By MIKE HUGHES

Special to The Hays Daily News

HAYS, KS (August 21) - By coincidence, all four feature winners in their respective divisions Friday evening, August 21, at RPM Speedway in Hays, KS, were first time winners in 2009 at the 3/8-mile oval.

In the IMCA Modified A-feature, Chapman's Brent Fielder led from green to checkered in the 20-lap event. Fielder was chased early on by Tyler Hahn, then later by Mike Petersilie, but no one could make a serious challenge at Fielder as he cruised to the finish. Petersilie finished second, followed by Dave Hardesty, John Fose and Jason Schoenberger. Heat race winners were Jerry Teel, Dylan Sherfick, and Fielder, while 'Rapid' Ronnie Hill won the B-main.

Stockton's Adam Balthazor took the lead on lap 2 from Bob Rutherford in the 20-lap IMCA Stock Car feature and was able to fend off several challengers to make his way to victory lane. Jason Davis, Cole Wilson, Pat Bedore, Cory Struckhoff and Terry Cunningham all gave chase, but Balthazor was up to the challenge. Struckhoff won the race for second, followed by Cunningham, Davis and heat two winner Bedore. First heat winner Wilson was sixth.

Cody Williams led the first 5 laps of the IMCA Hobby Stock feature before Clearwater's Mathew Crowell took command. Crowell was able to hang on up front, holding off veteran Jerry Hudson for a trip to the winner's circle. B.J. Dauer, Casey Gilmore and Joel Younger rounded out the top five. Heat race winners were Cody Williams and Leon Pfannenstiel.

The IMCA Sport Compacts returned to the speedway. 'The Wonder Woman' Nicole Woods led the 9-car field through the halfway mark of the 12-lap race before Jesse Dunlap took over the lead and held off a late charge by point leader Michael Smith for the victory. Woods finished third, followed by heat race winner Nick Wolff and John Annon.

In Figure 8 action, Justin Dietz of Wakeeney won the event after a meeting of the minds with Sam Ummel in the X.

The evening's race sponsor was Hays Chevrolet.

It was also Big Brothers/Big Sisters Night and Racecars for Superstars. Twelve superstars competed, raising over $25,000 for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Rooks County's Greg Beougher had the fast time of 21.16 around the 3/8-mile oval. Russell County's John Berkey raised the most pledges with $5,135. A raffle for an autographed helmet donated by Michael Smith also raised $109 for the worthwhile charity.

Racing action returns to RPM Speedway on Friday, September 4. On the card will be the IMCA-sanctioned Modifieds, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks, along with the URSS 305 Sprint Cars. Race time is 7:30 p.m.

RESULTS

IMCA Hobby Stocks

Heat 1: 1. Cody Williams, 2. Kent Tammen, 3. Mark Normandin, 4. Casey Gilmore.

Heat 2: 1. Leon Pfannenstiel, 2. Mathew Crowell, 3. Roger Garrison, 4. Jerry Hudson.

Feature: 1. Crowell, 2. Hudson, 3. B.J. Dauer, 4. Gilmore, 5. Joel Younger, 6. G.W. Fuller, 7. Garrison, 8. Tammen, 9. Normandin, 10. T.C. McKain, 11. Luke Pfannenstiel (DNF), 12. Leon Pfannenstiel (DNS), 13. Dustin Forsberg (DNS), DQ - Williams.

IMCA Stock Cars

Heat 1: 1. Cole Wilson, 2. Adam Balthazor, 3. Cory Struckhoff, 4. Marty Barth.

Heat 2: 1. Pat Bedore, 2. Terry Cunningham, 3. Jason Davis, 4. Jay Hachmeister.

Feature: 1. Balthazor, 2. Struckhoff, 3. Cunningham, 4. Davis, 5. Bedore, 6. Wilson, 7. Barth, 8. Dalton Bauer, 9. Craig Werth, 10. Travis Hahn, 11. Bob Rutherford, 12. Hachmeister (DNF), 13. Dusty Witthuhn (DNF), 14. Keith Riley (DNF).

IMCA Modifieds

Heat 1: 1. Jerry Teel, 2. Jerry Phillips, 3. Dave Hardesty, 4. Tyler Hahn.

Heat 2: 1. Dylan Sherfick, 2. John Fose, 3. Marty Clark, 4. Brian Calhoon.

Heat 3: 1. Brent Fielder, 2. Rodger Peck, 3. Mike Petersilie, 4. Jason Schoenberger.

B-Feature (top 5 transfer): 1. Ronnie Hill, 2. Danny Morrison, 3. Barry Maupin, 4. Matt Fabrizius, 5. Nate Moore, 6. Clinton Hockersmith, 7. Rob Day, 8. Cory McGann, 9. Todd Schwarz, 10. Doug Shearer, 11. Marvin Bradford (DNF), 12. Chris Vogan (DNF).

A-Feature: 1. Fielder, 2. Petersilie, 3. Hardesty, 4. Fose, 5. Schoenberger, 6. Phillips, 7. Teel, 8. Hahn, 9. Hill, 10. Sherfick, 11. Corey Lagroon, 12. Calhoon, 13. Clark, 14. Maupin, 15. Jason Brees, 16. Fabrizius, 17. Moore, 18. Danny Keller, 19. Morrison (DNF), 20. Peck (DNF).

IMCA Sport Compacts

Heat: 1. Nick Wolff, 2. Jesse Dunlap, 3. Kirk Pfannenstiel, 4. Nicole Woods.

Feature: 1. Dunlap, 2. Michael Smith, 3. N. Woods, 4. Wolff, 5. John Annon, 6. Art Herzog, 7. Shaun Woods, 8. Pfannenstiel (DNF), 9. Alex Jensen (DNF).