Following five lost race days, over the course of the past
four
weeks, Oahe Speedway finally got the 2011 season underway.
Sunday's activity included Coca Cola Points Series
racing along with the Morris Equipment LLC Stock Super Stock
Combo, and the running of the 2011 King of the Track.
The first
Super Pro title of the year went to Terry Henriksen, of
Rapid City. Henriksen popped off a quick .006 reaction
time in the final against Chad Uhrig, of Pierre. Rick
Meier, of Rapid City, qualified number one, with a perfect
reaction time. Meier would meet up with Henriksen, in
the second round, fouling away his chances at advancing.
David Rae, of Gillette, WY, snared a perfect light in first
round competition , against Schaun Schnathorst, of Huron.
Uhrig trailered 2010 Super Pro champ, Curt Humann, of
Pierre, in round one, when Humann went red by .001 seconds.
Defending
2011Coca Cola Pro champ, Randy Nixon, of Huron, served
notice that he would defend his title, topping Todd Herman,
of Presho, in the final. Nixon, sporting a new blue paint
scheme on his '82 Kawasaki, took the win, when Herman drew
the red light, in his '74 Nova. Matt Bogner, of Belle
Fourche, proved that the long winter lay-off had not dulled
his racing skill, taking a perfect light to the number one
qualifying spot. Unfortunately youthful exuberance got
the best of him in round one, leaving the line .049 seconds
too soon against Darcy Madsen, of Rapid City.
Past Coca
Cola Bike Champion, Chris Boom, of Pierre, rode his '01
Arctic Cat ZR to the Dakota Motor Sports Bike class win.
Boom met Grand Forks, ND bike rider, David Tibert, in the
final. Both riders had relatively slow reaction times,
with Boom being the quicker off the line, to take the win. Tibert, in his first visit to Oahe Speedway, rode his '82
Suzuki Pro Stock bike, to the number one qualifying
position. 2010 Bike champ, Charles Snyder, of Belle
Fourche, lost to Tibert, in round one, breaking out at the
finish line.
Coca Cola
Sportsman class winner, Travis Falcon, of Pierre, had to go
five rounds to win the class on Sunday. 2010 Street
Trophy champ, Karen England, of Pierre, moving up to
Sportsman this year, took on Falcon in the final, with
Falcon putting together a better package to take the win.
Doug Percy, of Winner, working off his number one qualifying
position, lasted until the semis, losing to England.
Daren Sell,
of Langford, took the Coca Cola Street Trophy win, over
Duane Soper, of Gettysburg. Soper took the top
qualifying spot in the field. 2005 and 2006 Sportsman
champ, Andy Wright, of Gettysburg, returned to the
Speedway on Sunday, bowing to Sell, in round one.
Snap On High
School finals saw Ashley Holm, of Pierre, and Toni Vetter,
of Gettysburg, square off, with Holm taking her first
victory of the year. Holm has
stepped up from
the Junior Dragster ranks. Despite a better reaction time,
Vetter was further off her dial in at the stripe, giving
Holm her first win in a new class. Vetter qualified number
one.
BankWest
Junior Major winner, Carly Ellingson, of Rapid City,
defeated Austin Mohr, of Mitchell in the final.
Ellingson , qualified number one, had the win at the
starting when Mohr went red by .051 seconds. The
competitive field had two new contenders, Kyle Finsterwalder,
of New Underwood, and Alec Bush, of Watertown.
Finsterwalder
lost to Mohr in the semis.
Oahe Speedway
Coca Cola Junior Minor action came down to Noah Miller, of
Fort Pierre, and Cutter Hammersley, of Pierre, with
the veteran Miller taking the win. Hammersley, in his
second year of Junior Dragster competition, had
to take on two of Miler's sibling's in early rounds.
Hammersley defeated Alec Miller, forcing a breakout by
Miller at the stripe. In a "who are these guys"
semifinal, Hammersley met up with Alec's twin, Jake.
Hammersley put together a better package, defeating Miller,
to advance to the final. Kali Driscoll, of Watertown,
qualifying number one, lost to Noah Miller in round two.
Jerry Mooney,
of Wall, powered his immaculate '69 Ford Torino, to the
Morris Equipment LLC Stock/Super Stock Combo, billed as the
first annual "Showdown on the River". Mooney, dialed
at 10.75, watched first leaving Bryan Dixon, of Mitchell,
foul away his chance at the starting line. Rick Ryan,
of Aberdeen, qualified number one, 1.016 seconds under his 12.39 SS/NA index. Ryan lost, in the semis,
to eventual R/U Dixon. Ron Roddel, of Sioux Falls,
qualified number two, .916 under his 11.78 GT/LA index, at
10.864, lost to Mooney in the semis.
The final
races of the day brought the speedway class winners together
in a single elimination bracket, to determine the 2011 Oahe
Speedway King of the Track.
The field was
laddered based on quickest reaction times, in each
class winner's respective final wins.
Terry
Henriksen, Super Pro winner faced off against Daren Sell,
Street Trophy champ. with Henriksen taking the win following
Sell's red light.
Next up,
Sportsman winner, Travis Falcon took on Pro's Randy Nixon.
Falcon also benefitted from a red light, when Nixon drew the
crimson bulb. The last pair of the first round pitted
Ashley Holm, High School, and Chris Boom from the Bike
contingent. In the third red light of the first round,
Holm handed the win to Boom at the starting line.
By virtue of
the ladder, Henriksen was afforded the bye in second round,
and merely staged, broke the beam, and took the win.
Falcon and Boom finished out the round, with Boom trying to
chase down Falcon, to no avail. Falcon's quicker
reaction time afforded him the advantage he needed to hold
off the hard charging Boom.
The final saw
Travis Falcon outrun Henriksen to the stripe.
Henriksen was forced to wait nearly 4 seconds at the starting
line, giving Falcon the head start. The difference at
the finish line, .21 seconds, gave the win to Falcon, by
just over 5 feet.
Falcon, who
recently graduated, with honors, from Lake Area Tech, In
Watertown, is the 2011 Oahe Speedway King of the Track.
