Opening Day at 81 Speedway

Opening day at 81 Speedway turned out to be a good day for almost every
one. But for the most part, the day was packed with a lot of good
racing and fun things going on at the speedway.
Bobby Cox Pro Clown
was available to entertain the race fans. There were also jump houses
and the monster truck that you could take a ride in. Silent auctions
going on for several different prizes. All proceeds from the jump
houses and monster truck ride and silent auction went to March of Dimes
and they raised $1,295.
Racing was good all day long. There were
several new drivers trying their luck for the first time this year.
Some of them were Marc Robe, out of Wichita, first time out in the
Sprint Car division finishing 5th in the feature; also, Jeff Richey and
Jerry Loffland are new in the Rookie Modified division.
Some of
you may know this name: Cale Gottschalk, out of Benton. He used to race
in youth hornets and in the street stock division, and this year, he
chose to move to the modified division, skipping the rookie class
altogether.
During the afternoon, there were the heat laps, and
all was going good. We had a few spin outs, but nothing real bad until
the late models were doing their heat laps, and Brian Bolster got
pushed into the wall on the backstretch and tore the front end of the
car up. There was no way for Bolster to repair it and get back out
there for the features. He loaded the car up and called it a day. We
hope Bolster is doing ok and can get back out there as soon as he can.
Shawn
Langhover Sr. and Shawn Langhover Jr. are back racing this year.
Langhover Sr. is in the modified division, and Langhover Jr. is in the
rookie division. Senior said he felt like his car was twice as good as
it was two weeks ago in the NCRA Modified race. “There are just a few
things that I need to work on to get it just the way I want it,” said
Langhover Sr. Senior finished ninth in his heat lap, started last in
the C feature, and finished eighth and made the transfer to the B
feature and finished 14th.
Langhover Jr. had a rough night. But it
was the first time he ever had the car out. “I was not able to make the
heat laps and made the heat race and the feature but I broke a drive
shaft and transmission,” said Langhover Jr. Junior is really optistimic
and says he really likes the car and will be out there on Saturday
night racing again.
Jerry Richey out of Haysville had a really
good night. He is driving a new car this year and looks to be set up
just right for him. Richey won the rookie modified A feature.
Congratulations Jerry and good luck the rest of the season.
All in
all the night was good and packed with a lot of racing action. If you
missed April 15th then be sure to catch a different night of action at
81 Speedway and support your hometown drivers.

By Cathy Loffland