Traugott Stampedes at DCRP as C.J. Johnson Takes Sprint Car Honors
DODGE CITY, Kan. (April 9, 2016) – Cole Traugott emerged atop a hard-fought 30-lap IMCA Modified feature event to take the $1,200 winner’s share in Saturday night’s Fourth Annual Modified Stampede atop the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval.
While the Woodward, Oklahoma racer took the big Modified money, C.J. Johnson raced into the lead midway through the 20-lap Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car feature en route to victory lane with Jeff Kaup besting the IMCA Sport Modifieds and Cody Davis taking IMCA Hobby Stock honors.
The Modified Stampede lived up to all the hype and then some, with Traugott escaping contact with past IMCA National champion David Murray and then recapturing the lead from Nick Link in the closing circuits to capture his first DCRP win since June of last year.
“It got a little rougher than I had hoped for, but a win is a win,” Traugott commented afterward.
After winning his heat race, Traugott started the feature from the front outside when original front row starter Cody Gearhart couldn’t make the call for the main event.
Traugott gunned into the early lead and paced the early rounds as Murray moved into second by the third round. Traugott paced the field comfortably ahead of Murray and Clay Sellard until a caution flew after a dozen laps, negating his half straightaway advantage.
Gunning for a third Modified Stampede title in four years, Murray turned up the heat on the leader on the restart and slipped underneath exiting turn two to take command on the 14th round. Traugott countered though, returning the favor by slipping underneath Murray exiting turn two the next time around.
The duo raced side-by-side into turn three with contact made that resulted in Murray spinning to the top side and collecting third-runner Sellard in the process. Sellard was done while Murray returned at the tail of the remaining 15 cars after hasty repairs.
Back out front, the race was far from secure for Traugott as Nick Link surged forward and then battled into the lead on the 19th round. But when a caution flew with seven laps remaining, Traugott moved to the high side on the restart to recapture the lead.
Traugott paced the field the final six laps to take the checkered flag ahead of Link as Murray raced back through the field to round out the podium. After winning the “B” Main, Mike Lunow worked the high side of the track to race from 15th to fourth with Jesse Richter rounding out the top five.
Along with $1,200 winner’s share, Traugott picked up a $500 certificate from Elgin Power Packages while Link was awarded a $200 certificate from JE Pistons for runner-up honors and Murray picked up a $150 certificate for third from K&N.
In Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car action, Quinter’s C.J. Johnson raced past Steven Richardson at the midway point of the non-stop 20-lapper and then survived some dicey moments through lapped traffic in the closing laps to hold off Luke Cranston and Zach Blurton for the victory.
“These don’t come easy, so it’s good to get ‘em any way you can,” Johnson commented in victory lane.
While Johnson started the feature inside the second row, Richardson gunned into the lead from the pole position with Johnson working past reigning track champion Cranston for second in the opening pair of rounds.
Richardson paced the early rounds ahead of Johnson and Blurton as Cranston slipped back to fifth by the midway point.
With traffic in play a half dozen laps in, Johnson closed in and put the pressure on Richardson until slipping by on the tenth round with Blurton following suit a lap later.
Blurton stalked Johnson for the point with Cranston surging past Jake Martens and Richardson to reclaim third by the 12th circuit.
While Johnson successfully kept his challengers at bay through traffic, opportunity for Blurton and Cranston presented itself as the white flag flew with a pair of lapped cars directly in front of the leader.
Johnson didn’t let it get away though, adeptly slipping by both cars exiting turn two to secure the victory with Cranston taking advantage of traffic to steal second from Blurton in the final corner. Richardson faded to fourth with Taylor Velasquez battling past Martens on the final circuit to round out the top five.
In IMCA Sport Modified action, three-time and reigning track champion Jeff Kaup put an end to the streak of 14 consecutive different winners dating back to the 2014 season finale by blistering the field in the 15-lapper for his first DCRP win since the second night of action last year.
After starting fifth, Kaup took the lead away from Brian May on the third round and never looked back en route to a convincing victory despite some front end damage.
“I clipped that tire getting into one in the first lap or two and the steering was way off after that,” Kaup said afterward.
It showed little ill effect, as Kaup took the checkered flag a straightaway ahead of May. Another straightaway back, Bart Baker emerged atop a heated battle for third ahead of Jeremy Sigler and Adam Stenzel.
Reigning IMCA Hobby Stock champion Cody Davis bounced back from a trying opening night the previous Saturday to win the 15-lap feature event.
Following a caution two laps into the race, Davis pounced on early leader Michael Penrod to take command on the third lap and checked out to secure his first win of the year after posting a pair of wins last year.
After starting ninth, Matt O’Hair worked his way up to second by the midway point. But Davis was too far gone to be challenged, racing on to the stripe with a half straightaway advantage over O’Hair with David Berger, Duane Wahrman and Tobby Schield rounding out the top five.
Action continues at Dodge City Raceway on Saturday night, April 23, with a full slate of championship chase action including Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
Dodge City Raceway Park
April 9 Results:
IMCA Modifieds – Fourth Annual Dodge City Modified Stampede:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 3h-Ryan Heger, 2. 8r-Jesse Richter, 3. 85c-Clay Sellard, 4. 05-Rick Taylor, 5. 01-Jesse Smith, 6. 52-Clayton Hogie, 7. 22T-Trent Gray.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 97m-David Murray, 2. 1m-Cody Gearhart, 3. 1n-Nick Link, 4. 25-Kale Beavers, 5. 44-Mike Lunow, 6. 16-Kevin Gray, 7. 25b-Tom Beavers.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 9-Cole Traugott, 2. G3-Brendon Gemmill, 3. 7n-William Nusser, 4. 88j-Jack Kirchoff, 5. 44T-Tanner Black, 6. 9x-Danton O’Dell. DNS: 2L-Tracy Link.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 0-Kyle Rohleder, 2. 57-Joel Lane, 3. 3c-Dale Wanger, 4. 75-Randle McRoberts, 5. 27-Grant Florence, 6. 7s-David Solberg. DNS: 4p-Kelly Perry.
“B” Main (15 Laps): 1. 44-Mike Lunow, 2. 88j-Jack Kirchoff, 3. 01-Jesse Smith, 4. 75-Randle McRoberts, 5. 25-Kale Beavers, 6. 9x-Danton O’Dell, 7. 16-Kevin Gray, 8. 27-Grant Florence, 9. 25b-Tom Beavers, 10. 22T-Trent Gray, 11. 05-Rick Taylor, 12. 7s-David Solberg, 13. 52-Clayton Hogie, 14. 44T-Tanner Black. DNS: 2L-Tracy Link, 4p-Kelly Perry.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 9-Cole Traugott, 2. 1n-Nick Link, 3. 97m-David Murray, 4. 44-Mike Lunow, 5. 8r-Jesse Richter, 6. 3h-Ryan Heger, 7. 57-Joel Lane, 8. 3c-Dale Wanger, 9. 01-Jesse Smith, 10. 25-Kale Beavers, 11. 16-Kevin Gray, 12. 75-Randle McRoberts, 13. 9x-Danton O’Dell, 14. 0-Kyle Rohleder, 15. 7n-William Nusser, 16. 85c-Clay Sellard, 17. 88j-Jack Kirchoff, 18. G3-Brendon Gemmill, 19. 27-Grant Florence, 20. 1m-Cody Gearhart (DNS).
Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 20-Luke Cranston, 2. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 3. 11k-Tyler Knight, 4. 6-Kaden Taylor, 5. 9d-Lance Davis, 6. 20j-Brandy Jones, 7. 3-Ryan Walters, 8. 67-Damien Cain.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 2j-Zach Blurton, 2. 49x-Mike Peters, 3. E85-Kade Hagans, 4. 17x-Craig Jecha, 5. 7r-Beau Ricke, 6. 49-Kris Moore, 7. 18-Brandon Sprott, 8. 10-Jordan Knight.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 97-Brian Herbert, 2. 48-Jake Martens, 3. 0-Steven Richardson, 4. 28-Tracey Hill, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 33-Koby Walters, 7. 33x-Kris Miller, 8. 1x-Cody Lampe.
“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 9d-Lance Davis, 2. 49-Kris Moore, 3. 33-Koby Walters, 4. 3-Ryan Walters, 5. 20j-Brandy Jones, 6. 10-Jordan Knight, 7. 33x-Kris Miller, 8. 18-Brandon Sprott, 9. 1x-Cody Lampe. DNS: 67-Damien Cain.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 45x-C.J. Johnson, 2. 20-Luke Cranston, 3. 2j-Zach Blurton, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 6. 48-Jake Martens, 7. 97-Brian Herbert, 8. 11k-Tyler Knight, 9. 49x-Mike Peters, 10. 28-Tracy Hill, 11. 33-Koby Walters, 12. 49-Kris Moore, 13. E85-Kade Hagans, 14. 7r-Beau Ricke, 15. 17x-Craig Jecha, 16. 9d-Lance Davis, 17. 20j-Brandy Jones, 18. 10-Jordan Knight, 19. 3-Ryan Walters, 20. 6-Kaden Taylor.
IMCA Sport Modifieds:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 18-Kyle Wiens, 2. 12-Kevin Tabor, 3. 8-Brian May, 4. 7j-Jamie French, 5. 3s-Adam Stenzel, 6. 10-Alex Wiens.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 92-Jeff Kaup, 2. 37-Bart Baker, 3. 21J-Jeremy Sigler, 4. 10T-Toby Witthuhn, 5. 4-Scott Claussen, 6. 57-Tanner Brunson. DNS: 56m-Mike Appel.
“A” Main (15 Laps): 1. 92-Jeff Kaup, 2. 8-Brian May, 3. 37-Bart Baker, 4. 21j-Jeremy Sigler, 5. 3s-Adam Stenzel, 6. 18-Kyle Wiens, 7. 10T-Toby Witthuhn, 8. 12-Kevin Tabor, 9. 7j-Jamie French, 10. 10-Alex Wiens, 11. 4-Scott Claussen. DNS: 57-Tanner Brunson, 56m-Mike Appel.
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 91d-Cody Davis, 2. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 3. 72T-Tobby Schield, 4. 45p-Michael Penrod, 5. 51-Clint Long, 6. 69-Danny Schulte, 7. 25-Adam Duesing, 8. 007-Bryan Habiger.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 2s-Reagan Sellard, 2. 17w-Duane Wahrman, 3. 22-Ruben Eichman, 4. 44b-David Berger, 5. 7-Tom Reed, 6. 20-Tyler Walker, 7. 55-Jacob Huse.
“A” Main (15 Laps): 1. 91d-Cody Davis, 2. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 3. 44b-David Berger, 4. 17w-Duane Wahrman, 5. 72T-Tobby Schield, 6. 45p-Michael Penrod, 7. 007-Byan Habiger, 8. 22-Ruben Eichman, 9. 69-Danny Schulte, 10. 55-Jacob Huse, 11. 7-Tom Reed, 12. 51-Clint Long, 13. 20-Tyler Walker, 14. 25-Adam Duesing, 15. 2s-Reagan Sellard.
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/Dodge City Raceway Park PR