From Rick Salem
DODGE CITY, Kansas (July 18, 2021) – Drive to Zero POWRi United Rebel Sprint Series competitors took to the 3/8-mile semi-banked clay oval of Dodge City Raceway Park on Friday and Saturday. A full field of competition was in attendance both nights, but it was Taylor Velasquez dominating the weekend and capturing both wins.
On Friday, Luke Cranston and Taylor Velasquez set the pace for the night’s 25-lap feature event. Cranston took off with the early race lead while Velasquez and Jordan Knight battled for the runner-up position. Velasquez prevailed, claiming the second spot before challenging Cranston for the lead. On lap six, Velasquez made a move, took the lead, and never looked back.
On lap eight, Huish challenged Knight to take over third before then hunting down Cranston to then move into second. Velasquez navigated lapped traffic to perfection, putting some distance between himself and Huish. Just past the halfway point, series points leader, Ty Williams, continued his march forward from eleventh to get past Knight and Huish to take over the second spot. Velasquez went on to win by nearly 13.5-seconds. Ty Williams and Jeremy Huish completed the podium, while Jordan Knight and Koby Walters rounded out the top five finishers.
On Saturday, it was Taylor Velasquez and Jeremy Huish leading the field to the green for 25 laps. Velasquez jumped to the early lead with Huish, Luke Cranston, and Zach Blurton trailing. A restart on lap two saw Ty Williams navigate past Blurton for fourth. Huish remained within reasonable distance of Velasquez for the race lead.
With six laps remaining, Huish experienced an issue allowing Cranston to take over second and Williams into third. Williams used the remaining five laps to gain ground on Cranston and take over second with a last-lap pass. Velasquez captured his second victory of the weekend with the United Rebel Sprint Series with Williams and Cranston completing the podium. Zach Blurton and JD Johnson rounded out the top-five finishers on Saturday.
Up next for the Rebels will be this Friday night at US 36 Raceway in Cameron, MO and Saturday at Bethany Speedway in Bethany, MO.
United Rebel Sprint Series
Dodge City Raceway Park – Dodge City, Kansas
July 16, 2021
Heat One (8 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Koby Walters, 3) Zach Blurton, 4) Lance Davis, 5) Kaden Taylor, 6) Cale Levescy, 7) Chad Salem, 8) Pat McVicker
Heat Two (8 laps): 1) JD Johnson, 2) Luke Cranston, 3) Jeremy Huish, 4) Connor Atkinson, 5) Ty Williams, 6) David Luecke, 7) Steven Richardson, 8) Kohl Ricke
Heat Three (8 laps): 1) Ray Seemann, 2) Jordan Knight, 3) Jon Freeman, 4) Brian Herbert, 5) Ross Essenburg, 6) Tyler Knight, 7) Howard Van Dyke, 8) Cash Beeson
Dash (6 laps): 1) Luke Cranston, 2) Taylor Velasquez, 3) Jordan Knight, 4) Jeremy Huish, 5) Ray Seemann, 6) Koby Walters, 7) Zach Blurton, 8) JD Johnson
A Feature (25 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Ty Williams, 3) Jeremy Huish, 4) Jordan Knight, 5) Koby Walters, 6) Steven Richardson, 7) Ray Seemann, 8) Jon Freeman, 9) Tyler Knight, 10) Connor Atkinson, 11) Kaden Taylor, 12) Brian Herbert, 13) Kohl Ricke, 14) JD Johnson, 15) Lance Davis, 16) Ross Essenburg, 17) Howard Van Dyke, 18) Cash Beeson, 19) Cale Levescy, 20) Luke Cranston, 21) David Luecke, 22) Zach Blurton, 23) Chad Salem, 24) Pat McVicker
Dodge City Raceway Park – Dodge City, Kansas
July 17, 2021
Heat One (8 laps): 1) Koby Walters, 2) Ty Williams, 3) Zach Blurton, 4) David Luecke, 5) Howard Van Dyke, 6) Jordan Knight, 7) Cash Beeson
Heat Two (8 laps): 1) Connor Atkinson, 2) Taylor Velasquez, 3) Jeremy Huish, 4) Brian Herbert, 5) Jon Freeman, 6) Kohl Ricke
Heat Three (8 laps): 1) Luke Cranston, 2) Ray Seemann, 3) JD Johnson, 4) Steven Richardson, 5) Cale Levescy, 6) Kaden Taylor
Dash (6 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Jeremy Huish, 3) Zach Blurton, 4) Luke Cranston, 5) Ty Williams, 6) Ray Seemann, 7) Koby Walters, 8) Connor Atkinson
A Feature (25 laps): 1) Taylor Velasquez, 2) Ty Williams, 3) Luke Cranston, 4) Zach Blurton, 5) JD Johnson, 6) Ray Seemann, 7) Koby Walters, 8) Connor Atkinson, 9) Jon Freeman, 10) Kohl Ricke, 11) Kaden Taylor, 12) Steven Richardson, 13) Jeremy Huish, 14) Brian Herbert, 15) David Luecke, 16) Cale Levescy, 17) Jordan Knight, 18) Howard Van Dyke, 19) Cash Beeson