Burkhart Doubles Down for Dramatic Stock Car Win at Hays’ Fall Nationals

Feature, Hobby Stock, Modified, News, Northern SportMod, Sport Compact, Stock Car

Tathan Burkhart celebrates in victory lane after winning back-to-back Sunoco IMCA Stock Car Fall Nationals titles on Oct. 4 at RPM Speedway in Hays, Kan. (Photo by Carl Larson–Photos by Red)

By Sheldon Wickwar

HAYS, Kan. (Oct. 4, 2025) — The Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars stole the show at the 19th Annual Fall Nationals at RPM Speedway with a classic Hays slugfest. Angel Munoz grabbed the early lead from the pole before Jeff Ware and Tathan Burkhart traded furious slide jobs for second. A caution bunched the field and turned the track into three-wide chaos.

Burkhart powered to the high side and never flinched, taking command with eighteen laps remaining. A multi-car incident on the ensuing restart reshuffled the field, but Burkhart held strong on the final green to secure back-to-back Fall Nationals crowns. Jeff Ware chased him to the line in second, followed by Brock Beeter, Tyler Frye, and Johnny Yutterman, who stormed from deep in the pack to earn hard charger honors after gaining 18 positions.

Thome Tops the Field for Modified Fall Nationals Crown

The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds capped the weekend with a high-intensity 30-lapper, where Robbie Thome prevailed after a duel of heavyweights. Polesitter Eddie Belec led the opening circuit before Thome powered around the outside to take over.

Behind him, Clay Money, Dakota Sproul, and Daniel Gottschalk waged war for position as slide jobs filled the closing laps. A late caution with eight remaining set up a sprint to the finish, but Thome was flawless on the restart, fending off both Money and Sproul to seal the victory. Sproul earned runner-up honors, with Money, Gottschalk, and Kyle Rohleder completing the top five. Corey Lagroon gained 11 positions to capture hard charger recognition.

Olmstead Breaks Through for Hobby Stock Glory

The Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks saw Morgan Olmstead finally capture the Fall Nationals title he’d long chased. Starting on the pole, he quickly set the pace and never looked back despite multiple cautions.

Late charges by Zach Olmstead and Dillon Thompson cut into his lead, but Morgan held steady to score his first crown at RPM. Zach Olmstead finished second, Travis Landauer third, Thompson fourth, and Tyler Heath fifth. Zach Gimpel climbed 11 spots for hard charger honors, while Jordan Encinger, Tylan Lambertus, and Brayden Hurley also logged double-digit gains.

Spanjer Dominates SportMod Main for Flag-to-Flag Win

The Smiley’s Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods feature belonged entirely to Brandon Spanjer, who led all 25 laps from the drop of the green. The Nebraska racer was unmatched on each restart and never gave an inch to the challengers behind him.

Tyler Watts climbed into second late, with Blaine Walt finishing third. Trevin Frye held fourth, while Riley Osantowski completed the top five. Chris Burke charged forward 11 positions to earn hard charger honors, with Bree Marie and Brianna Maughlin also making big moves through the field.

Boyden Bags Sport Compact Title in Tight Finish

The Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts opened the weekend with a nail-biter that saw Alex Boyden overcome traffic and a stout Jakob Schwien to secure his first Fall Nationals victory. Schwien paced the first half of the feature before Boyden made his move with six laps to go.

Boyden led the final circuits and held off a last-lap challenge from Schwien to lock up the championship. Kiowa Higdon finished third, Connor Schwien fourth, and Kyle Mortensen fifth. Dan Kruse advanced 11 spots to earn hard charger honors.

The event was broadcast live on IMCA TV. Catch every lap again with the IMCA TV Replay Subscription, available for just $24.99/month. And don’t miss Season 2 of the Boone Docuseries, now streaming exclusively on IMCA TV.

Related Articles

Results

RPM Speedway fans give back during Community Giveback Night

HAYS, Kan. (April 13, 2024) – Planning that began last fall came to fruition Saturday night at RPM Speedway. Fans attending the first race of the IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season at the Hays, Kan., track donated enough non-perishable food items to fill five grocery carts and part of a sixth to the Ellis County Community Assistance Center. Those Community Giveback Night donations will be distributed to those in need served by the center, located in Hays. “Almost everybody has been in the position where they needed a little help,” said RPM promoter Chris Sutton. “It was very, very encouraging to be able to give back like this to the community that supports us.” Sutton had helped with similar projects while announcing for Paul Dutton at Hutchinson Raceway Park. A proponent of making every race night “an event,” and came up with Community Giveback Night while penciling out his 2024 schedule. Fans donating four cans of food got in for $5 while those donating eight cans got in at no additional cost. “Our fans really stepped up [Read More]

Hobby Stock

Olmstead keeps grinding for 100th IMCA Hobby Stock win

OVERTON, Neb. (Aug. 19, 2023) – Not that many years ago, Zach Olmstead was just happy to be at the track. Now the defending IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s champion and a 2023 national championship contender, he won for the 100th time in his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career Friday night at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction. “Everything is just going right for us. We’ve raced more this year and we’ve had some good luck,” said Olmstead, who has totaled 27 wins at 10 different tracks in Kansas and Nebraska this season. “I don’t think I’m faster than I was last year, I’ve just learned to be patient.” “Super Nationals has been my biggest win so far and you have to have some luck to do that,” added the Overton, Neb., driver, also the two-time defending Stephenville Starter Race of Champions winner. “But that’s more like a sprint. One hundred wins is a marathon. You have to keep your nose to the grindstone.” He’s been grinding out the wins since 2016 after [Read More]

Feature

Too tight but Sproul makes things right with Sunflower checkers

HAYS, Kan. (March 30, 2024) – He didn’t get any points for guessing right but Dakota Sproul did get $1,000 for his Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature win on night two of RPM Speedway’s Sunflower Classic. Despite missing on his Saturday night setup, Sproul took the lead from Jace Whitt just after midway in the 20-lapper and outran Jeremy Frenier & Co. the rest of the way. “We tightened the car for the feature and it seemed like I was fighting it the whole way,” said Sproul, nonetheless able to take advantage of a bobble by Whitt on a restart for the lead. “I was struggling before I passed Jace and Jeremy was right behind me. I didn’t know if I was going to be good enough to win but fortunately no one gave me trouble after I got to the lead.” Dylan Sherfick, Eddie Belec and Clay Sellard completed the top five. Sproul was already eligible to qualify for the upcoming Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. “Every time we hit the track it was different. [Read More]