By Randy Pospishil
sports@norfolkdailynews.com
NORFOLK, Neb. (April 20) – Ninety cars were on hand and late-lead changes were the norm on opening night Saturday at Off Road Speedway.
The best race of the night may have been the Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature where Colby Langenberg overcame a starting assignment on the inside of the fourth row and a significant lead by Jeremy Gnat and Robbie Thome before securing the win on the final lap of the 20-lap event.
"I kind of got caught up with a couple guys that were running side-by-side, so I couldn't go anywhere," Langenberg said. "Finally they separated, and I was able to shoot through. I got to third, but the leaders were a long ways out there, so I knew I was going to need a caution."
That caution, the only one that occurred other than an initial restart, gave Langenberg the chance he needed with just three laps left.
"With about five to go, I could tell I was faster than those guys and was starting to reel them in, but I wasn't going to have enough time to catch them, and then I got the caution," he said. "They were protecting the bottom not to get passed, so my only chance was to go around them on the top, and it worked."
As Langenberg passed Gnat on the outside of the final lap for the win, Thome tried unsuccessfully to pass on the inside. Seizing an opportunity, Kyle Prauner – who had started in the back row and steadily worked his way through the field behind Langenberg – squeezed through the group to grab second place ahead of Gnat, who finished third.
Travis Barker pulled alongside race leader Ron Pettitt coming out of turn two then, coming out of the backstretch took the lead entering turn three, before holding off challenges by both Pettitt and Shawn Primrose during the final six laps to win the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature.
Primrose finished in second place, with Pettitt taking third.
In the IMCA Late Model feature, Travis Birkley went wire-to-wire for the win with Chase Osborne and Jim Johnson taking second and third place, respectively.
Cameron Wilkinson pursued Sal Hernandez for 10 laps of the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature before taking the lead and holding it, despite two cautions which forced restarts that kept not only Hernandez but also Wyatt Lehman close during the race's final five laps.
Lehman ultimately pulled ahead of Hernandez with two laps remaining in the battle for second.
Ramsey Meyer, the defending and two-time national champion in the Mach-1 Sport Compact division, won that feature with Terry Tritt second and Parker Vollbrecht third.
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Off Road Speedway's 2018 season off and running
By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.co NORFOLK, Neb. (April 28) – With a large crowd on hand, the 2018 season at Off Road Speed­way began Saturday night. "We've got 84 cars here tonight, which is an increase from last year, and a great crowd for the first night," promoter Jerry Pospisil said. "The track is really good, it's slick, and that's what we like. We're real excited about the year, especially if we can keep the car count up around 80–that's the best in the business around here." With an increased purse this season for classes that consist of 20 cars or more, Pospisil noted that two of Saturday night's classes, the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, already met that criteria on opening night. Racing action began with Ramsey Meyer starting on the pole and leading all 12 laps in the IMCA Sport Compact feature to take the first checkered flag of the season at Off Road Speedway. Tan­ner Uehling finished second with Parker Vollbrecht in third. Robby Thome won the Karl Chevrolet [Read More]
First Off Road Speedway win for Missouri racer
By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (June 16) – Taylor Caldwell made the most of a visit to his hometown of Stanton this past weekend, returning to his racing roots long enough to win the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod feature at Off Road Speedway, in a borrowed car. "I got out of racing for about nine years until this year and John Dunklau was nice enough to let me run his SportMod this season to get back in to it,' said Caldwell, who lives and works in Lib­erty, Mo. "I was fortunate enough tonight to put it in the winner's circle." Caldwell took advantage of his starting position on the outside of the front row and took control of the race early on, winning handily ahead of Jeremy and Joey Haase. A quick start in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature allowed TeJay Mielke to immediately grab the lead from his second row inside position. Mielke then withstood four cautions to lead all 18 laps for the win. After starting in the middle of the [Read More]
Off Road checkers fly for Meyer
By Randy Pospishil sports@norfolkdailynews.com NORFOLK, Neb. (June 22) – Cameron Meyer earned his first win of the season at Off Road Speedway and second victory overall in Saturday's Karl Kustoms Northern SportMod feature, after a battle with Wes Hochstein in the race's final five laps. The two started the race side-by-side in the third row and chased last week's feature winner Jonathan Jensen for nine laps before Hochstein took over the lead. Meyer then passed Hochstein coming out of a caution and restart with five laps left, but Hochstein returned to the front with three laps remaining, holding on until Meyer picked up momentum on the inside coming out of turn two and again as he moved through turns three and four on the final lap to grab the win. Meyer said he benefited in multiple ways from his third-place finish a week ago in a car borrowed from Colby Langenberg. "To replace the motor in the car, it came down to time and people first of all," Meyer said. "We picked up the new [Read More]