Recognized

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Oahe Speedway honors its 2011 Coca Cola Points Series champions this  evening, Saturday, Nov 5, during the speedway's annual awards banquet.   Four classes awarded Oahe Speedway's highest honors to  new champions, and the remaining four went to repeat champion or former champions.  Signature "Rock " trophies were awarded to the champions.  The trophies, created by Dakota Classique Rock, of Pierre, have become the symbol of a championship season at Oahe Speedway. 

Jonathan Huse, of Onida, took his second consecutive Oahe Speedway Coca Cola Junior Minor Championship.  The class, in only its second year of competition, has been Huse's to lose.  A first and  third round loss in the first two points races gave way to wins in the third and fourth races allowing Huse to pick up points.  Two more runner-ups and a win in the ninth race assured the Onida racer his second championship.   Noah Miller, of Fort Pierre, won two races and took two runner ups  all the way to the second position in the final standings.  Miller had to battle his siblings, Jake and Alec, on several occasions enroute to the runner up position.   Jonathan Geuther, of Fort Pierre, fell just a little over one round behind Miller, with two wins and a runner up finish during the ten race series, to secure a third place finish.  Jake Miller, took fourth place with a pair of wins.  Jake was unable to shake first round losses in the early season,  saving his two wins for late in the season, winning races number eight and ten.  Cutter Hammersley, of Pierre, in his first full year of competition, finished the season in a tie  for fifth place with Alec Miller, of Fort Pierre,  with a runner up spot in the first race of the 2011 series, and semi final finishes in two additional races.  Miller scored a runner up finish to twin  brother, Jake, in early September and had a semi final run, to close out the year. 

  Carly Jo Ellingson, of Rapid City, has won many races at Oahe Speedway, but had never taken the season championship, until this year.  In a season long battle with Austin Mohr, of Mitchell, the final weekend's racing would determine the 2011 Coca Cola  BankWest Junior Major class title.  Ellingson, a past champion at  Sturgis Dragway, as well as Douglas (WY) Motorsports Park, and  the 2010 Western Conference Junior Drag Racing League Finals 15 year old Champion, won three out of the first four series races, coupled with an additional win and two runner up slots, allowed her to maintain the points lead through the late season.  A first round out, in the ninth race, set up an unlikely outcome for the season finale the following day.  Mohr battled Ellingson all season, suffering five runner-up finishes, winning just once, in the ninth race of the year, setting up a do-or die final points race of the season.  Following his win in the ninth points race, over Tucker Driscoll, of Watertown, Mohr needed to win the last race, and have Ellingson falter in round one. In doing so, Mohr would become co-champion in the ten race series.  Ellingson did, in fact, lose first round, but Mohr was unable to get around Driscoll in the final.   Mohr fell just one round short of sharing the 2011 championship.  Kimberlee Geuther, of Fort Pierre, won twice over Labor Day weekend, to finish in the third position.  Geuther won  the 2011 Junior Drag Racing League Challenge on September 3rd.  Driscoll took his late season win to the fourth place finish, with Cody Ryckman, of Fort Pierre, completing the top five, with one runner up finish in mid season. 

Stephanie Holm

Pierre, SD

Snap On High School Class

Stephanie Holm, of Pierre, adjusting to a new car, lost in the first round of the first two Coca Cola Snap On High School class races.  Following the early season slump, she steadily worked toward a late July run for the championship.  Taking a runner up trophy in mid July and then winning three consecutive races in August and early September, Holm would go on to win her first Oahe Speedway championship. While Stephanie was struggling in the early season, sister Ashley took points races one and two, and backed them up with two runner up finishes, securing second place in the championship battle.  Ashley finished up three round wins behind her sister.   Toni Vetter, of Gettysburg, won twice in the late season, and had three runner ups to take the third spot.  Vetter's season was highlighted by her win at Kearney Raceway Park, in Kearney, NE, in the NHRA Division 5 High School Race Of Champions, contested in early October.    Past BankWest Junior Dragster champion, James Morris, of Pierre, moving up to the High School class in 2011, ended his eligibility with fourth place honors.  Taryn Colson, of Blunt, defending Snap On High School champion, running a limited schedule, completed the year in fifth place. 

Duane Soper

Gettysburg, SD

Street Trophy Class

In a ten race series, winning only two of the contests, normally would not ensure a championship, unless you run near the top in the remaining races.  Duane Soper, of Gettysburg, did just that, to secure his first Coca Cola Street Trophy championship.  Soper won only races number two and four, but took runner up finishes in five other races and added two more semi final runs and with only one first round out, to win the series title.  Charles Serbousek, of Pierre relegated Soper to a semi final finish on September 5th.  Serbousek took the popular win, in his '72 Duster, stating that his last trophy was older than his car.  Ron Winterberg, 2009 Coca Cola Street Trophy champion, of Timber Lake, took the runner up spot in the 2011 series, with one win and a runner up finish.    Mark McCue, of Spearfish, missing most of the middle season, came on strong in the closing races, taking two wins, for third place.  Joseph McCarty, of Newport, NE, matched his 2010 finish, placing fourth, in the standings.  Donnie Durenberger, of Dayton MN, closed out the season with a top five finish.

Travis Falcon

Pierre, SD

Sportsman Class

I  It was feast or famine, in the first six 2011 Coca Cola Sportsman races for Travis Falcon. Winning the first race of the season led to a first round out in the second, a win in the third,  followed by two more first round losses, and another win in race number six.  With two more runner up finishes, Falcon was able to secure his third Coca Cola Sportsman Championship.  Falcon last won the series in 2008 and 2009.  Karen England, of Pierre, 2010 Coca Cola Street Trophy champion, stayed close to the top of the standings through the season,  finishing in the runner up position.  England's win on July 31, paired with two runner up finishes secured her second place finish.  Jay Tjeerdsma, of Springfield, took two wins and a runner up finish to third place honors.  Ann Hirsch, of Pierre, won early in the season, and grabbed a runner up finish to close out the 2011 season in fourth place.  Jeri Ann Vines, of Eagle Butte, took a win and a runner up placing to close out the top five.

Chris Boom

If your name is Boom, Johnson, or Snyder, there is a good chance that you could be a contender for a season championship in the Coca Cola Dakota Motor Sports LLC Bike championship at Oahe Speedway.  Wade Johnson, of Rapid City won the inaugural championship in 2005 and returned as champion in 2009.  Charles "Ninja" Snyder, of Selfridge, ND, took the "Rock" in 2007 and 2010. Chris Boom, of Pierre, pushed his 201 Arctic Cat snowmobile to the top in 2007 and 2008, finally  'three-peating" in 2011.   Boom won four of ten races in the 2011 season, backing that up with a runner up trophy, to take the season championship.  "Ninja" won once, coupled with two runner ups, to end the year in second place. 

Newcomer, David Tibert, of Grand Forks, ND,  snared two runner up trophies early in the season, suffered major mechanical problems in mid season, before finishing out the series with a win in race number ten.  Super Comp/Super Pro standout, Schaun Schnathorst, of Huron, brought his newly acquired Harley Davidson Destroyer to Oahe in mid July,  worked out the bugs, obtained his NHRA bike competition license, and promptly took a runner up finish in his first weekend of competition.  One month later, Schnathorst visited the winner's circle for the first time on the bike, eventually finishing the year in fourth place.  Don Gurnon, of Huron, upgrading to a 2009 Ninja ZX-14, closed out the top five, with a  win on September 3rd.

Randy Hirsch

Pierre, SD

Pro Class

  Randy Hirsch, of Pierre, could not get out of the first round until the fourth race of the  2011 Coca Cola Pro series season.  Placing second to Paul Berger, of Pierre, in the fifth race, finally turned Hirsch's luck in the right direction.  Two semi finals and a win closed out the year for Hirsch, ensuring his first season championship. Joe Harry, of Ferney, and Randy Nixon, of Huron, battled all season long, ending in a virtual tie for second place, each just a round short of catching Hirsch.  Paul Berger, of Pierre, took a win , a runner up and seminal finish to third place in the standings.  Todd Casper, of Lake Preston, missed two early season races, but still accumulated enough points, in a win, runner up, and semi final charge, to finish out in fourth place.   Larry Iversen, of Pierre, despite running most of the season without his '66 Chevelle, still managed to run his backup Chevelle to fifth place in the series.  Iversen won the July 3rd race before "ventilating" his motor. 

Rick Meier

Rapid City, SD

Super Pro Class

Rick Meier, of Rapid City, 2009 Dales A-1 Super Series and Coca Cola Super Pro champion, quietly went about the business of taking the 2011 Coca Cola Super Pro title.  Winning three races and taking a runner up finish into the late season secured the championship for the Rapid City driver.  Mechanical problems with the motor in his '84 Corvette forced Meier to attempt protecting his lead in the last race of the year, in a borrowed mount.  Meier qualified David Rae's Camaro, but was unable to get past the first round.  Curt Humann, of Pierre, despite a win on the last day of competition, was unable to catch Meier, settling for second place in the standings.  Humann won three races along with two quarterfinal finishes to take the runner up spot, following his  2010 Coca Cola Super Pro championship.  Chad Uhrig, of Pierre, won three times and took two runner up trophies to third place in the final standings.   Another west river contender, Terry Henrikson, of Rapid City, placed in the top four, just one round behind Uhrig and two rounds back of Humann.  Henrikson, Oahe Speedway's 2005 Super Pro champion, won the opening race of the season, scored two additional runner ups, and a semifinal to take fourth in the standings. Cal Belden, of Aberdeen, running a rear engine dragster in 2011, carded two runner up trophies to complete the season in fifth place.