Salina Opening Night 5-6-2011

The reshaped turn one.

All new planks for grandstand seating.

Josh Rice

Jeff Olson

Rick Slothower

Dan Heina

Smokin'Joe

Rodger Peck

Tim Watts

Gettin' a little TOO sideways.

Bud Lee, still fast after all these years.

Kurtis Pihl and Chad Markley in B Mod heat #2.

One thing about Salina, you can get REAL close to the racin'.

Sometimes the cars get really close too.

Gary Whitmore

Shannon Johnson (819), Jesse Richter (8), & Mike Peterslie in the 2nd mod heat.

Steve Burch (11) and Jeff Welsh in heat 3.

Jerry Phillips and Welsh.

Steve Burch doesn't look too pleased for some reason.

A swarm of mosquitoes or hornets or ..........

Brandon Lobdell gets by Garett Hake in the A.

Nice 3-wide in the mod B.

Brian Knoell tries to hold off Joe Cleveland in the B.

Mike Traskowsky getting by Casey Gilmore to win the Hobby feature.

Three wide and room for several more.

Tyler Bradshaw had to work to get by Bud.

Corbin Pickerill maneuvered his car so his sponsor would show up well in this photo.Right Wiggy?

Tyler Bradshaw takes the checkers.

Another 3-wide, but where they goin'???

Josh Rice (8) and Shane Meeks who is on his way to winning the B-Mod feature.

Seth Schroer runs into turn one a little hard and gets into Jeff Olson and..........

.......spins out.

Jesse Levin almost did the same thing but saved it.

Dustin Newlin leads the pack in the Stock feature.

Scot Granzella is running Newlin down.

Newlin seemed to have it wrapped up until he ran off turn 3 late in the race.

Danny Morrison Jr jumped out to an early lead in the Mod feature.

Jerry Phillips and Rodger Peck.

Burch, Watts, & Chris Vogan.

Danny, you're leading by thiiiiis much

Now you're leading by thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!


You can purchase any of these photos and more at:

http://racetrackin.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=6363449

Ahhhhh, it was good to see Salina Speedway back in operation again, just wasn't right with it closed. Everybody I talked to was really so I didn't get as much background as I wanted. No problem, I got plenty of racing.

I won't go into race details here, you can get all that at the track website or at midwestdirt.com.

Belleville 100 Saturday

I was shocked when I got to the pit shack and was told Wayne had canceled the race and that the Fair Board was now putting it on. I heard a lot of rumors and speculation in the pits, but I don’t know the whole story about what really happened.
I do know that the board and the all star team Wayne brought in to work the race did a great job and managed to put on a really good race. Thanks to all involved.

The first heat was mostly slower cars and a few that hadn't been here Friday.

Belleville driver Tyler Frye (55) looked pretty fast early before his engine let go.

Two guys who showed up Saturday were Cody Gearhart from Turpin, Oklahoma and Jason Friesen of Sutton, Nebraska.

Some guys just can't catch a break. Larry Hall couldn't get his car to run at all Friday and Saturday it gave up in the first heat putting him back on the trailer.

Several fast cars that had had problems Friday were in the 2nd heat Saturday. Maybe the biggest surprise in this field was Ryan Gustin who recently won five USMTS features in a row!

Delbert "The Iceman" Smith (92) also showed up to run Saturday, but never got the car running right and finished 21st in the feature.

After a violent flip Friday, Jon Thompson and crew managed to rebuild the car and Jon was back, fast as usual.

The engine in Jim Armstrong's #112 looks like trouble ahead as he races Brett Behrends (17) and Jon Thompson.

Behrends , Darrick Klima (2), Armstrong , and Thompson run in a tight pack out of turn 2 during the 2nd heat.

Klima and Thompson broke free and caught up to the #31 of Jeremy Rasmussen.

Near the end of heat 2, Darrick Klima's engine died of Belleville Fever and put him on the sidelines for the night.

At the start of the pole dash, Friday's winner, Jared Landers leads this pack into turn 2, but John Anderson had already flown by me.

The qualifiers from Friday battle it out in the 3rd heat/pole dash.

Grant Junghans (2), Jason Teague (117), and Brandon Blochlinger.

After an impressive driving job to finish 7th Friday with a broken tie rod, Brandon Blochlinger's luck really ran out. Near the end of the dash, his right rear exploded and tore off a bunch of sheet metal. Then on the first lap of the feature he hit the guardrail hard, got tagged by another car, and was done for the night.

Driver intros and last minute prep before the feature. The cars even look pretty amazing just sitting there.

An awesome site. Knowing they were going to take the green this way made this formation even more impressive.

At the start of the race, Jared jumped into the early lead running up on top. Polesitter Anderson stayed down lower and Johnny Allen ran behind him.

As they come into turn one, Austin Siebert (16), Ryan Gustin (19), and Grant Junghans look like they are still in parade formation.

Two of the better looking cars here were the 117 of Jason Taugue and Johnny Allen's #98.

When John Anderson jumped the cushion, it let Tim Donlinger take over 2nd spot for a moment, but Anderson not only got back by Donlinger, he then passed Landers for the lead on lap 16.

Ryan Gustin (19) and Jason Teague (117) raced each other hard for much of the race.

Staci Stava, who I think was the first woman to win an A-Mod event in Nebraska, did a nice job as the pit/infielsd announcer

Shortly after the break, Florida driver Kyle Bronson tried running very low. At Belleville, I have to be ready for lines like; the midgets often get MUCH closer.

Coming into turn one, Paden Phillips gets a little close to the #1 of Cody Gearhart.

The tire smoke starts to roll as both drivers try to hold their lines & not lift.

While they have a little room here, neither driver is willing to yield an inch.

As the slower 93 (running as 81) car of Garfield Lopez comes into view, it's easier to see how little room the drivers had to work with.

Here you can see that they are also racing Austin Siebert (16) running up top. Four wide and there's still room for another car in there!

These guys stayed about like this the rest of the race. Phillips finished 11th, Siebert 12th, and Gearhart 14th.

While Brett Behrends (17) and Jim Armstrong (112) race for position, leader John Anderson is about to put them both a lap down. Behrends finished 16th & Armstrong 19th.

Scott Styskal (26) finished 14th and Kyle Bronson 15th.

While Jared Landers usually ran near the nop, he'd come down for a close-up from time to time.

Danny Bradford of Farmington, New Mexico said he likes the big tracks, but he had poor luck at Belleville. Friday night he blew an engine and he continued having trouble Saturday. That's too bad, he & his brother were really nice guys.

John celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday's feature at Belleville.

John Anderson is all smiles as he poses with the RevHoney trophy girls after winning the Belleville 100 Saturday night.

Once again, these results are from the Belleville 100 site.

OFFICIAL RESULTS RevHoney Energy Belleville 100 Modifieds on the High Banks Belleville High Banks, Belleville, Kan. Saturday, July 3, 2010 Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver and hometown. HEAT #1 (8 laps): 1 (4) 66h Kyle Bronson, Bronson, Fla. 2 (2) 1m Cody Gearhart, Turpin, Okla. 3. (8) 1f Jason Friesen, Sutton, Neb. 4. (10) 5 Rick Germar, Red Oak, Iowa. 5. (5) 55 Tyler Frye, Belleville, Kan. 6. (3) 01 Ed Putman, Esbon, Kan. 7. (9) 55 Larry Hall, Rochester, Minn. 8. (6) 75 Garry Hall, Rochester, Minn. 9. (1) 16t Todd Ligenza, Columbus, Neb. 10. (7) 81 Garfield Lopez, Elizabeth, Colo. 11. (11) M15 Michael Martin, Dodge City, Kan. HEAT #2 (8 laps): 1. (6) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa. 2. (3) 9d8 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan. 3. (4) 31j Jeremy Rasmussen, Bella Vista, Ark. 4. (11) 75 Jon Thompson, Superior, Neb. 5. (5) 2k Darrick Klima, Belleville, Kan. 6. (9) 15 Andy Wilkinson, York, Neb. 7. (2) 17 Brett Behrends, Webber, Kan. 8. (7) 112 Jim Armstrong, Liberal, Kan. 9. (8) 26 Scott Styskal, David City, Neb. 10. (1) 92 Delbert Smith, Wichita, Kan. 11. (10) 111 Danny Bradford, Farmington, N.M. HEAT #3 (8 laps, finish determines first 10 stating spots in "A" Main): 1. (4) 18 John Anderson, Omaha, Neb. 2. (1) 777 Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark. 3. (2) 4r Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn. 4. (3) 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan. 5. (5) 117 Jason Teague, Tahlequah, Okla. 6. (8) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo. 7. (6) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan. 8. (9) 3g Clint Gilmore, Chapman, Kan. 9. (7) 9 Brandon Blochlinger, Concordia, Kan. 10. (10) 65 Greg Sharpe, Commerce City, Colo. Showing finishing position, starting position in parentheses, car number, driver, hometown and chassis/engine builder. CHAMPIONSHIP “A” MAIN (40 laps): 1. (1) 18 John Anderson, Omaha, Neb., Hughes/Mullins. 2. (2) 777 Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark., Shaw/ECR. 3. (11) 19r Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, Iowa, Hughes/Mullins. 4. (3) 4r Tim Donlinger, Rochester, Minn., Ramirez/ProPower. 5. (5) 117 Jason Teague, Tahlequah, Okla., Hughes/BMS. 6. (7) 2 Grant Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., Hughes/ProPower. 7. (18) 31j Jeremy Rasmussen, Bella Vista, Ark., TRE/Donrich. 8. (4) 98 John Allen, Chanute, Kan., Hughes/Mullins. 9. (19) 15 Andy Wilkinson, York, Neb., BMS/Donrich. 10. (14) 75 Jon Thompson, Superior, Neb., Kraft/Smith. 11. (15) 9d8 Paden Phillips, Chanute, Kan., BillsBuilt/Allen’s. 12. (6) 16 Austin Siebert, Grandview, Mo., GRT/Buzzard. 13. (17) 1m Cody Gearhart, Turpin, Okla., Shaw/A&E. 14. (25) 26 Scott Styskal, David City, Neb., Razor/Jacobs. 15. (12) 66h Kyle Bronson, Tampa, Fla., Shaw/Mullins. 16. (21) 17 Brent Behrends, Webber, Kan., BMS/Tietjen. 17. (28) 111 Danny Bradford, Farmington, N.M., BRC/BRE. 18. (16) 5 Rick Germar, Red Oak, Iowa, Warrior/Cramer. 19. (23) 112 Jim Armstrong, Liberal, Kan., Hughes/Allen’s. 20. (10) 65 Greg Sharpe, Commerce City, Colo., Sharpe/Sharpe. 21. (27) 92 Delbert Smith, Wichita, Kan., BMS/Phillips. 22. (26) 81 Garfield Lopez, Elizabeth, Colo., BMS/ChevyShed. 23. (24) 16t Todd Ligenza, Columbus, Neb., Jet/Brunkhorst. 24. (22) 75 Garry Hall, Rochester, Minn., Hall/Hall. 25. (13) 1f Jason Friesen, Sutton, Neb., BMS/Spanel. 26. (8) 3g Clint Gilmore, Chapman, Kan., BMS/Phillips. 27. (9) 9 Brandon Blochlinger, Concordia, Kan., BMS/JR. 28. (20) 01 Ed Putman, Esbon, Kan., BMS/Mankato. Did Not Start: Frye, L. Hall, Klima, Martin. Lap Leaders: Landers 1-15, Anderson 16-40. Total Laps Led: Anderson 25, Landers 15. Margin of Victory: 1.448 seconds. Jeff Cypers/Ronnie Smith Harvesting Halfway Leader Award: Anderson. Hard Charger: Rasmussen (started 18th, finished 7th).

One last thank you to Jerry & and Nate at

RevHoney Energy