By Bob Fricke
(6/7/13) – The first night of racing for the month of June at Limaland Motorsports Park was filled with drama and genuine emotion. Lima’s Jeff Koz, NASCAR great Ken Schrader and veteran sprint car driver Jared Horstman each posted a memorable win for themselves and the racetrack.
Koz started the evening’s feature races with a dominant showing to win the coveted Steve Brown Memorial for the Budweiser Thunderstocks. A smooth gripping racing surface was all Koz needed to roar to the front at the start and take control of the 18-lap event. Defending track champion Shawn Valenti was the only driver to challenge Koz. He finished in the runner-up position and Tony Anderson was third.
“Starting on the outside of the front row I knew that if I held my line, I’d be good because I definitely had a good car,” said Koz, after posting his second consecutive triumph in the Brown Memorial. “We had a really rough start to the season and blew a motor, so we had an old borrowed car from Tony Anderson. I always love to win these bigger money races for my sponsors and those that support me.”
The popular touring K & L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders once again sported a stacked field of contenders. Former winner Butch Schroeder and veteran Jared Horstman led the field to the green at the start for the 25 laps around the 1/4-mile oval. It was those two drivers that stole the show as the only leaders the race would produce.
A restart following a caution period on lap number four saw Horstman pull off a classic slide job pass through turn number two and grab the lead from Schroeder. From there, the Cloverdale, Ohio resident headed for the cushion of the track surface and by the mid point of the event he held a full straightaway advantage on Schroeder and the rest of the field.
Although Jared Horstman would never surrender the lead for the duration of the race, he felt the pressure of a closing charge from Butch Schroeder. A defining restart with three laps remaining saw Horstman able to extend his margin and roar to the first win of his career at Limaland Motorsports Park.
“It’s awesome to finally get the monkey off my back at Limaland,” said Horstman, standing aside his #17 orange colored machine. “I knew I had a great restart, followed Butch into the corner and if I didn’t make a move then, well who knows when it could have been. I was nervous late (in the race), but I knew I had to put the hammer down to keep these guys (Schroeder, Randy Hannagan) behind me.”
NASCAR stars Ken Schrader and Kenny Wallace joined the field with the K & N Modifieds for their 20-lap feature and both drivers prominently figured into the action. Schrader won the feature last year in his familiar Federated #9, while Wallace arrived at the track in time to compete after qualifying his Nationwide car in an event at Iowa Speedway earlier in the afternoon. Those two drivers along with defending track champion Todd Sherman gave the fans one of the most thrilling Modified battles of the season so far.
At the start, UNOH graduate Bob Baldwin led the opening four circuits, but a restart on lap number five saw Schrader work around him for a lead he would never surrender. By then, Indiana’s Todd Sherman was chasing Schrader and made numerous attempts to get around. At times they were in a virtual side-by-side battle that had the fans on the edge of their seats. On two occasions it appeared Sherman had taken the lead position, but he couldn’t sustain it at the start/finish line for an official lead change.
On the final circuit, Sherman made a desperation move to the top of the track and briefly lost control as Schrader rolled under the checkered flag, with Kenny Wallace slipping by for the runner-up finish. “I don’t know what it looked like from in the stands, but it was pretty darn exciting from where I was sitting,” said Schrader from the winner’s circle. It was a repeat win for the Missouri native from last year at the track.
“That was a lot of fun,” declared Sherman, after his third place result. “I changed it up a little on the last lap, got underneath Ken, then alongside, but couldn’t finish it. These guys (Schrader, Wallace) are great ambassadors of the sport and it’s a pleasure to compete with them.”
The always animated Kenny Wallace was equally thrilled with his Limaland experience. “I’m proud of my team, the car was awesome. My only choice was to make it three wide and all of us would wreck. I was watching the show, rubbing the bumpers off. Congratulations to Kenny (Schrader) and (Todd) Sherman is a great race car driver, but he messed up over here a little bit is why I got second.”
Limaland Motorsports Park returns to action on Friday, June 14, for the Keysor Memorial with the Budweiser Thunderstocks. Also the Elwer Fence Sprints and the K&N UMP Modifieds will compete. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.
All the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com. You can also find 2013 Limaland Motorsports Park on Facebook and Twitter.
Limaland Motorsports Park – 6/7/2013
McDonald’s Dash for Cash
1. 93-Tyler Stump 2. 5X-Jerry Bowersock 3. 69-Tommy Beezley 4. L5-Casey Luedeke
Bud Thunderstocks
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 21H-Dave Hollon; 2. 27-Frank Paladino; 3. 16-Jeff Koz; 4. 93-Zach Gustafson;
5. 19-Bill Reimund; 6. OOK-Tommy Klein; 7. 32-Scott Boyde Jr.; 8. 5-Brad Johnson
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti; 2. 6-Emily Gade; 3. 48-Tim Cole; 4. 7C-Jordan Conover;
5. OOM-Bryan Martin; 6. 01S-Jordan Shipley; 7. O1C-Andrew Clark;
8. 1-Anthony Flannery
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 22T-Tony Anderson; 2. 82-Chris Douglas; 3. 8C-Brad Conover;
4. OOBM-Landon Miller; 5. 2-Ray Seech; 6. 89-Keith Shockency;
7. 7W-Dan Wooten; 8. 26-Nick Beam
B-Main – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. OOK-Tommy Klein; 2. 1-Anthony Flannery; 3. 01S-Jordan Shipley;
4. O1C-Andrew Clark; 5. 89-Keith Shockency; 6. 7W-Dan Wooten;
7. 32-Scott Boyde Jr.; 8. 5-Brad Johnson
A-Main – (15 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 16-Jeff Koz[2]; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti[7]; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson[6];
4. 48-Tim Cole[1]; 5. 82-Chris Douglas[3]; 6. 6-Emily Gade[4];
7. 7C-Jordan Conover[11]; 8. 1-Anthony Flannery[17]; 9. 93-Zach Gustafson[10];
10. 8C-Brad Conover[9]; 11. 21H-Dave Hollon[8]; 12. 19-Bill Reimund[13];
13. 2-Ray Seech[15]; 14. OOK-Tommy Klein[16]; 15. 01S-Jordan Shipley[18];
16. 27-Frank Paladino[5]; 17. 89-Keith Shockency[20]; 18. O1C-Andrew Clark[19];
19. OOM-Bryan Martin[14]; 20. OOBM-Landon Miller[12]
K & L Ready Mix NRA Sprints
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 6S-Jr Stewart; 2. 17-Jared Horstman; 3. 22H-Randy Hannagan; 4. 57-Mike Dunlap; 5. 49T-Gregg Dalman; 6. 49-Shawn Dancer; 7. 31-Andy Teunessen; 8. 2-Brent Gehr;
9. 28H-Hud Horton
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 7C-Max Stambaugh; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder; 3. 2M-Dustin Daggett;
4. 23-Devon Dobie; 5. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 6. 35-Ron Blair; 7. 22R-Kevin Roberts;
8. 12R-Nick Roberts; 9. 34-Jimmy Snead
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 2. 7-Darren Long; 3. 27-Beau Stewart; 4. 4J-Bob Gehr;
5. 11-Tim Allison; 6. 7K-Cole Duncan; 7. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 8. 12-Kody Swanson; 9. 69-Scott Curren
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 35-Ron Blair; 2. 7K-Cole Duncan; 3. 49-Shawn Dancer; 4. 28H-Hud Horton;
5. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 6. 31-Andy Teunessen; 7. 22R-Kevin Roberts;
8. 12-Kody Swanson; 9. 12R-Nick Roberts; 10. 69-Scott Curren; 11. 2-Brent Gehr;
12.34-Jimmy Snead
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 17-Jared Horstman[2]; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder[1]; 3. 22H-Randy Hannagan[7];
4. 2M-Dustin Daggett[8]; 5. 7C-Max Stambaugh[4]; 6. 7K-Cole Duncan[17];
7. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3]; 8. 28H-Hud Horton[19]; 9. 27-Beau Stewart[9];
10. 35-Ron Blair[16]; 11. 6S-Jr Stewart[5]; 12. 49-Shawn Dancer[18];
13. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[20]; 14. 10J-Jarrod Delong[14]; 15. 57-Mike Dunlap[10];
16. 23-Devon Dobie[11]; 17. 4J-Bob Gehr[12]; 18. 7-Darren Long[6];
19. 11-Tim Allison[15]
K & N UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 65-Todd Sherman; 2. 42-Bob Baldwin; 3. 93-Tyler Stump; 4. 17T-Ryan Ordway;
5. 28-Chad Rosenbeck; 6. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger; 7. 19B-Brandon Ordway;
8. 53-Brad Johnson
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 69-Tommy Beezley; 2. 20-Kody Weisner; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson;
4. OO-Dwight Niehoff; 5. L5-Casey Luedeke; 6. 21-Tom Treon; 7. 83K-Josh Kehle;
8. 33-Clint Reagle
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 9-Ken Schrader; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace; 3. 5X-Jerry Bowersock; 4. 22B-Andy Bibler; 5. 20K-Bill Keeler; 6. 6-David Sibberson; 7. 21S-Mike Hohlbein
B-Main – (8 Laps – Top 7 Transfer)
1. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger; 2. 21-Tom Treon; 3. 19B-Brandon Ordway;
4. 83K-Josh Kehle; 5. 21S-Mike Hohlbein; 6. 53-Brad Johnson; 7. 33-Clint Reagle
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 9-Ken Schrader[3]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace[6]; 3. 65-Todd Sherman[5];
4. 20-Kody Weisner[1]; 5. OO-Dwight Niehoff[11]; 6. 69-Tommy Beezley[4];
7. 22T-Tony Anderson[8]; 8. 42-Bob Baldwin[2]; 9. 17T-Ryan Ordway[10];
10. 93-Tyler Stump[7]; 11. 5X-Jerry Bowersock[9]; 12. L5-Casey Luedeke[14];
13. 20K-Bill Keeler[15]; 14. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger[16]; 15. 22B-Andy Bibler[12];
16. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[13]; 17. 21-Tom Treon[17]; 18. 21S-Mike Hohlbein[20];
19. 19B-Brandon Ordway[18]; 20. 33-Clint Reagle[22]; 21. 83K-Josh Kehle[19];
22. 53-Brad Johnson[21]