Briggs tops Streicher Memorial

Stratton Briggs. (Bill Miller photo)

From Gerry Keysor

LIMA, Ohio (May 14, 2021) — For the first time since August of 2019, the gates at Limaland Motorsports Park swung open for teams and fans to come together at the 1/4 mile of thunder. After losing the season opener to weather on May 7th, Limaland kicked off the 2021 season in a very special way with the running of the inaugural Mike Streicher Memorial featuring the USAC Midwest Thunder Midgets.

Anna Ohio’s Stratton Briggs won the 25 lap feature honoring the memory of Streicher, the 1991 USAC National Midget Champion, and longtime instructor at the University of Northwestern Ohio. Jordan Conover picked up the win in the Bud Thunderstocks, Jeff Koz bagged the Northwest Physical Therapy UMP Modified victory and Chris Hicks won the first ever Dirt Track Truck Series event at Limaland Motorsports Park.

The USAC Midwest Thunder Midgets were first on the track in their 25 lap A Main honoring Mike Streicher. No. 36 Ian Creager and No. 71 Stratton Briggs would lead the field to green with Briggs getting out to the early lead. No. 11T Jacob Denney had a lightning fast car, making his way past Briggs on lap 3 and pulling away from Briggs after a couple of cautions during the event. As the leaders entered turns 3&4 on the final lap, 2 lapped cars got together collecting Denney, Brigs was able to navigate around the crash, and would inherit the lead for one final restart. Briggs would pick up a very emotional victory over No. 93C Chett Gehrke, No. 36 Creager, No. 11H Abby Hohlbein, and No.1FR Ryan Tuowas

Next up were the Bud Thunderstocks in their 15 lap feature event. No. 57 Jeffrey Jessup and No. 23 Casey Barr would bring the field to the initial green flag, with Barr grabbing the early lead. Jessup spun on lap 5 and nearly collected the No.7C of Jordan Conover. On the restart, the field would get one more lap in before No. 26 Justin Long, and No. 82 Chris Douglas would tangle in turn 2, bringing out the caution flag once again. As the cars wound up for the green flag, Conover would make a huge move in turn 1 on the inside to power by both No. 1M Jeff Matheny, and Barr to grab the lead. Matheny would bring out the final caution on lap 11 as he spun in turn 3, and took the No. 1M to the pits. On the restart, Conover, pulled away and grabbed his first victory of 2021. An emotional Conover climbed from the seat of the 7C clutching the steering wheel that had once been in Mike Streicher’s midget, and dedicated the win to the memory of the late Mike Streicher. No. 74D Craig Dippman would finish 2nd, Barr 3rd, No. 22T Tony Anderson 4th, and No. 87 Andy Welch would complete the top 5.

The Northwest Physical Therapy UMP Modifieds would take to the track next for their 20 lap A Main. Defending UMP Modified track champion No. 65 Todd Sherman would lead the field to green alongside No. 4G Bill Griffith. Sherman would grab the lead and seemed to be on his way to yet another victory at Limaland until getting sideways on the front straightaway on lap 12, losing several positions but gathering the car up and keeping the race under green. No. 16 Jeff Koz would inherit the point after battling his way from a 7th place starting position, and would survice a final restart after a late caution to pick up the win. No. 3W Dylan Woddling finished 2nd, No. 34X Shane O’Connor 3rd, No. 22T Tony Anderson 4th, and Sherman would bounce back to complete the top 5.

The Dirt Track Truck Series would wrap up the racing at Limaland in their 15 lap feature. No. 99W Vincent Wagoner, and No. 71 Chris Hicks would bring the field down to the green flag, with Hicks securing the early race lead. No. 21 Dwayne Powell, and No. 3 Blake Hayder would keep Hicks in sight with Hayder grabbing the lead on lap 6. Hicks would get back by on lap 7, as Hayder would slow with a flat right rear tire, bringing out the caution flag. Hicks would survive a late race challenge from Powell, and a final restart on lap 13 to grab the inaugural DTTS win at Limaland. No. 99D Kenny Douglas would come home 2nd, with No. Powell 3rd, No. 72 Derrick Cordia 4th, and No. 19 Brooke Ramey completing the top 5.

Limaland Motorsports Park roars back to life next Friday night May 14th with the 22nd Annual Run for the Rabbit, featuring the K&L Ready Mix NRA 360 Sprints honoring the memory of the late Travis “The Rabbit” Miller who was a long time competitor at Limaland. Pit gates open at 4:30p.m, Grandstand gates open at 5p.m., Hot laps start at 6:30p.m., and racing at 7:30 p.m. General admission is just $12 for ages 16 and older, ages 11-15 admitted for $6, and kids 10 and under are admitted FREE. Pit asses for all ages are $30. For details on this and all events at Limaland Motorsports Park, visit www.limaland.com and like us on Facebook

Mike Streicher Memorial presented by Post Printing
Limaland Motorsports Park
Lima, Ohio
Saturday May 14, 2021

USAC Midwest Thunder Midgets
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 36-Ian Creager; 2. 11T-Jacob Denney; 3. 1FR-Ryan Tuowas; 4. 20X-Alex Watson; 5. 12M-Bryce Massingill; 6. 12Y-Josh Yenser; 7. 44-Ron Coleman; 8. 7-Cody Beard; 9. 23D-Bryce Dues; 10. 65-Austin Wickman

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 71-Stratton Briggs; 2. 93C-Chett Gehrke; 3. O1-Ryan Moran; 4. 6S-Adam Schmenk; 5. 8Z-Zach Ginerich; 6. 12K-Kyle Kriegbaum; 7. 55-Matt Cogley; 8. 18H-Anthony Haas; 9. X-Andy Martin; 10. 3D-Cody Downard

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11H-Abby Hohlbein; 2. 7T-Tom Hessel; 3. 2-Kyle Dager; 4. 18C-Alex Cogley; 5. 60-Trey Osborne; 6. 4T-Cody Dye; 7. 98-Tommy Kouns; 8. 11L-Aaron Leffel; 9. 22-Gunnar Lucius

B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 12Y-Josh Yenser; 2. 44-Ron Coleman; 3. 98-Tommy Kouns; 4. 7-Cody Beard; 5. 55-Matt Cogley; 6. 12K-Kyle Kriegbaum; 7. 18H-Anthony Haas; 8. X-Andy Martin; 9. 65-Austin Wickman; 10. 23D-Bryce Dues; 11. 22-Gunnar Lucius

A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 71-Stratton Briggs[2]; 2. 93C-Chett Gehrke[5]; 3. 36-Ian Creager[1]; 4. 11H-Abby Hohlbein[3]; 5. 1FR-Ryan Tuowas[7]; 6. 11T-Jacob Denney[4]; 7. 12M-Bryce Massingill[13]; 8. O1-Ryan Moran[8]; 9. 7T-Tom Hessel[6]; 10. 6S-Adam Schmenk[11]; 11. 2-Kyle Dager[9]; 12. 8Z-Zach Ginerich[14]; 13. 55-Matt Cogley[20]; 14. 98-Tommy Kouns[18]; 15. 18C-Alex Cogley[12]; 16. 60-Trey Osborne[15]; 17. 7-Cody Beard[19]; 18. 44-Ron Coleman[17]; 19. 20X-Alex Watson[10]; 20. 12Y-Josh Yenser[16]

Bud Thunderstocks
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 1M-Jeff Matheny; 2. 23-Casey Barr; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson; 4. 1V-Sean Verwys; 5. 26-Justin Long; 6. OO-Randy Giroux; 7. 89-Keith Shockency; 8. 51-Cody Timmerman

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 7C-Jordan Conover; 2. 57-Jeffery Jessup; 3. 27-Frank Paladino; 4. 87-Andy Welch; 5. 74D-Craig Dippman; 6. 17J-Jarrod Klay; 7. 1W-Mark Wooten; 8. 82-Chris Douglas

A-Main – (15 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 7C-Jordan Conover[3]; 2. 74D-Craig Dippman[10]; 3. 23-Casey Barr[2]; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson[5]; 5. 87-Andy Welch[8]; 6. 57-Jeffery Jessup[1]; 7. OO-Randy Giroux[11]; 8. 82-Chris Douglas[16]; 9. 89-Keith Shockency[13]; 10. 1M-Jeff Matheny[4]; 11. 26-Justin Long[9]; 12. 51-Cody Timmerman[15]; 13. 1W-Mark Wooten[14]; 14. 17J-Jarrod Klay[12]

Northwest Physical Therapy UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 20M-Josh Morton; 2. 65-Todd Sherman; 3. 16-Jeff Koz; 4. O1-Bryce Nichols; 5. 36-Brandon Vaughan; 6. 71-Chris Hicks; 7. J42-John Williams

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 22T-Tony Anderson; 2. 3W-Dylan Woodling; 3. 9C-Troy Cattarene; 4. 9PG-Percy Gendreau; 5. 19-Ryan Ordway; 6. 12B-Brandon Jacobs; 7. 32-Scott Boyd Jr; 8. 7C-Jordan Conover; 9. 57-Jeffery Jessup

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 4G-Bill Griffith; 2. 2B-Darryl Banks; 3. 34X-Shane O’Connor; 4. 114-Clayton Bryant; 5. 95 J-Jerry Bowersock; 6. 5A-Brent Hole; 7. 11H-Mike Hohlbein; 8. O9C-Chris Bitters

B-Main – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11H-Mike Hohlbein; 2. 5A-Brent Hole; 3. 7C-Jordan Conover; 4. 57-Jeffery Jessup; 5. 71-Chris Hicks; 6. J42-John Williams; 7. O9C-Chris Bitters; 8. 32-Scott Boyd Jr; 9. 12B-Brandon Jacobs

A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 16-Jeff Koz[7]; 2. 3W-Dylan Woodling[5]; 3. 34X-Shane O’Connor[9]; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson[3]; 5. 65-Todd Sherman[1]; 6. 4G-Bill Griffith[2]; 7. O1-Bryce Nichols[10]; 8. 2B-Darryl Banks[6]; 9. 95 J-Jerry Bowersock[15]; 10. 36-Brandon Vaughan[13]; 11. 114-Clayton Bryant[12]; 12. 9C-Troy Cattarene[8]; 13. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[11]; 14. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[16]; 15. 19-Ryan Ordway[14]; 16. 57-Jeffery Jessup[19]; 17. 71-Chris Hicks[20]; 18. 5A-Brent Hole[17]; 19. 7C-Jordan Conover[18]; 20. 20M-Josh Morton[4]

Dirt Track Truck Series
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 71-Chris Hicks; 2. 21-Dwayn Powell; 3. 3-Blake Hayder; 4. 99-Tony Anderson; 5. 99D-Kenny Douglas; 6. 19-Brooke Ramey; 7. 60-Joe Bell; 8. 69-David Reed

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 99W-Vincent Wagoner; 2. 72-Derrick Cordia; 3. 20-Phil Hicks; 4. 4-Zach Hill; 5. 70-Blaze Rogers; 6. 10-Rolly Heyder; 7. 22-Dusty Ratliff

A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 71-Chris Hicks[2]; 2. 99D-Kenny Douglas[9]; 3. 21-Dwayn Powell[3]; 4. 72-Derrick Cordia[4]; 5. 19-Brooke Ramey[11]; 6. 99-Tony Anderson[7]; 7. 20-Phil Hicks[6]; 8. 4-Zach Hill[8]; 9. 60-Joe Bell[13]; 10. 99W-Vincent Wagoner[1]; 11. 3-Blake Hayder[5]; 12. 70-Blaze Rogers[10]; 13. 10-Rolly Heyder[12]