By Lonnie Wheatley
DODGE CITY, Kan. (Jan. 27) – Setting the stage for a stellar 2018 racing season, Dodge City Raceway Park competitors and fans celebrated the recently-completed 2017 season with Saturday night’s annual Awards Banquet.
More than 200 attendees took in Saturday night’s festivities at the Western State Bank Expo adjacent to the 3/8-mile Dodge City clay oval with the top contenders in each of the track’s five championship chase divisions recognized during the evening.
Taking top accolades in each division were Clay Sellard in the IMCA Modifieds, Jeff Kaup in the IMCA SportMods, Angel Munoz in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Reagan Sellard in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Taylor Velasquez in Precise Racing Products DCRP Sprint Cars,
While others among the top 10 and each champion also picked up their hardware and point fund monies, Munoz picked up an extra $100 and the 2017 DCRP Feature Winner board for racking up the most feature wins over the course of the season. Munoz racked up six wins to top the overall win charts that included 28 different winners in 44 overall championship points chase feature events.
The top five in each of the IMCA sanctioned divisions received a complimentary IMCA competitor’s license for the 2018 season.
With the 2017 Awards Banquet completed, attention turns to the 2018 season that begins in a few short weeks with opening night set for Saturday, March 31, after an open practice session on March 24.
The 2018 season at Dodge City Raceway Park is loaded with a number of big events including the sixth annual Modified Stampede on April 21, the popular Drivers’ Appreciation Night on July 27 the fifth annual SportMod Mayhem on Aug. 18, the first-ever coaches’ race on Aug. 25 and the sixth annual Jerry Soderberg Memorial championship event on Sept. 15.