thomascountyspeedway Archives

Belec Leads the Way in the Modifieds at Colby

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (July 18, 2025) – The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds closed out Friday’s program with a 15-lap feature event that began with Danny Keller and John Fabrizius on the front row. Fabrizius paced the field early and led the opening circuit, but ‘90s standout Mike Bainter stormed to the point on lap two, leading for the first time since his return to racing last season. Eddie Belec and Dakota Sproul wasted no time charging to the front, taking control by lap three. Belec held firm out front the rest of the way, even as lapped traffic allowed Sproul to close the gap late in the race. Belec stayed smooth to notch his second Jet Racing Central Region win of the season—both coming at Thomas County Speedway. Sproul settled for second, followed by Dylan Sherfick in third. Porter Keeps Pressure on in Sport Compacts The Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts battled it out for 12 laps, with Nathan Vollbracht and Grant Logue leading the field to green. It didn’t take long for Gage Porter [Read More]

Money Masters Modified Main at Thomas County

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (Jun. 28, 2025) — The Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds headlined the Saturday night program at Thomas County Speedway, with Danny Keller and John Burrow setting the pace on the front row. Burrow jumped to the early lead but quickly came under fire from Dylan Sherfick and Kyle Rohleder, two of the fastest Modified shoes in the state. The trio battled tightly for the top spot until a caution flew on lap four for a spin by Eddie Belec. Rohleder led the field back to green, but Clay Money had other plans. Charging up from deeper in the pack, Money powered to the lead by lap seven and began pulling away as Sherfick and Rohleder fought behind him. Once clear, Money stretched his advantage and never looked back, scoring his third Jet Racing Central Region win of 2025 and second at Colby. Sherfick finished second, followed by Rohleder in third. Olmstead Adds to Hobby Stock Win Total The Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stock feature saw Bruce Plumisto and Alicia Hilzer bring the field [Read More]

Sherfick Rockets to First 2025 Win in Colby Modified Main

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (May 24, 2025) — Dylan Sherfick lived up to his nickname Friday night, blasting to the front of the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified field and never looking back at Thomas County Speedway. The Colby crowd was electric as the “Dynamite” driver exploded from a mid-pack starting position and took control early after John Fabrizius led the opening laps. Sherfick’s pace was unmatched once he reached clean air, pulling away from the field as Clay Money tried to keep him within striking distance. But the veteran from Penokee found no openings, and Sherfick stretched his advantage en route to his first win of the season. Fabrizius, who had grabbed the early lead from the pole, held on to complete the podium in third. The win marked a strong return to form for Sherfick in the Jet Racing Central Region. Weber Flies to Dominant SportMod Victory Adam Weber put on a clinic in the Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMod feature, slicing through traffic and leaving the field behind. Jack Kirchoff led early but [Read More]

Olmstead Does It Again with Last-Lap Pass in Hobby Stocks

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (May 9, 2025) — The Sunoco IMCA Hobby Stocks produced a thrilling finish at Thomas County Speedway as Zach Olmstead made a dramatic last-lap pass to edge his brother Morgan Olmstead for the victory. Levi Jones led the early laps before the Olmstead brothers and Dylan Bell surged forward. Zach completed the winning move out of turn four, nipping Morgan at the line for his sixth win of the season in nine attempts in the B&B Racing Chassis Northern Region. Dylan Bell crossed the stripe in third after charging up eight positions. Burkhart Celebrates First Win as a “Grandpa” in Stock Cars “Gentle Giant” Troy Burkhart secured an emotional win in the Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars feature at Colby, his first victory as a new grandfather. Burkhart, who previously scored wins in Hays and WaKeeney, overtook early leader Keith Stegman and fended off strong challenges from Quinton Yutterman and his son, Tathan Burkhart, in a 20-lap battle. The victory was Troy Burkhart’s third in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region. Yutterman [Read More]

Holzmeister Scores Hometown Win in the Stock Cars At Thomas County

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (May 2, 2025) — The Sunoco IMCA Stock Cars produced the night’s most dramatic moments in the first night of action in 2025 at Thomas County Speedway. After winning his heat, Doug Holzmeister started on the pole and jumped out to an early lead in the 20-lap feature. The veteran from Colby built a solid margin early, but heavy pressure loomed behind as Quinton Yutterman, Kyle Pfeifer, and the Burkhart duo charged forward. Holzmeister held off Yutterman’s advances using every inch of the racetrack, picking up his third win of the season after sweeping the Abilene Speedway’s Ice Breaker but his first win in the EQ Cylinder Heads Northern Region this year. Yutterman was a strong second, followed by new dad Tathan Burkhart. Barnhart Slides to Sport Mod Victory Lane The Karl Chevrolet IMCA Northern SportMods delivered a race of intense battles and perfectly timed passes. Heat race winners Josh Barnhart and Brianna Maughlin led a packed field into their 20-lap finale. Blaine Walt led the opening six laps before a [Read More]

Bencken’s latest pretty big accomplishment is 100th career IMCA Hobby Stock feature win

OAKLEY, Kan. (Aug. 9, 2024) – Brady Bencken raced his way into the IMCA history book Friday night but probably wasn’t the proudest person standing in victory lane. Bencken won for the 100th time in his IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock career at home track Thomas County Speedway and was joined after the checkers flew by father Rod and grandfather Wes in displaying the congratulatory banner. “It’s pretty big. When I got my first track championship, it was unbelievable. Now we’re 10 years down the road and 100 wins. It’s pretty neat,” the Oakley, Kan., driver said. “I didn’t even realize until last year that we were even that close. I was just racing, not paying attention to the wins, and then IMCA contacted me.” “It’s a pretty big accomplishment.” Bencken has racked up a lot of pretty big accomplishments since recording his first Hobby Stock win, also at Thomas County, in 2014. The 2016 Kansas state and an 11-time track champion, he won at least 10 features every season from 2016 to 2021. Bencken had a [Read More]

Barnhart, Bencken win first features of season Friday at Thomas County

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (June 28, 2024) – Josh Barnhart and Brady Bencken both won first IMCA features of the season Friday at Thomas County Speedway. The Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod 15-lap feature started with a front row of Barnhart and Monty Nordyke. Barnhart grabbed the early race and by lap five had pulled away. The race single filed out with Carson Lang and Blaine Walt making runs to third and fourth place but not being able to advance further. Barnhart ran away with the victory, ahead of Nordyke, Lang, Walt and Bencken. IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks ran a 15-lap feature of their own with a front row of Mike Kennedy and Austin Janousek. Kennedy got the early jump, but quickly Bencken found himself passing for the lead in turn four. The race stayed green until lap 10. Bencken led the restart and despite trying multiple lines, Trent Matson could not run him down. Bencken picked up win number one of the season with Matson, Bret Conness, Mitchell Fischer and Austin Janousek in [Read More]

Leibhart, Kirchoff, Olmstead, Pfeifer, Frenier cash in at Colby

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (June 21, 2024) – Mother Nature threw a bunch of wind at Thomas County Speedway on a Friday night that saw a couple close finishes, some dominant runs and a driver breaking through for a big win. Visiting victory lane were Brock Leibhart in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts, Morgan Olmstead in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Ryan Kirchoff in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, Kyle Pfeifer in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Jeremy Frenier in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds. Leibhart grabbed the lead early in the 4-cylinder feature, holding on to the point despite getting a little too high on lap five and losing some momentum. Mortensen got to the leader’s back bumper but could not deny Leibhart his third win of the season and ninth straight top-10 finish. Third was Gage Porter. Multiple restarts and the best efforts of Brady Bencken couldn’t shake Olmstead from the front spot in the Hobby Stock main. Olmstead picked up win number 10, returning to the Kansas dirt scene [Read More]

Trumbo trumps Thomas County Sport Compact feature

By Sheldon Wickwar COLBY, Kan. (May 24, 2024) – Hard charger Ted Trumbo started the parade to victory lane in the Memorial Weekend show at Thomas County Speedway. Trumbo warmed up for the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact main event by winning his heat race. James Bader and Tyson Plumisto drew front row starts for the main event but Kyle Benoit grabbed the race lead and ran up front before a caution. The restart was chaotic, and Madison Reed was able to get to the lead by lap four; lap five saw the sixth starting Trumbo get to second. Reed and Trumbo battled closely for the remainder of the feature with Trumbo gaining the lead on lap 10 and taking the win. Second was Reed and third was Kyle Mortensen. Other IMCA winners on the night were Morgan Olmstead in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks, Blaine Walt in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, Kyle Pfeifer in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and Brett Berry in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds. Olmstead raced his way to [Read More]

IMCA Modifieds, Stock Cars headline Thomas County’s Hartwell Memorial

COLBY, Kan. – A pair of All-Star Invitational qualifying events top the ticket at this weekend’s Jeff Hartwell Memorial at Thomas County Speedway. IMCA Modifieds run for $1,523 and a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars for $1,023 to win and B & B Chassis All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility on Saturday, June 19 at Colby. IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks and Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods both race for $623 to win, Mach-1 Sport Compacts for $223 to win. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. Grandstand admission is $10 with kids ages 12 and under getting in free. Pit passes are $30.