NORTON, Kan. -- The annual Labor Day Weekend show at Elmwood Park Speedway found the pits with a high capacity of cars, as a total of thirty vintage race cars, thirty-two United Rebel Sprint Series Sprint Cars, and fourteen IMCA Northern SpotMods came to play and race between the two nights. Luke Cranston of Plains, Zach Blurton of Jetmore, Tanner Portenier of Luray, and Brian Conness of WaKeeney were playing for keeps, as they won the A Features in the Sprint Car and SportMod divisions.

The vintage cars did not “officially” race, but they did manage to mix things up on both nights. The iconic Kansas uncaged Sprint Car known as “The Offy Killer”, owned by Jerry Wilson of Wichita and driven by Robbie Bryant was on hand, and the 57 year-old car was making laps around the big half-mile track at an average of 65 miles an hour. Bill Yalotz of Pueblo, Colorado had a 41 year-old caged Toggnatti Sprint Car, and he managed some laps a tick faster than that. Ron Murphy of Sharon Springs brought a new car he built, a good-looking replica of a dirt roadster from the 1950’s, built from a 1919 Buick and powered by a 308 cubic inch Hudson engine. Joe Morosic of Indianola, Nebraska brought an old favorite, a 1971 rear-engined Sprint car built by his dad, the late Lonnie Morosic. These were just a few of the amazing cars brought in from around the state of Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado.

Thirty URSS Sprint Cars were in the pits on Saturday night, and that meant four heats and two B Features to set up the lineup for the twenty car A Feature. The heat wins were split up between Kansas drivers Ty Williams of Liberal and Luke Cranston, and Gypsum, Colorado drivers Judd Shaeffer and Patrick Bourke. Passing points set up for interesting B Features, with the first one featuring all three of the National point leaders, Brian Herbert of Dodge City, Josh Fairbank of Goddard, and eventual race winner Ray Seemann of Jetmore. B Feature number two was won by Mark Walinder of Wheatridge, Colorado, a former resident of the Ness City area.

In the twenty-five lap A Feature, Luke Cranston took the lead from Shaeffer on lap three and said “bye-bye” to the field for a while. 2010 URSS National champion Ty Williams wasn’t ready to hand things over, and after he moved into second place on lap seven, began to close in Cranston. Luke used a cool hand to maneuver through lapped traffic to again build a healthy lead on the Liberal driver, but the lapped cars were removed between the two on lap thirteen after Lincoln driver Mike Spear had mechanical issues on the track. After the restart, track champion Darren Berry from McCook opted to dive down into corner three rather than drive into the car in front of him, and the imminent berm sent him for a roll. He was not seriously hurt, but the car, and even his driver’s seat, took a beating. On that restart, Patrick Bourke dove hard into the corner to get by Williams for 2nd place, but could not deny Cranston from picking up his sixth win of the year, and his second at Elmwood Park. Jason Martin of Liberal took the fourth spot, and Seemann worked from the eleventh spot to take fifth place.

On Sunday night, there were twenty-three cars, and one of those was lost on the opening lap of the first heat race of the night when 14 year-old Conner Atkinson of Hutchinson rolled her beast four-and-a-half times in corner three. She was able to walk away from the wreck, but the car quoted as “junk” after the wreck. Shaeffer, Seemann, and Zach Blurton were the eventual winners of the heat races. No B Features were run, but the twenty-five lap A Feature made up for it.

Judd Shaeffer was hoping to end his streak of good luck in heats and bad luck in features, and started the main event by leading the first five laps. The “Teenage Sensation” Zach Blurton found his way by the Colorado racer on the sixth lap, but his lead was short lived. Josh Fairbank had started in eighth place, but by lap ten was able to use the low line to take the lead away. The race went until lap seventeen before the first caution, and that was for a spin. On the restart, Blurton attacked on the high side, and within two laps, regained the lead. After Ron Hadley of Norton slapped the corner two wall, the field again realigned single file with six laps to go. Patrick Bourke had started in ninth place and was in third at this time. On the restart, while Blurton and Fairbank went high, Bourke went low, first taking Fairbank’s spot, then making the slide-for-life out of corner four as they took the white flag to take the lead from Blurton. Blurton returned the favor in corner two, but before the entire field could complete the lap, the red flag came out after Blake Smith, Jr. of Fredrick, Colorado planted into the wall. This reverted the lap back to lap twenty-three with Blurton in the lead and Bourke in second. For the last two laps, Blurton moved lower on the track, preventing Bourke from making another move to the front, and forcing him to take his second second-place finish in two nights. Blurton’s win was his second of the year. Josh Fairbank was able to hold Ray Seemann at bay for the third spot, and Adam Trimble of Pueblo, Colorado ended a good night for him with a fifth place finish.

The IMCA Northern SportMod A Feature on Saturday night started with Dan Lauer of Norton in the lead, but on the next lap, he was involved in an accident that began with cars three-wide in the back straight and ended with his car up in the air and into the outside fence. Ben Hobbs of Red Cloud, Nebraska steered clear of the mess and inherited the lead on the restart. Tanner Portenier ran the low side of the track, and was able to drive underneath high-liner Hobbs for the lead on lap six. Portenier stayed with the line and pulled away from Hobbs for a strong statement win. Troy Attwood of Gaylord was involved in an accident in the heat race that ended up with a torn up right side, but he willed his car to third place at the finish. Kaid Calhoon of Beloit finished in fourth, and Craig Howard of Lexington, Nebraska took the fifth spot. Calhoun and Brian Conness were the SportMod heat winners on Saturday night.

The SportMods tried the three-wide on the opening lap on Sunday night, with pretty much the same results, only Craig Howard was the one that ended up in the air and Frank McClurg of Logan and Jason McCartney of Smith Center in the inside guard rail. When the race was restarted, Ben Hobbs showed the way, closely followed by heat winner Tanner Portenier. On lap four, Hobbs went for a spin in corner three, but Portenier was deemed the caused and put to the back. Hobbs could not get his car going on the restart and pulled into the pits. Heat winner Brian Conness inherited the lead. Tanner restarted in seventh place in line, and made a hard charge to get into second place, but as the last eleven laps went caution-free, he had no shot at denying Conness the win, which sealed the track points championship. Attwood earned his second third place finish for the weekend. Newcomer Austin Walker of Utica took the fourth spot. Kenny Schmidt kept ahead of his fellow Ellis driver John LaShell for fifth place.

The staff of Elmwood Park Speedway would like to thank everyone who participated at the track this 2011 season, the sponsors, and especially the fans.

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Results
September 3
URSS 305 Sprint Cars
Heat 1
1-Ty Williams
2J-Zach Blurton
36-Jason Martin

Heat 2
56-Judd Shaeffer
12S-Bob Schaeffer
9D-Lance Davis

Heat 3
20-Luke Cranston
112-Richie Dewell
30C-Barry Crane

Heat 4
27-Patrick Bourke
34-Adam Trimble
97-Brian Herbert

B Feature 1
72-Ray Seemann
97-Brian Herbert
46-Blake Smith, Jr.
51-Josh Fairbank
30C-Barry Crane
17-Conner Atkinson
47H-Ron Hadley
33-Koby Walters
99-Tim Perkins (DNF)
12X-Weston Kraus (DNS)

B Feature 2
6-Mark Walinder
9D-Lance Davis
12-Darren Berry
140-Mike Parker
54-Mike Spear
1W-Reed Bernbeck
29S-Mike Saathoff
R62-Greg Reiners
22-Mike Madden (DNF)
5R-Randy Bantam (DNS)

A Feature
20-Luke Cranston
27-Patrick Bourke
1-Ty Williams
36-Jason Martin
72-Ray Seemann
2J-Zach Blurton
112-Richie Dewell
9D-Lance Davis
51-Josh Fairbank
97-Brian Herbert
12S-Bob Schaeffer
6-Mark Walinder
56-Judd Shaeffer
30C-Barry Crane
140-Mike Parker
9B-Darren Bowman
34-Adam Trimble (DNF)
12-Darren Berry (DNF)
54-Mike Spear (DNF)
46-Blake Smith, Jr. (DNF)

IMCA Northern SportMod
Heat 1
21C-Brian Conness
76-Ben Hobbs
21K-Frank McClurg

Heat 2
7C-Kaid Calhoun
27-Tanner Portenier
49-Dan Lauer

A Feature
27-Tanner Portenier
76-Ben Hobbs
97-Troy Attwood
7C-Kaid Calhoon
68-Craig Howard
21C-Brian Conness
71-Kenny Schmidt
34B-Josh Bopp
21K-Frank McClurg
F5-J. R. Ewing
1-Jason McCartney (DNF)
19-John LaShell (DNF)
49-Dan Lauer (DNF)

September 4
URSS 305 Sprint Cars
Heat 1
72-Ray Seemann
9B-Darren Bowman
46-Blake Smith, Jr.

Heat 2
2J-Zach Blurton
34-Adam Trimble
27-Patrick Bourke

Heat 3
56-Judd Shaeffer
6-Mark Walinder
51-Josh Fairbank

A Feature
2J-Zach Blurton
27-Patrick Bourke
51-Josh Fairbank
72-Ray Seemann
34-Adam Trimble
97-Brian Herbert
112-Richie Dewell
9B-Darren Bowman
6-Mark Walinder
12S-Bob Schaeffer
30C-Barry Crane
56-Judd Shaeffer
1W-Reed Bernbeck
140-Mike Parker
9D-Lance Davis
R62-Greg Reiners
99-Troy Edwards
33-Koby Walters
22-Mike Madden
77W-Michael Williams (DNF)
46-Blake Smith, Jr. (DNF)
47H-Ron Hadley (DNF)
17-Conner Atkinson (DNS)

IMCA Northern SportMod
Heat 1
21C-Brian Conness
97-Troy Attwood
68-Craig Howard

Heat 2
27-Tanner Portenier
76-Ben Hobbs
44-Austin Walker

A Feature
21C-Brian Conness
27-Tanner Portenier
97-Troy Attwood
44-Austin Walker
71-Kenny Schmidt
19-John LaShell
21K-Frank McClurg
1-Jason McCartney
76-Ben Hobbs (DNF)
68-Craig Howard (DNF)

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Elmwood Park Speedway, 2011 Final Points
IMCA 305 Sprint Cars (Top 10)
12-Darren Berry, McCook NE-109
74-Howard VanDyke, Clay Center KS-108
5R-Randy Bantam, Norton KS-106
47h-Ron Hadley, Norton KS-98
99-Troy Edwards, Culbertson NE-98
22-Mike Madden, Norton KS-95
2H-Bill Hays, Edison NE-70
29t-Tommy Lee Williams, North Platte NE-36
R62-Greg Reiners, McCook NE-33
29s-Mike Saathoff, North Platte NE-31

IMCA Modifieds
11W-Tim Watts, Beloit KS-67
43C-Brian Calhoon, Beloit KS-67
97M-David Murray, Oberlin KS-37
25P-Mike Petersilie, Hoisington KS-36
43B-David Brock, Hoisington KS-33
20H-Hunter Hembree,Great Bend KS-32
43D-Jason Davis Norton KS-31
383-Milo Lippelmann, Oberlin KS-31

IMCA Northern SportMods (Top 10)
21C-Brian Conness, WaKeeney KS-293
76-Ben Hobbs, Red Cloud NE-280
1-Jason McCartney, Smith Center KS-271
21K-Frank McClurg, Logan KS-237
19-John LaShell, Ellis KS-226
27-Tanner Portenier, Luray KS-187
97-Troy Attwood, Gaylord KS-187
71-Kenny Schmidt, Ellis KS-144
49-Dan Lauer, Norton KS-126
77W-Tyler Watts, Beloit KS-100

IMCA Stock Cars (Top 10)
76-Jason Davis, Norton KS-217
26-Dustin McClurg, Logan KS-215
08-Jay Hachmeister, Lenora KS-209
9C-Bob Rutherford, Norton KS-199
8SK-John Annon, Norton KS-194
1-Chase Conaway, Smith Center KS-164
99B-Pat Bedore, Stockton KS 140
44T-Tyler Hahn, Stockton KS-110
97J-Josh Hudson, Athol KS-73
97-Jay Schmidt, Smith Center KS-64

IMCA Hobby Stocks (Top 10)
3N1-Kelly Karnopp, Norton KS-211
9A-Anthony Martin, Wilcox NE-203
62-Rick Maynard, Woodston KS-129
9T-Theron Martin, Wilcox NE-127
29-Jeromy Wagner, Kensington KS-75
6M-Jason McIntyre, Colby KS-66
19-Dana Morgan, Kearney NE-62
24-Ray Caldwell, McCook NE-62
12-Jim Buss, Fullerton NE-39
111-Mike Giesenhagen, Colby KS-36