The HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA thread!!

[Ron Ward]

Saturday, April 21, come out and join us at the BriggsAuto.com motor speedway at Heartland Park for our Super Saturday Showdown. Watch the dirt fly with plenty of action. Gates open @ 5:30 with hot laps @ 6 and heat racing starts at 7.

For more info, go to WWW.HPT.COM


Ron

[Ron Ward]

Got a bike

Bring it out Sunday, April 22 for the first HPT Bike Day of 2012. Learn performance riding tips from the pros and ride around the HPT road course. Gates open @ 7:00 am and the fun will go on until 5:00 pm.

Go to WWW.HPT.COM for more details.


Ron

[Ron Ward]

This weekend, more Ferrellgas racing action with race #4 on Saturday and race #5 on Sunday. Gates open @ 7 am both days with time trials @ 10. Come on out and join us for some great bracket racing and the Fineline Graphics and Driskell Racing Engines Super Quick Series.

Tonight, the BriggsAuto.com Motor Speedway roars to life with the Super Saturday Showdown. Come out and watch four classes of dirt cars battle on the banked oval. Gates open @ 5:30 pm with hot laps @ 6 and racing @ 7.

[Ron Ward]

This weekend, more racing at Heartland Park Topeka!

Friday night is our Test n Tune session. Gates open @ 5:00 and cars will be on track from 6-10.

Saturday will be our Ferrelgas ET Bracket series featuring the Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines. Gates open @ 8:00 am with first round of time trials at 10:00 am. My buddy Geoff will be announcing as I will be attending my daughter's graduation from Washburn University.

Come on out and enjoy the races. For more information, check us out on the interweb at www.hpt.com

Ron

[Ron Ward]

Ferrellgas ET Bracket #4, May 12, 2012

A long day of racing at Heartland Park for the Ferrellgas ET Bracket Series and the Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing engines got started with the Elk Creek Engraving and Awards Junior Dragster category. In the C division, with drivers age 8-9, Topekan Ethan Martinez drove to the win against Seneca’s Brady Stallbaumer in a double breakout 13.09 to 13.07. The B group of racers, ages 10-12 saw Kaylee Duncan of Richmond, MO defeat Savanah Bennett of Shawnee in the final with a lightning quick .007 reaction time as Duncan ran 8.95 on her 8.94 dial to Bennett’s 8.94 on her 8.90 dial. The A group of JD’s, ages 13-17 found Connor McEntire in the winner’s circle after he put away Austin McClure in the final by running a near perfect 7.959 on his 7.95 dial to McClure’s 7.955 on his 7.93 dial.

The Kansas National Guard Pro Bike Category saw two familiar faces in the final as fellow Topekans, Stuart Miles and Paul Mustain staged next to each other. Mustain dialed his 2001 Suzuki Bandit on an 11.83 and Miles dialed in at 10.07. When the amber lights flashed, Mustain left too soon and foul started, resulting in a red light on his side of the racetrack. Miles cruised to victory, running 10.11 on his 2006 Hyabusa.

In the Labor Pros Street category final round, Dave Gaber of Meriden staged his Pontiac Firebird against the tough Toyota Rav4 of Tiffany Walters-Wilson from Overland Park after both drivers waded through a field of 10 competitors. Wilson cut a much better light and sailed to victory 13.41 to Gaber’s 12.46.

A large field of 33 cars showed up for round number 1 of the Commercial Fleet Repair Sportsman class. When the dust settled, it was another all-Gene Sportsman final as Gene Rowson defeated Gene Lamb in the second time in as many races. Rowson, of Wichita, got the win when Lamb, of Garnett, foul started.

The final round of Super 8 at Forbes Landing PRO ET paired Olathe’s Chris Livingood in his black suede 1977 Vega with Cody Michel of Iola in his blue 1977 Monza. The two small Chevy’s both dialed in the 9-second range with Livingood at 9.49 and Michel at 9.23. Livingood left the line first with a killer .008 reaction time. Michel pushed hard, but Livingood took the win with a 9.52 to Michel’s 9.24.

The White Line CDL Training Super Pro category pitted Larry Piper of Wamego against Matt Driskell of Wellsville. Driskell dialed 7.12 and Piper dialed 7.39. Piper nailed the tree with a .008 reaction time and Driskell tried to chase him down but ran too quick with a 7.11 to Piper’s winning 7.39.

Fineline Graphics Super Quick presented by Driskell Racing Engines brought in twenty-one way-fast entries. When all the smoke cleared, only two racers remained. Belton, Mo’s Todd Knight was making another final round appearance against Tyson Hartley of Paola. Hartley foul-started and gave Knight the win.

Come on out and enjoy the next Ferrellgas ET Bracket event on June 2. We’ll also have the Super Class Series on hand for an extra good time!

[Brian Lohnes]

Ferrellgas ET Bracket Race and Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines (Aug. 7th)

The best bracket racers in the Midwest gathered together at Heartland Park Topeka once again for the Ferrellgas ET Bracket Series and also for the Fineline Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines. The track was in great shape, making for some really close racing.

Things started out with the Elk Creek Engraving and Awards Junior Dragster category. This was a non-points race as the NHRA Div. 5 Junior Dragster Championships were being held at the Mid America Motorplex. As such, many of the points racers from HPT were out of town. After polling all of the drivers in the class, a decision was made to pile all the Junior Dragster categories into one eliminator. This made for some great fun as the young C category racers got to mix it up with the older B and A drivers. As luck would have it, two B group racers faced each other in the final. Cameron Beasley of Milford, KS beat his older brother, Gaige, to earn his spot in the final. Pleasant Hill, MO racer, Nate Solomon, dispatched Topeka’s own Madelyn Stallbaumer to fill the other spot in the final round. Beasley went on to take the win with a better reaction time in the final round, 9.050 on a 8.95 dial to Solomon’s 8.984 on a 8.90 dial.

The Kansas National Guard Pro Bike category found Shawn Ray on his 2005 Honda leaving the line just a bit late. Topeka’s Stuart Miles dropped the hammer and took the win with a 10.89 @ 114 mph.

A tough battle for the points lead is raging in the Labor Pros Street category. Topekan, Steve Hart came into the event with a narrow lead over Tiffany Walters-Wilson and Dave Gaber. Wilson didn’t show up to the event, leaving the door wide open for Hart and Gaber to beat on each other a bit, and they did just that in the semifinal round. Hart cut a beautiful 0.011 reaction time to put away Gaber and advance to the final where he faced Ben Schmidtlein, who was returning after a long hiatus. In the final, Schmidtlein, driving his brother’s Firebird, took the win as Hart pushed his Ranger pickup just a bit too hard on the starting line and turned on the red light by 0.041 seconds.

A large field of racers showed up for the Commercial Fleet Repair Sportsman category where the biggest and tightest point’s battle of the year is shaping up. Garnett racer, Gene Lamb came into the event with a very narrow lead in a class where the top seven drivers were separated by only 4 rounds of racing. It didn’t take long before the top ten points earners started swapping places. The final round found Dough Richert of Topeka against Eugene Rowson of Wichita. Rowson’s ’74 Olds Cutlass was dialed on a
12.95 and Richert’s Trans Am was dialed on a 12.90. As the tree came down, Richert foul started by 0.027 seconds and Rowson was handed the win. Points leader Lamb lost in round two, opening the door to what amounted to a freight train of drivers (including Korbynn Stallbaumer, Siebert and Rowson) flying past him for the points lead. Said Lamb after he was eliminated from competition, “Not only did the train come through, it went WOOO WOOO as it passed me!”

If there was a textbook entitled, “HOW TO WIN PRO ET RACES,” it most surely would have been written by Cody Michael of Iola, KS. Cody has been showing them all how to do it over the last few races and Saturday was no exception. Cody absolutely demolished the field – AGAIN - in Super 8 at Forbes Landing PRO ET with his uber-consistent 1977 Chevy Monza. In eliminations, Cody waded through shark-infested waters with confidence, putting away seasoned drivers like Chris Webb, Jason Wettstein and JR Lobner. In the final, It was all Cody again as Chris Livingood left the starting line too soon, resulting in a disqualification. Michael took the win, 9.46 on his 9.38 dial. Michael also took home the Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburger bounty AND he grabbed the A-1 Automotive Lumberjack Challenge dough for cutting a perfect light when he defeated Wettstein. That, folks, is exactly how you get it done in PRO ET.

Although the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Topeka called for a slight chance of showers, Milton, KS racer, Bobby Mount had predicted a storm was going to hit northeast Kansas. Mount was right. When the White Line CDL Training Super Pro Class hit the track, lightning struck in the form of Mount’s reaction times and thunder rolled as he took out his competition one after another in what one could describe as an amazing display of racing. Even in the final against 2010 NHRA Div. 5 Top Dragster champ, Larry Piper, Mount proved too much for the rest of the field by handing Piper a loss. Mount ripped the Christmas tree with a .008 light and never looked back, running 9.99 on his 9.96 dial to Piper’s .035 R/T and 7.309 breakout on his 7.31 dial.

The Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines produce an “All-Todd” final round as Wamego’s Todd Piper defeated Belton, MO racer Todd Knight.

[thedodgeboys]

Hey Ron

On the open track days are convertibles allowed to run?

[Ron Ward]

Ferrellgas ET Bracket Race and Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines (Aug. 5th)

Sunday’s race opened with crisp, clear, cool skies, but the action on the track for the Ferrellgas ET Bracket Series and the Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines action heated up in a big hurry with super close racing in all the classes.

The Elk Creek Engraving and Awards Junior Dragster category found Milford racer, Cameron Beasley, in his second final round in as many days. Beasley was paired up with Topeka driver, Trey Hefner. Beasly cut a decent .058 reaction time as he left the line first, but Hefner was only .012 seconds from being perfect on the tree and went on to take the win, 7.93 to 8.93

The Kansas National Guard Pro Bike category pitted Stuart Miles against Shawn Ray. Ray left the line first, but Miles roared by for the win, 10.15 to 12.60

The Labor Pros Street category saw Emporia racer, Chad Olinger, had a defeat to points leader Steve Hart, 15.75 to 15.70.

Saturday’s race in the Commercial Fleet Repair Sportsman category set the stage for Sunday’s craziness in the points battle. With the top 10 racers separated by only 10 rounds of racing for the points lead, and with only 5 races remaining in the season, it was literally anybody’s game at the start of the race. Korbynn Stallbaumer led the pack at the beginning of the day, but didn’t last long as Nick Seibert went on to defeat Kole Vogel in the final. Seibert dialed 13.65 and ran a 13.56 as Vogel broke out trying to chase him down, 12.406 on a 12.06 dial. With the victory, Seibert took a narrow lead in the points. Three separate points leaders in three consecutive races bears testament to how close this class is coming down to the wire.

As he tried to make a clean sweep of the weekend for the Super 8 at Forbes Landing Pro ET category, Cody Michael’s charge came to an abrupt end as he met Wichita racer, John Trimble in round five. Trimble went on to the final where he met Emporia’s Troy Ross who was in a distant second place in points behind Michael. Ross, a two time Pro points champ, was pumped up by the opportunity to make up some ground on Michael, defeated Trimble in the final, 10.07 (10.06 dial) to 10.73 (10.68 dial). Ross has now narrowed the gap to fewer than eight rounds of racing coming down the stretch. Stay tuned to this one, as it is going to be fun to watch!

The storm Bobby mount predicted on Friday continued through Saturday and into Sunday as Mount found himself in his second final round in as many days. The White Line CDL Training Super Pro Class saw mount continue his attack on the rest of the field as he rained down on his competition with an amazing string of double-0 reaction times in his small block Chevy-powered 1972 Ford Maverick. Richard Gleason of Blue Springs, MO is apparently impervious to bad weather, as he also strung together a collection of sub-0.010 lights to make his way to the final. When the tree came down, the red light bit Mount by .002 seconds and Gleason went on to take the win in his great looking 1932 Bantam Altered.

The Fineline Graphics Super Quick Series presented by Driskell Racing Engines found Todd Knight of Belton, MO in his second final round in two days. Knight took the win this time as he narrowly defeated Tyson Hartley.

[Ron Ward]

Hey Ron

On the open track days are convertibles allowed to run?

That is one heck of a good question... I looked all over the Heartland Park website and could not find an answer. However, this guy is the answer guru and will be more than happy to field your questions. Give him a call during business hours or shoot him an email anytime:

For more information contact Mike Walker at (785) 862-4781 or by email to mwalker@hpt.com.

[thedodgeboys]

That is one heck of a good question... I looked all over the Heartland Park website and could not find an answer. However, this guy is the answer guru and will be more than happy to field your questions. Give him a call during business hours or shoot him an email anytime:

For more information contact Mike Walker at (785) 862-4781 or by email to mwalker@hpt.com.

Thanks for the quick reply I'll give him a call.