Two Wins In Two Nights For Kelly Boen

By Gary Jacob

Colby, KS -- Coming off a $3000 win in the multi-sanctioned Rumble in the Heartland at Dodge City KS on Saturday night, Kelly Boen from Henderson CO won both his heat race and the feature Sunday at Thomas County Speedway as the WDRA dirt late models made their annual visit to the western Kansas facility. Boen actually came out of the Saturday night action as the point leader for both the NCRA dirt late models and the WDRA dirt late models and had to choose which group to race with on Sunday night since NCRA was racing at 81 Speedway. Boen’s win in his Rocket Chassis paid $1200 as a solid 19 car field appeared. Coming off a strong showing at Dodge City, 67 year old Jim Clifton chased Boen to the checkered flag for an $800 payday. 2004 CLMA champion Dave Garmann was a $600 third and Jeep Berry from Grand Junction got his third straight top five of the weekend with a $450 fourth. Dean Moore rounded out the top five as Colorado provided 16 of the 19 competing cars.

The teams were split into three heat races and Moore put his Rayburn in the winner’s circle for heat 1 ahead of Garmann and local racer Rod Bencken. Boen won heat 2 in front of Ken Brack and John Kuchar. Clifton showed his strength by winning heat 3 with his GRT ahead of Gary Dechant and Berry. Boen charged to his third feature win in two weekends and fourth of the season ahead of Clifton, Garmann, Berry, Moore, Dechant, Kuchar, Curt Daniels, Bencken, Craig Baukema, Terry Loos and Crispy Persichetti.

WDRA runs again this weekend when they visit Thunder Mountain Speedway in Olathe CO on June 11.

Summary Heat 1-Dean Moore, Dave Garmann, Rod Bencken, Rusty Miller, Chris Persichetti. Heat 2-Kelly Boen, Ken Brack, John Kuchar, Curt Daniels, Craig Baukema. Heat 3-Jim Clifton, Gary Dechant, Jeep Berry, Dan Shepherd, Jason Davis. Main-Boen, Clifton, Garmann, Berry, Moore, Dechant, Kuchar, Daniels, Bencken, Baukema, Terry Loos, Persichetti, Mike Felton, Brad Wagoner, Shepherd, Brack, Terry Boushee, Davis.

Colorado Drivers Hold Their Own In Dodge City KS Special

By Gary Jacob

Dodge City, KS -- A large contingent of Colorado dirt late models towed east to race in the two-day Thunder through the Prairie special at Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas on Friday and Saturday night. Friday’s event ran despite very bad weather throughout the area and was completed despite it’s own 20 minute rain delay. Bret LaFollette from Kansas City was a wire to wire $2000 winner that night with Alan Vaughn from Missouri a race long second for the $1100 second place prize. Jeep Berry was the highest Colorado finisher on Friday night as he ran fifth behind Al Purkey from Kansas and Nebraska star Steve Kosiski. Another western Colorado racer Curt Daniels was 9th. The weekend was sanctioned by CLMA and WDRA from Colorado and Midwestern bodies NCRA and MLRA. In the bigger money Saturday night action, pole starter Kelly Boen was chased down by Mike Conkwright from Manhatten KS, but battled back to retake the lead in the final corner to score the $3000 win in that 40 lapper. Conkwright settled for second ahead of Purkey and Johnny Bone Jr as Grand Junction CO long tow Jeep Berry was fifth for a second straight night. Twenty teams from Colorado towed east and they were joined by Utah’s Mike McGinn in the 45 car event.

Rick Lieser from CLMA won the opening heat on Friday night ahead of Bone Jr and Purkey. LaFollette captured heat 2 over Colorado’s Mike Cox and Gary Billings. Vaughn beat local Gary Gorby and Frank McGhee in heat 3 and Kosiski won heat 4 over Colorado strong runner Gary Dechant and WDRA’s Dean Moore. McGinn attended this event for a second straight year and ran fourth in heat 4. Colorado drivers took the top 3 spots in heat 5 as Berry won over Boen and Dan Shepard. Veteran Colorado racer Jim Clifton was fifth behind Kansas star Eric Main. Three B Mains helped complete the 24 car A main grid and Colorado drivers won two of them. D Moore won the first B Main over Ryan McAninch and Rod Bencken. Terry Loos was sixth in this race and McGinn finished 9th. 67 year old Clifton won the second B Main over Nebraska’s Billy Murphy and Colorado’s D Shepard. Colorado rookie Sten Johnson was 6th and J T Botts ran 8th. Dave Garmann was 10th. David Barker won the third B Main ahead of Raymond Merrill and Daniels. LaFollette had the pole for the 30 lap feature and took a quick lead over Vaughn. Purkey and Kosiski were battling for third. Berry joined the third place duel and briefly got around Purkey, but allowed Purkey to regain his spot. In the duel for the win on the 3/8 mile clay oval, Vaughn was able to nose underneath LaFollette but could never complete a pass on a heavy racing surface that saw some of the teams collect 300 pounds of mud during the feature. LaFollette got the win ahead of Vaughn, Purkey, Kosiski, Berry, Main, Shane Essary, Gorby, Daniels, Murphy, Barker and Colorado’s Craig Baukema. Moore finished 14th, Lieser 18th, M Cox 19th, Dechant 20th, Boen 22nd with an early flat tire and Clifton 23rd. M Cox and Lieser crashed on lap 8 and Lieser’s weekend was done. Bone Jr crashed into the front wall to end his race and Moore was involved in a late race crash with McGhee as only 12 cars saw the checkered flag.

Track conditions were considerably different for the second night as the racing surface went dry slick from top to bottom. M Conkwright won the opening heat race over Vaughn and Raymond Merrill. Dirt modified star Ronnie Wallace joined the action and won heat 2 ahead of Berry and McAninch. Colorado drivers were again 1-2 in heat 3 as Boen beat Paonia’s Daniels as Scott Drake ran third. Boen battled from 8th to get that win. Bone Jr won heat 4 ahead of Utah star McGinn and S Johnson. Garmann and John Kuchar were 4-5 in heat 4. Clifton won heat 5 ahead of Purkey and Gary Dechant with Moore 4th. Again, three B Mains helped finish off a 25 car grid for the 40 lap feature. Delbert Smith won the first B Main over Dechant, Steve Kempt, Moore and Gorby with Mike Cox in sixth. Barker beat Friday night winner LaFollette in the second B Main as Jason Bodenhamer ran third ahead of Ted Martin and C J Lyle. Colorado’s Ken Brack won the third B Main in front of David Turner and Kosiski as Garmann and Kuchar ran 5-6 behind Murphy. An 8 car dash to determine the starting order in the front of the 40 lapper saw Boen winning the pole position ahead of Purkey, Clifton, M Conkwright, Daniels, Bone, Vaughn and Wallace. Boen took a quick lead in the 40 lapper over Purkey and Clifton. The only yellow dropped on lap 17 when Wallace crashed and Boen was leading M Conkwright, Purkey, Bone Jr and Berry. With six laps to run in the 40 lapper, Kansas star M Conkwright raced around Boen on the outside for the top spot, but Boen never gave up and M Conkwright pushed high in the last corner and Boen drove underneath for the $3000 win. Boen was two car lengths in front at the checkered flag. M Conkwright was second ahead of Purkey, Bone Jr, and Berry. Clifton was a solid sixth ahead of Vaughn, Daniels, McAninch, Merrill, Bodenhamer and Drake. Moore ran 14th, Brack 15th, LaFollette 16th, M Cox 19th, S Johnson 20th, McGinn 22nd, Wallace 24th and Dechant 25th.

Summary

Friday Heat 1-Rick Lieser, Johnny Bone Jr, Al Purkey, Delbert Smith, Chris Mayes. Heat 2-Brett LaFollette, Mike Cox, Gary Billings, Curt Daniels, Sten Johnson. Heat 3-Alan Vaughn, Gary Gorby, Frank McGhee, David Barker, David Cronkwright. Heat 4-Steve Kosiski, Gary Dechant, Dean Moore, Mike McGinn, Rod Bencken. Heat 5-Jeep Berry, Kelly Boen, Dan Shepard, Eric Main, Jim Clifton. 1st B Main-Moore, Ryan McAninch, Bencken, D Conkwright, C J Lyle, Terry Loos, Jason Bodenhamer, Lyle Shepard, McGinn. 2nd B Main-Clifton, Billy Murphy, D Shepard, Mike Conkwright, Lyle, Johnson, David Turner, J T Botts, Smith, Dave Garmann. 3rd B Main-Barker, Raymond Merrill, Daniels, Mayes, Ted Martin, Shane Essary, John Kuchar, Terry Boushee, Chris Persichetti, Ken Brack. A Main-LaFollette, Vaughn, Purkey, Kosiski, Berry, Main, Essary, Gorby, Daniels, Murphy, Barker, Craig Baukema, McGhee, Moore, Merrill, Bone, McAninch, Lieser, Cox, Dechant, M Conkwright, Boen, Clifton, Billings.

Saturday Heat 1-M Conkwright, Vaughn, Merrill, Martin, Mayes. Heat 2-Ronnie Wallace, Berry, McAninch, Barker, Smith. Heat 3-Boen, Daniels, Scott Drake, Brack, LaFollette. Heat 4-Bone, McGinn, Johnson, Garmann, Kuchar. Heat 5-Clifton, Purkey, Dechant, Moore, Bodenhamer. 1st B Main-Smith, Dechant, Steve Kempt, Moore, Gorby, M Cox, Mayes, Boushee, Loos, Rusty Miller. 2nd B Main-Barker, LaFollette, Bodenhamer, Martin, Lyle, L Shepard, D Conkwright, Baukema, Bencken. 3rd B Main-Brack, Turner, Kosiski, Murphy, Garmann, Kuchar, Main, Persichetti, D Shepard. Pole Dash-Boen, Purkey, Clifton, M Conkwright, Daniels, Bone, Vaughn, Wallace. A Main-Boen, M Conkwright, Purkey, Bone, Berry, Clifton, Vaughn, Daniels, McAninch, Merrill, Bodenhamer, Drake, Turner, Moore, Brack, LaFollette, Kosiski, Gorby, M Cox, Johnson, Smith, McGinn, Barker, Wallace, Dechant.

Dominating Win For Kelly Boen In Kansas

By Gary Jacob

Dodge City, KS -- Leading all 50 laps from the pole after he had won his heat race from 4th starting, Kelly Boen from Henderson CO drove his Rocket to a $4000 win as the $33,000 1st Annual Midwest Outlaw Late Model Shootout ended it's two night run at the newly clay surfaced Dodge City Raceway Park on Saturday night. Boen had won $900 for his third place finish in the 25 lap preliminary night feature on Friday and his quick pace in the caution free 50 lapper saw him lap everyone except the top five finishers. Boen's effort is crew chiefed by engine expert Doug Hoffman and sponsored by Roadrunner Fabrication. It was the second win of 2004 for the traveling racer as he also won the CLMA season opener in Fort Morgan, CO. Missouri star Terry Phillips came from 9th starting to pocket $2000 for his second place run in a GRT. Friday night winner Al Purkey from Kansas came from sixth starting to win $1250 for third and Missouri MLRA ace Alan Vaughn won $1100 for fourth. Fifth place was worth $1000 for TORA star Delbert Smith from Wichita KS. The two night special was sanctioned by WDRA, MLRA and NCRA. The 3/8 mile track previously was a paved track, but Colorado's Mike Mathis was brought in to get it switched over to a clay surface and the World of Outlaws sprint cars visit here later in June.

Utah's Mike McGinn was the only car to not return for the Saturday racing and the 36 cars were divided into four qualifying heat races with the top 12 in the passing point accumulations advancing to the front half of the 24 car A Main lineup. Boen earned the pole for the 50 lapper by winning heat 1 from the pole as fellow Colorado traveler Ken Brack ran second ahead of front row starter Gary Gorby and Oklahoma's Eddie Tidwell. The second heat was stacked with nationally known stars as Vaughn won from the pole with third starter Phillips second ahead of 8th starting Purkey. Oklahoma City's Randy Timms won heat 3 from the pole with fifth starting Mike Wiarda from Aurora, Nebraska in second ahead of Brett LaFollette and David Turner. Smith won the fourth heat also from fourth with T J Kuykendall second ahead of 9th starting Ryan McAninch and Grand Juntion CO long tow Butch Clark. The 12 drivers to advance through the passing point system were front row earners Boen and Smith along with McAninch, Vaughn, Timms, Purkey, Wiarda, Brack, Phillips, Kuykendall, Clark and Gorby. The remaining cars raced in two B Mains with the top six advancing from each. Kansas City charger LaFollette won the first from the pole with sixth starting ageless Jim Clifton second ahead of Kansas chargers Rod Bencken and Ted Martin. Colorado ace Dave Garmann was fifth ahead of David Barker. Just missing the move up were Colorado racer John Kuchar and Kansas racer Chris Mayes. Dean Moore ran 9th. MLRA point leader Jason Bodenhammer won the 2nd B Main from third starting with pole starter David Turner second ahead of Nebraska racer Tommy Rowe and Colorado's Scott Lewis. Also moving up were Oklahoma charger Eddie Tidwell and Great Bend KS runner David Brock. Colorado's Kevin Lueck and Dodge City's own Mike Martin were next in line.

The talented 24 car grid managed to run the 50 lap distance without a single yellow flag and Boen led all the way from the pole. Phillips and Purkey provided a strong challenge over the closing rounds but settled for 2nd and 3rd ahead of Vaughn and Smith, the final lead lap finisher. McAninch ran sixth ahead of the Nebraska duo of Wiarda and Rowe. Timms was 9th ahead of Bodenhammer, Kuykendall, Gorby and LaFollette.

Summary Heat 1-Kelly Boen, Ken Brack, Gary Gorby, Eddie Tidwell, Scott Lewis. Heat 2-Alan Vaughn, Terry Phillips, Al Purkey, Ted Martin, Rod Bencken. Heat 3-Randy Timms, Mike Wiarda, Brett LaFollette, David Turner, Jason Bodenhammer. Heat 4-Delbert Smith, T J Kuykendall, Ryan McAninch, Butch Clark, Rusty Miller. 1st B Main-LaFollette, Jim Clifton, Bencken, Martin, Dave Garmann, David Barker, John Kuchar, Chris Mayes, Dean Moore, Joe Conway. 2nd B Main-Bodenhammer, Turner, Tommy Rowe, Scott Lewis, Tidwell, David Brock, Lueck, Mike Martin, Herb Nagy, Steve Lewis. A Main-Boen, Phillips, Purkey, Vaughn, Smith, McAninch, Wiarda, Rowe, Timms, Bodenhammer, Kuykendall, Gorby, LaFollette, Turner, Scott Lewis, T Martin, Garmann, Tidwell, Clark, Brock, Barker, Clifton, Brack, Bencken.

Clean Sweep For Boen In WDRA Season Opener

By Gary Jacob

Colby, KS -- The Grand Junction, CO based WDRA Late Models traveled all the way to Colby, Kansas to start their 2002 season Sunday night. A former IMCA Modified Super Nationals champion, Kelly Boen from Henderson, Colorado scored a clean sweep of the night's action as he won his heat, the Dash for Cash and the feature race. Colorado's hottest dirt late model racer Brett Hallmark from Grand Junction finished second with another CLMA winner in 2002, John Kuchar, placing third.

The 11 car turnout included nine Colorado based teams and a pair from Kansas. Boen beat Dave Garmann and Hallmark in heat 1. Kuchar won heat 2 with Chris Kratzer from Lyons, Kansas in second over Dean Moore from Grand Junction, CO. Boen then beat Kuchar and Garmann in the dash.

Boen outran Hallmark to win the feature race with Kuchar third over Kratzer, Garmann, Butch Clark from Grand Junction, ageless veteran Jim Clifton from Fort Morgan and Oakley, KS racer Rod Benken. Michael Cox, Curt Daniels and Moore failed to finish.

Summary Dash-Kelly Boen, John Kuchar, David Garmann. Heat 1-Boen, Garmann, Brett Hallmark, Michael Cox, Butch Clark. Heat 2-Kuchar, Chris Kratzer, Dean Moore, Jim Clifton, Curt Daniels. Main-Boen, Hallmark, Kuchar, Kratzer, Garmann, Clark, Clifton, Rod Benken, Cox, Daniels, Moore.