By Sheldon Wickwar
DODGE CITY, Kan. (May 18, 2024) – He didn’t lead the most laps, just the most important ones.
Jack Kirchoff grabbed the lead as the white flag waved, then held off the rest of the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod field for a $500 payday at Dodge City Raceway Park’s Tumbleweed Classic.
Dalton Bell ended in second, Kirchoff’s son Ryan in third.
“It’s a good feeling. The car handled well,” the Garden City speedster said after wheeling a 2018 1st Class Chassis to his first feature victory of the season. “It was a good night for us. We won our heat, we had a lot of fun and my son did well, too.”
“It was a good night for both of us.”
The front row of the 20-lap feature event was Shawn Ward and Bell. A four-wide battle broke out right away but Bell scooted away with the lead.
Jack Kirchoff and Brianna Maughlin were moving to the front of the pack and at halfway Bell led with Kirchoff and Maughlin closing in as the frontrunners entered lapped traffic.
The tussle between Maughlin and Kirchoff allowed Brian May to bring his car back into the picture. One lap later May would throw a slider in turns three and four to grab the third spot.
The final three laps saw Bell and Jack Kirchoff battle closely, with Kirchoff grabbing the lead for good as the white flag waved.
The checkers came five days before Kirchoff celebrates his 69th birthday. Grandson Cale is 13 years old, he notes, is helping out now and hopes to be racing himself in the not-too-distant future.
Brett Berry, already Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible, was the $1,000 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified winner.
Also banking $500 were IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner Angel Munoz, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock winner Morgan Olmstead and Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact winner Kiowa Higdon.
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