way to a second win. However, second place was as high as he was going to get. Tony Rost was firing on all cylinders. The reigning track champion from Utica, Nebraska took the checkered flag for the first time in 2013. Rost is off to a good start at possibly a second b-mod track championship.

To finish out this Mother’s Day celebration, the GM Performance-NASCAR late models took to the track for a 25-lap showdown. The race was dominated by one man. The 77 of York, Nebraska’s Cory Dumpert was a man on a mission. Dumpert’s car was hooked up and was rocketing around the racetrack. Three laps into the main event, Brian Kosiski was involved in a scary incident. His car was put into the wall and flipped over. The red flag came out with Kosiski on his roof, and the car was crumpled up and destroyed. Thankfully, Brian Kosisiki was uninjured. When racing started back up, still no one had a thing for Cory Dumpert. Jase Kaser and Alex Humphrey fought hard for second with Kaser winning that battle. This race was all about Cory Dumpert. He picked up the checkered flag for the second time at JMS in the late model series.

On behalf of the entire staff, we thank all the fans and their mothers for coming out for the Mother’s Day celebration at Junction Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Whelen All-American series will continue to bring weekly racing action. We are halfway into the month of May. This means Memorial Day will be in a few weeks, and Junction Motor Speedway always has great racing on Memorial Day weekend. Be sure to join us next weekend Saturday May 18^th for an “Armed Forces Day tribute with ½ off for current military ID holders as well as other tickets specials sponsored by Scott Eaton, Andy Wilkinson-Extreme Automotive, Belleville Motorsports and Afterhours Grafix.

The ASCS sprint cars will be in action soon, and so will a few super late model groups. We hope that the weather continues to warm up, and the racing action will surely heat up. We hope to continue to see all of the great fans come out and enjoy the races at the Junction. The racing season is already intense, but we have barely begun.

By Anthony Ainslie

4/27/13

            The 2013 season officially kicked off Saturday at Junction Motor Speedway. Sam’s Club was on board and provided a great feature to the night of racing with the kids candy dash at intermission. On the track, no one held back. New drivers came to race, and a few local faces brought in fresh new looks with new paint schemes on their cars. After four cold and bitter months of winter, it was finally time to kick off the new year with some great racing.

To get things kicked off, the NASCAR 4-cylinders took center stage for a 12-lap main event. At the start of the race, reigning champion, Steve Moock took the race lead, but he had a challenge coming from the 52 car driven by David Dembowski. The two drivers drove side by side for almost the entire distance. They proved to the rest of the field that the win would be decided by the two of them. Dalton Siebke did come up to challenge Moock and Dembowski, but Siebke was not able to keep up with the duo. In the closing laps, Moock took the lead coming down to the white flag. Dembowski fought all he could, but Steve Moock was able to hold him off for the win. The reigning 4-cylinder track champion started off the new year well with his first win of the season.

The next group on the docket was the NASCAR hobby stock division. During the land rush into turn one at the start of the race, a familiar face jumped to the lead. Shane Schneider snuck under the pack on the bottom to take the hole shot. Schneider led the opening laps, and it looked like another victory for the driver of the 15X machine. Not if Neleigh, Nebraska’s Jason Wilkinson had something to say about it. Wilkinson battled Schneider for the race lead, and with 10 laps left in the race Jason Wilkinson took over the race lead for good. Schneider’s night got worse when he cut a tire with 9 laps remaining. Schneider’s crew was able to get the tire fixed and got him back out onto the track. At the drop of the checkered flag, Schneider came back to finish second. Meanwhile, the race belonged to the 52 of Jason Wilkinson. The man who won both the hobby stock and stock car track titles in the same year returned to JMS and picked up another feature win. It truly was a warm welcome back to the Junction for Jason Wilkinson.

The NASCAR Bmods always put on good shows, and the way the Bmods started off the 2013 season was one of the best races they have put on since their innaugural season. Early on, it was the 777 of Cody Olson in control of the lead. As the race progressed, Olson’s lead was challenged by Justin Bell. Bell and Olson weaved in and out of each other and even used lapped traffic to each other’s advantage. While this was going on, one man was charging through the pack in a quick manner. The 42 of Kevin Betzen was on a mission. He picked off each driver ahead of him, and with five laps to go, the dual between Cody Olson and Justin Bell became a triple threat battle when Betzen charged for the lead. In the final laps, in lapped traffic, Betzen caught and passed Olson for the lead. Betzen was able to fend off Olson and escaped opening night with a win. The Betzen fan club was well in attendance, and they went crazy, as did the rest of the fans after an absolutely spectacular performance. It was going to be a party all the way back to David City for the 42 team.

From the Bmods the show went into the Amods. The NASCAR modifieds were up next. This race took a very long time to complete. It all started with a bad start on the original green flag. That led to five caution flags that took out at least six cars. This all happened before even three laps could be completed. When racing really got under way, Andy Wilkinson was head of the class. While Wilkinson was knocking off the laps, Albion, Nebraska’s Tyler Iverson was on the hunt for the lead. Iverson fought through the pack with authority, but he needed a yellow in order to catch Wilkinson. He got that chance when Scott Eaton spun in turn two on the last lap. This set up a green, white, checkered dash to the finish between Andy Wilkinson and Tyler Iverson. On the restart, Wilkinson and Iverson stormed into turn one. Iverson slipped under and slammed the door on Wilkinson when the two exited turn two. In turn three, Wilkinson dove low and got under Iverson when the two came down to the white flag. Into turn one on the final lap, Iverson once again tried to dive and slide up in front of Wilkinson, but it was unsuccessful. Wilkinson held off Iverson to take the checkered flag in a breath-taking finish. Wilkinson is a familiar face to JMS, and he is also a familiar face in Junction’s victory lane. It was a wild race for the 2010 JMS modified track champion.

Finally, the night was closed out with a 25-lap main event by the NASCAR late models. The race was dominated by one man, the 15 of Jase Kaser. He was untouchable in this one. There was a good race behind Kaser, however. Billy Murphy and Eddie Moore duked it out for the second position. Murphy, who was debuting a brand new look, fought valiantly, and he was able to muscle out a second place finish. Another notable driver was Brian Kosiski. Brian made his late model debut at JMS, and he finished off his night with a top five finish. Meanwhile, no one could come close to catching Jase Kaser. Kaser had nine feature wins last year prior to winning the track championship, and he continued where he left off from the previous season. Kaser demonstrated outstanding performance.

On behalf of the entire JMS staff, we thank all of the fans for coming out for the 2013 season opener at Junction Motor Speedway. We also thank Sam’s Club for providing candy for the kids’ candy dash. It was fun and a great success. Next week will be Quatro de Mayo. The NASCAR 4-cylinder class will have a chance at some extra money, and the other four classes will also be in action.  It is official. The 2013 season at JMS is under way. We hope to see all the fans back in the grandstand as we begin the journey to crowning five new track champions. The racing season is here, and we are going full throttle from here on out at Junction Motor Speedway.

Saturday May 25, 2013, Scott Eaton and crew return once again to display the American Pride car during pre-race and intermission.*

On May 18, 2013, Scott Eaton, driver of the #39 modified teamed up with Brandon Blochlinger of Belleville Motor Sports, Troy Hofmann of After Hours Grafix and Andy Wilkinson, driver of the #15 modified and Extreme Automotive, to pay tribute to our Armed Forces.

They covered 1/2 the admission for all veterans!

Say thank you to these fine individuals and NEVER forget to thank a vet!

York College, founded in 1890, is a private (4 year) liberal arts college affiliated with the churches of Christ. Popular majors include education, business, psychology, sciences, communication and Bible. Multiple pre-professional programs are available. York is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Nebraska Independent College Foundation (NICF).

Check out www.york.edu for more information about this wonderful small town college!