By Randy Pospishil
NORFOLK, Neb. (Aug. 1) – Hometown driver Gage Koch earned his first feature victory in three years of participating in the competitive IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock division Saturday at Off Road Speedway.
Koch began the race with the outside front row position and immediately moved to the lead, with Cameron Wilkinson in pursuit. Surviving three restarts that closed the field behind him, including the last one with five laps to go which involved Wilkinson’s spin, and placed two different cars on his rear bumper, Koch faced a final challenge for the lead.
Jim Kimmel and Tejay Mielke were in a heated battle for second before Mielke passed Kimmel on the low side coming out of turn two with two laps remaining.
Koch was able to deny Mielke’s attempts to pass on the inside to secure his win.
“I didn’t know how far ahead I was but the restarts kept coming and I just concerned myself with staying in the lead,” Koch said. “I tried to run down low, but I couldn’t keep the car down there so I had to run the high side. To get this first win feels amazing.”
Ramsey Meyer won a second-consecutive Mach-1 Sport Compact feature after starting in the fourth row. He passed leader Codie Mielke on the inside of turn two with two laps to go.
Kyle Prauner held the competition at bay and raced to his seventh Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod win of the year.
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