Category: Racing Archives

Cecil Dymond started racing when he was 12 years of age. “I thought it
was great because I was racing before I could even drive on the
streets,” said Dymond.
Dymond started in the youth hornet division and is now racing in the Junior Hornet class.
Dymond raced in the youth hornet division for three years and won two championships.
What Dymond really enjoys about racing is the competition and the adrenaline rush that he gets from it.
“I don’t go out to win, I go out to have fun. Winning is a plus,” said Dymond.
Last year, Dymond won seven features. So far this year, he has won nine. He is leading in points.
Dymond
has been around racing all his life. His dad has been racing for about
25 years. He also has an older brother that races in the street stock
division.
Dymond would like to move up to the Street Stock division next year.
Dymond has a lot of potential because he really works hard and practices at it.
We would like to wish Dymond the best of luck this season and race seasons to come.

By Cathy Loffland

Rick Mueller is not new to the racing scene. He has been racing for 34 years, started in simulates in 1972.
“Racing is something I always wanted to do, so when I got out of High school, I built a simulate,” said Mueller.
Mueller has driven in almost every division there is.
On
Friday nights, he races his own modified in Hutchinson, and on Saturday
nights, he races Duane and Linda Zwickl’s street stock for them.
Mueller enjoys racing because of the adrenaline rush you get and also the competition.
“Racing
is a real expensive hobby, which I don’t have a lot of money for, so I
don’t have the big motors like some of the other guys do. I race
because I enjoy it,” said Mueller.
With Mueller driving the Zwickl’s
car, they take care of all the maintenance and financing of it. Any
winnings Mueller gets, he gives to the Zwickl’s.
Mueller has never won a championship in his years of racing. He is currently ninth in points.
We would like to wish Mueller the best of luck this season.

By Cathy Loffland

Ryan McAnninch in his Modified at 81 Speedway. Photo Credit: Earl Fry

Ryan McAnninch is a third generation driver. So when he first started
racing go-carts at the age of five, it was not a surprise to his
family. He raced go-carts until he was about seven years of age.
McAnninch
decided to do some wrestling for a while, then when he was about 17, he
and a friend built a street stock. He raced in the street stock
division for about two years, then went to the Late Model division.
His first year in the Late Model division, McAnninch won the NCRA Late Model Rookie of the year.
McAnninch now races in both the Late Model division and Modified division. He is Late Model point’s leader right now.
McAnninch
has raced in the Topless Outlaw Racing Association. During his first
year, he finished fourth in points, and in his second year, he finished
third in points.
“I don’t have a preference for which car I drive. It is like asking a parent which child they love more,” said McAnninch.
McAnninch is a wrestling coach for Wichita Independent and owns his own painting company.
In
February, McAnninch saw something about the Racin’ for a Livin’ contest
and reality show. McAnninch entered and received an eight-page resume
to fill out. The company then picks the top 21 rookies out of 3,600,
and then they have to promote themselves to get the votes of fans. The
top five rookies will go to Charlotte, North Carolina, for ten weeks to
be on the reality show and compete for a chance to win a ride in a
Busch Car Series for 2007 sponsored by VISA.
Right now McAnninch sits in the top five. Of course, that can change on a weekly basis. The voting ends on August 15.
McAnninch is the only driver representing Kansas. Anybody can vote and can vote as often as possible.
So let’s help Ryan McAnninch make a dream come true go to www.racinforalivin.com (wildcard) and vote.

 

By Cathy Loffland

Mike Woodruff in front of his midget car

Last week, I talked about Mike Woodruff, well-known Sprint Car driver. Woodruff was burnt by pouring Methanol on a bonfire.
According to family members, Woodruff’s daughter Makayla put the fire out on her dad.
Woodruff is still in very serious condition, and they have already started skin grafts.
On
July 1, AJ Selenke made an announcement at 81 Speedway that for that
night only, he would sell his t-shirts for $10 each, and all proceeds
would go to the Woodruff fund, but, on top of that, Selenke and Parker
Oil would match everything they sold that night. By the end of the
night they contributed $2,728 to the Woodruff fund.
Alternative Pest Management is working with 81 Speedway and going to be doing a fundraiser for Woodruff, also.
If
you would like to contribute to Mike Woodruff, you can by sending any
donations to Mike Woodruff Medical Fund C/O Centera Bank, PO Box 400
Sublette, KS 67877.

By Cathy Loffland

You’ve read about the drivers on the track. Have you ever wondered about the drivers’ wives?
Here
is a little insight on what a wife goes through, or at least one wife:
me. As the wife of a new driver, it hasn’t been that easy for me. I’ve
learned a lot in the last few months, and I’m still learning.
One lesson I learned really quick was not to get behind the car when there are just two people getting it off of the trailer.
Let
me tell you how I learned that lesson. Jerry and I were at the track on
a Sunday afternoon for practice, and we were getting ready to take the
car off the trailer. Now mind you, I had helped get the car off the
trailer several times in the past. I’d always been on the back end of
the car, and nobody ever told me not to get behind it. So we started
backing the car off the trailer, and my foot got caught on something.
The next thing I knew, I’m yelling at Jerry to stop, and I end up
underneath the car. But I crawled out and was just fine, except for a
few bruises and having to spend a little time going to the chiropractor.
So now I don’t get behind the car when we are unloading it!
I
will never forget the first race of the season. Jerry was in the A
Feature on the front stretch on a caution flag. Then all of a sudden he
got hit from the back and spins completely around. I was standing
there, and all I could do was scream.
I can’t speak for the other
wives, but I know I get scared every time Jerry goes off the track or
other drivers get too close to him. Sometimes I wish you could put a
bubble around the car, and then he would be safe inside the bubble.
But
I’m really proud of Jerry and how well he is doing for a new driver. He
is in 18th place in points right now. I’m always on the wall cheering
him on.
Well, that is enough for this week. Keep reading to learn
about what other things happen or how other wives deal with their
husbands’ racing.
If you are a wife or girlfriend of a racer and
have a funny story or something you want to share, let me know by
e-mailing me at cloffland@sbcglobal.net

By

Cathy Loffland

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

By Cathy Loffland

Race Fans dont forget we have a Car Show on Saturday, April 8th at the
Haysville Sonic. We are expecting about 15 to 20 cars. There will be
cars from 81 Speedway and Wichita International Raceway.
You will be able to meet the drivers and look at their cars maybe even sit in some of them.
We hope to see all the race fans from Haysville at Sonic on Saturday.

By Cathy Loffland

We will be giving away a pair of tickets to the first race of the 37th
year of NCRA racing. This race is April 1st at 81 Speedway at 7:00 pm.
You will see at least 50 cars battling for the first win of the season.
The winner will be drawn on March 29th for these tickets.
We will
also be giving away two tickets to the Season Opener at 81 Speedway on
April 15th. Heat laps start at 2:00 pm, and features are at 7:00 pm.
You will see six different divisions trying their luck out. The winner
will be announced on April 12th.
To win these tickets all you have to do is click here to enter.

Good luck and don’t forget to stay up on all your racing news with the
Haysville Times race page and the locojoe.com race page.

By Cathy Loffland

Photo Credit: Cathy Loffland

Jason Schniepp of Haysville tried his luck in Texas on March 3rd and
4th. This is his third year going to Texas and racing in one of the
biggest races of the season. Texas has a ½ mile track.
Schniepp usually runs at 81 Speedway and follows the NCRA circuit, so he does some traveling.
Schniepp
has been racing modifieds for seven years. His father Jerry Schniepp
started racing in the 70s and some in the 80s. His brother Steve also
ran modified out at 81 Speedway for a while.
“My dad didn’t think I
would take to racing like I did but I did and I love it. I guess what I
get out of racing is the competiviness of it all,” said Schniepp.

In the second year that Schniepp ran in Texas, he was leading and had
distributor problems. This year he finished in the C-feature and he had
overheating problems.
Out at 81 Speedway he finished 4th in points last year and won his first A Feature.
This year Schniepp has a brand new Taylor Shaw car, and the first time he ever drove this car was in Texas.
“I like to travel to different tracks and race because you get to meet a lot of new people,” said Schniepp.
Schniepp
has been married to his wife Christie for 13 years and they have two
boys: Cody, who is 13, and Bryce, who is 10. The boys love to get out
there and help their dad with the car.
Schniepp works at the family owned business of Wholesale Swimming Pools.
This year Schniepp has dreams of finishing in the top 10 or 5 in NCRA and win championship at 81 Speedway.
He
would also like to pick up a few more A Feature wins and just have a
good year without tearing up a whole lot of stuff on the car.
Schniepp
would like to say thank you to his pit crew of Danny Provence, and
Justin Provence, Christie, Cody and Bryce Schniepp and Ronnie Warman.
Sponsors
of the 21J are Elite Pools, L&M Pools, B&C Construction,
Wichita Towers, Provence Construction, Jeff Taylor Motor Sports and
Blue Water Products.
So watch for the 21J out at 81 Speedway and cheer him on to victory. Good luck this season, Jason Schniepp.

By Cathy Loffland