Cranston Tops DCRP Season Opener with Money, Sproul, Munoz & Burkhart in Victory Lane as Well
DODGE CITY, Kan. (April 6, 2019) – Luke Cranston opened the 2019 season at Dodge City Raceway Park by racing to victory lane in the 25-lap Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Car vs. United Rebel Sprint Series feature event atop the 3/8-mile clay oval.
While Cranston bested the Sprint Car ranks, other opening night winners included Clay Money in IMCA Modifieds, Dakota Sproul in IMCA Sport Modifieds, Angel Munoz in IMCA Stock Cars and Tathan Burkhart in IMCA Hobby Stocks as 108 cars filled the pit area.
In the 25-lap DCRP Sprint Car vs. URSS feature, Ness City native Cranston gridded the feature inside the third row as Brian Herbert and Koby Walters led the way to the green flag but it was fourth-starter Ty Williams battling into the early lead.
Vying for his third DCRP opening night win in the last five years, Williams paced the opening eight rounds before looping it in turn three to hand the lead over to Walters with Cranston on his tailtank.
Walters kept Cranston at bay for ten rounds before Cranston finally found the opening he was looking for in traffic and battled into eh lead on the 19th circuit. Cranston led the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag ahead of Walters with two-time track champion Taylor Velasquez racing to the third-place podium finish.
Herbert crossed the stripe fourth with Jake Martens rounding out the top five. Andy Shouse was sixth with defending track champion Steven Richardson, Jeremy Huish, Jed Werner and Tyler Knight completing the top ten.
The feature event was slowed by one red flag when Jordan Knight went for a hard ride on the fronstretch. Knight walked away from the incident.
Tyler Knight, Williams, Huish and Walters topped heat race action for the 28-car Sprint Car field with Richardson winning the “B” Main.
In the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, Penokee’s Clay Money battled past Jesse Richter for the point on the seventh round and raced on to his first DCRP win in Modified competition to go along with several previous Sport Modified victories.
Richter spun from contention a half lap after surrendering the lead, leaving Money to fend off defending track champion Nick Link and then Clay Sellard over the final rounds to secure the win.
Money took the checkered flag ahead of Sellard, Link and Jesse Smith while Richter raced back through the field to round out the top five.
Hays racer Dakota Sproul kicked off the 2019 season at DCRP the same he finished off in 2018 by racing to victory lane in the 20-lap IMCA Sport Modified feature.
Sproul chased down early pacesetter Luke Stallbaumer and took command in traffic on the 13th round. Sproul worked traffic to perfection over the closing circuits with Stallbaumer setting for runner-up honors. Reigning track champion Jeff Kaup raced from ninth to third with Mike Lunow and Brian May rounding out the top five.
Lamar, Colorado’s Angel Munoz kicked off his IMCA Stock Car title pursuit by storming to victory lane in the 20-lap feature.
Munoz needed just seven laps to charge from tenth into the lead and paced the field the rest of the way, crossing the stripe ahead of Jason Rogers, early leader Gregg Schell, Mike Petersilie and Chris Oliver.
After topping three of last year’s final six IMCA Hobby Stock features, Hays’ Tathan Burkhart battled into the lead on the fourth lap and led the rest of the way to snare victory honors.
Burkhart held off Brady Bencken over the closing circuits with defending track champion Reagan Sellard, Cody Williams and Duane Wahrman rounding out the top five.
Action resumes at Dodge City Raceway Park next Saturday night, April 13, with the Seventh Annual Modified Stampede that features a $1,000 winner’s share for the IMCA Modifieds along with a full card of Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars, IMCA Sport Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars and IMCA Hobby Stocks.
Dodge City Raceway Park – Season Opener
April 6, 2019 Results:
Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars vs. United Rebel Sprint Series (URSS):
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 11k-Tyler Knight, 2. 48-Jake Martens, 3. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 4. 0-Steven Richardson, 5. 28-Tracey Hill, 6. 72-Ray Seemann, 7. 2J-Zach Blurton.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 911-Ty Williams, 2. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 3. 49-Kris Moore, 4. 55b-Brandon Anderson, 5. 33k-Aaron Ploussard, 6. 34c-Cale Cozad, 7. 29-Dalton Webb.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 2. 97-Brian Herbert, 3. 50-Jed Werner, 4. 10-Jordan Knight, 5. 17x-Kade Hagans, 6. 18-Brandon Sprott, 7. 5-Kirby Kyles.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 33-Koby Walters, 2. 49x-Luke Cranston, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 17-Todd Plemons, 5. 45x-Kyler Johnson, 6. 17s-Chad Salem, 7. 51r-Ross Essenburg.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 0-Steven Richardson, 2. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 3. 50-Jed Werner, 4. 45x-Kyler Johnson, 5. 72-Ray Seemann, 6. 2J-Zach Blurton, 7. 33k-Aaron Ploussard, 8. 17x-Kade Hagans, 9. 34c-Cale Cozad, 10. 29-Dalton Webb, 11. 51r-Ross Essenburg, 12. 5-Kirby Kyles, 13. 17s-Chad Salem, 14. 28-Tracey Hill, 15. 49-Kris Moore (DNS), 16. 18-Brandon Sprott (DNS).
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 49x-Luke Cranston, 2. 33-Koby Walters, 3. 21x-Taylor Velasquez, 4. 97-Brian Herbert, 5. 48-Jake Martens, 6. 27-Andy Shouse, 7. 0-Steven Richardson, 8. 88J-Jeremy Huish, 9. 50-Jed Werner, 10. 11k-Tyler Knight, 11. 55b-Brandon Anderson, 12. 2J-Zach Blurton, 13. 17x-Kade Hagans, 14. 911-Ty Williams, 15. 45x-Kyler Johnson, 16. 33k-Aaron Ploussard, 17. 10-Jordan Knight, 18. 95-Buddy Tubbs, 19. 17-Todd Plemons, 20. 72-Ray Seemann.
Lap Leaders: Ty Williams 1-8, Koby Walters 8-18, Luke Cranston 19-25.
IMCA Modifieds:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 16-Kevin Gray, 2. 7n-William Nusser, 3. 7-Clay Money, 4. 01-Jesse Smith, 5. 22T-Trent Gray, 6. 17-Jake Schneider, 7. 3c-Casey Jo Gemmill, 8. D14-Derrick Dechant.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 85c-Clay Sellard, 2. 25-Kale Beavers, 3. 2L-Tracy Link, 4. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 5. 06-Chad Taylor, 6. 24c-Brandon Conkwright, 7. A2-Randy Wilson (DNS).
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 8R-Jesse Richter, 2. 1n-Nick Link, 3. 57-Joel Lane, 4. 05-Rick Taylor, 5. 12-Kevin Tabor, 6. 98-Danny Keller, 7. K17-Ryan Keller.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 7-Clay Money, 2. 85c-Clay Sellard, 3. 1n-Nick Link, 4. 01-Jesse Smith, 5. 8R-Jesse Richter, 6. 22T-Trent Gray, 7. 3c-Casey Jo Gemmill, 8. 88J-Jack Kirchoff, 9. 25-Kale Beavers, 10. 12-Kevin Tabor, 11. 17-Jake Schneider, 12. 7n-William Nusser, 13. 05-Rick Taylor, 14. 57-Joel Lane, 15. 98-Danny Keller, 16. 16-Kevin Gray, 17. D14-Derrick Dechant, 18. 2L-Tracy Link, 19. 06-Chad Taylor, 20. K17-Ryan Keller, 21. 24c-Brandon Conkwright (DNS), 22. A2-Randy Wilson (DNS).
IMCA Sport Modifieds:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul, 2. 44-Mike Lunow, 3. 6b-Travis Burger, 4. 9jr-Brendyn Nordyke, 5. 18-Kyle Wiens, 6. 2-John Newton, 7. 7p-Lloyd Stover.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 37-Bart Baker, 2. 92-Jeff Kaup, 3. 8-Brian May, 4. 56m-Mike Appel, 5. 2c-Matthew Crowell, 6. 28k-Ryan Kirchoff.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. L26-Luke Stallbaumer, 2. 9-Monty Nordyke, 3. 10-Alex Wiens, 4. 27g-Kamren Gruber, 5. 15-Corky Knight, 6. 19-Terry Collins.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 08-Dakota Sproul, 2. L26-Luke Stallbaumer, 3. 92-Jeff Kaup, 4. 44-Mike Lunow, 5. 8-Brian May, 6. 37-Bart Baker, 7. 6b-Travis Burger, 8. 27g-Kamren Gruber, 9. 2c-Matthew Crowell, 10. 9-Monty Nordyke, 11. 18-Kyle Wiens, 12. 2-John Newton, 13. 10-Alex Wiens, 14. 9jr-Brendyn Nordyke, 15. 15-Corky Knight, 16. 28k-Ryan Kirchoff, 17. 56m-Mike Appel, 18. 19-Terry Collins, 19. 7p-Lloyd Stover.
IMCA Stock Cars:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 54p-Kyle Pfeifer, 2. 25p-Mike Petersilie, 3. 37-Jason Rogers, 4. 20-Tyler Walker, 5. 3-Chris Oliver, 6. 22-Donald Kaup, 7. 21-Josh Siebert, 8. 10-Dusty Witthuhn.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 25x-Troy Burkhart, 2. 2m-Angel Munoz, 3. 6-Trace Ayers, 4. 97x-Ondre Rexford, 5. 89-Gregg Schell, 6. 33-Marlin Hogie, 7. 99-Gerald Walker, 8. 7-Caleb Rhoades.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 2m-Angel Munoz, 2. 37-Jason Rogers, 3. 89-Gregg Schell, 4. 25p-Mike Petersilie, 5. 3-Chris Oliver, 6. 6-Trace Ayers, 7. 20-Tyler Walker, 8. 97x-Ondre Rexford, 9. 33-Marlin Hogie, 10. 99-Gerald Walker, 11. 25x-Troy Burkhart, 12. 22-Donald Kaup, 13. 7-Caleb Rhoades, 14. 54p-Kyle Pfeifer, 15. 21-Josh Siebert (DNS), 16. 10-Dusty Witthuhn (DNS).
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 17w-Duane Wahrman, 2. 711-Brady Bencken, 3. D68-Dion Priddy, 4. 55-Jake Huse, 5. 11d-Devon Ghumm, 6. 110-Josh Reese, 7. 5$-Derrick Sprott (DNS), 8. 45p-Ryan Penrod (DNS).
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 77-Cody Williams, 2. 37-B.J. Rogers, 3. 250-Tathan Burkhart, 4. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 5. 15b-Braxton Berry, 6. 19-Brett Copeland, 7. 3-Brian Thomas, 8. 24b-Sheri Berger.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 2s-Reagan Sellard, 2. 1c-Cody Ghumm, 3. 22r-Lyle Russell, 4. 57-Chad Kelley, 5. 81-Skeets Salazar, 6. 7-Tom Reed, 7. 69-Danny Schulte.
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 250-Tathan Burkhart, 2. 711-Brady Bencken, 3. 2s-Reagan Sellard, 4. 77-Cody Williams, 5 .17w-Duane Wahrman, 6. 22r-Lyle Russell, 7. 1c-Cody Ghumm, 8. 57-Chad Kelley, 9. 3-Brian Thomas, 10. 24b-Sheri Berger, 11. 2m-Matt O’Hair, 12. D68-Dion Priddy, 13. 81-Skeets Salazar, 14. 55-Jake Huse, 15. 19-Brett Copeland, 16. 7-Danny Schulte, 17. 11d-Devon Ghumm, 18. 37-B.J. Rogers, 19. 15b-Braxton Berry, 20. 5$-Derrick Sprott (DNS), 21. 69-Danny Schulte (DNS), 22. 45p-Ryan Penrod (DNS).
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/Dodge City Raceway Park PR