By Randy Pospishil
NORFOLK, Neb. (Aug. 17, 2024) – With one final night of racing remaining on the Off Road Speedway schedule for 2024, the points races in four IMCA divisions are nearly finished as Championship Night draws near.
On Saturday night, Cory Dumpert moved up nine spots from a starting position in the fifth row to earn his fourth IMCA Sunoco Late Model win of the season at Norfolk.
Dumpert, who currently sits atop the national IMCA Late Models points list while pursuing his sixth national championship, didn’t get to the front until just seven laps remained.
After race leader Matt Haase was passed by Chase Osborne during lap nine of what had been a two-car battle for the lead, Dumpert began to move forward.
Within three laps, Dumpert had joined the leaders, then passed both Haase and Dumpert on consecutive laps to take the lead. That effort was negated when primary points challenger Anthony Roth went into the wall on turn two to force the race’s only caution, but Dumpert immediately returned to the front on the restart by using momentum out of turn two to take the lead from Osborne on the backstretch.
As Dumpert pulled away to win by several car lengths, Osborne held off multiple threats from Haase during the last six laps before securing second place, with Haase finishing third.
In the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature, Tejay Mielke won for the second consecutive Saturday.
Mielke moved quickly from a starting position deep in the pack but made it from the sixth row into third place just four laps into the 15-lap feature, then joined Kyle Wilkinson in a battle for the lead that lasted eight laps, including two cautions, before Mielke established a several car length advantage and finalize the victory.
Kyle Wilkinson took second place while Jeremy Hoskinson was third.
Lance Mielke won the IMCA Sunoo Hobby Stocks feature, his first at Off Road Speedway this season.
Mielke took advantage of a starting position on the outside of row one to lead all 15 laps for the victory, while Jason Wilkinson worked his way from the sixth of eight rows.
Without a caution to condense the field, Wilkinson joined the group of four cars at the front with nine laps left and began moving past the cars to Lehman’s rear bumper when the race’s only caution occurred with three laps remaining.
Lehman held off Wilkinson’s attempts to pass on the inside during the final three laps to establish the win, with Wilkinson taking second and Travis Landauer finishing third.
Cameron Meyer notched his sixth Off Road Speedway feature win of the season to defend his lead in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods.
Meyer, who began the 15-lap race in the seventh of eight rows, chased down the race leaders by the time the first of two cautions arrived with seven laps left.
On the restart, Meyer squeezed between cars while navigating turn two to pass Wes Hochstein for the lead and, despite one more caution with five laps remaining that brought his pursuers back to his rear bumper, held on for the win.
James Roebuck passed Hochstein on the final caution as the pair finished in second and third, respectively.
The final night of racing at Off Road Speedway this Saturday is the Lynn Langenberg Memorial, which includes Championship Night and a scheduled visit by the winged 360 sprint cars of the Midwest Touring Series.
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