By Rick Salem
WAKEENEY, Kansas (September 27, 2020) – The Mel Hambelton Ford Racing Lucas Oil POWRi United Rebel Sprint Series took to the 3/8-mile dirt track of WaKeeney Speedway for the WaKeeney Showdown finale on Sunday night. Twenty-seven cars were in attendance for the finale and it was Quinter, Kansas’ Zach Blurton picking up the $1,000-to-win feature event.
Kyler Johnson and Todd Plemons were scheduled to set the pace for Sunday’s 30-lap feature event, but trouble ensued for Johnson during the pace lap causing him to pull off the track. Oklahoma-native, Jake Martens, assumed the pole starting position. At the drop of the green, Martens marched to the race lead ahead of Plemons while Blurton charged forward to third. Blurton would go on to challenge Plemons for the runner-up position, but Plemons battled back.
With ten laps in the books, a caution flew for Mark Walinder who fell off the track and spun. It was Martens taking off with the race lead on the restart while Plemons and Blurton continued to battle for second. Blurton advanced to second and made a charge toward race leader, Jake Martens.
On lap 20, Blurton assumed the lead over Martens. Martens appeared to have a mechanical issue, falling back to fourth after sweeping off of the track. Ty Williams would assume the second position over Scott Cochran. Taylor Velasquez, from the B-feature, made a charge forward through the field throughout the 30-lap event.
The red flag flew over the field with five laps remaining. It was Blurton maintaining the race lead and navigating the track to expand the lead. Martens pulled off, assuming Velasquez to third. Blurton went on to win the feature event over Ty Williams, Taylor Velasquez, Scott Cochran, and Todd Plemons.
Sunday’s United Rebel Sprint Series heat races were won by Zach Blurton, Chad Salem, Jake Martens, and Scott Cochran. The Keizer Aluminum Wheels hard-charger was awarded to Taylor Velasquez, coming from a B-Feature win to start 13th and finish third.
United Rebel Sprint Series
WaKeeney Speedway – WaKeeney, Kansas
September 27, 2020
Heat One (8 laps): 1) Zach Blurton, 2) Ty Williams, 3) Todd Plemons, 4) Koby Walters
Heat Two (8 laps): 1) Chad Salem, 2) Jed Werner, 3) Jordan Knight, 4) Taylor Velasquez, 5) Cody Lampe, 6) Ray Seemann, 7) Chuck Lutters
Heat Three (8 laps): 1) Jake Martens, 2) Kyler Johnson, 3) JD Johnson, 4) Fred Holz, 5) Mark Walinder
Heat Four (8 laps): 1) Scott Cochran, 2) Daniel Nekolite, 3) Tom Belsky, 4) Aaron Ploussard, 5) Willie Wynn, 6) Dalton Webb
B-Feature (12 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Koby Walters, 3) Ray Seemann, 4) Cody Lampe, 5) Willie Wynn, 6) Fred Holz, 7) Aaron Ploussard, 8) Mark Walinder, 9) Dalton Webb, 10) Howard Van Dyke, 11) Darren Berry, 12) Chuck Lutters, 13) Jeff Reiman, 14) John Webster, 15) Brady Skrdlant
A-Feature (30 laps): 1) Zach Blurton, 2) Ty Williams, 3) Taylor Velasquez, 4) Scott Cochran, 5) Todd Plemons, 6) JD Johnson, 7) Jordan Knight, 8) Ray Seemann, 9) Cody Lampe, 10) Tom Belsky, 11) Aaron Ploussard, 12) Fred Holz, 13) Willie Wynn, 14) Jake Martens, 15) Daniel Nekolite, 16) Jed Werner, 17) Mark Walinder, 18) Chad Salem, 19) Koby Walters, 20) Kyler Johnson