By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The mud flew this week at Rolling Plains Motor Speedway as IMCA stock car racers from around the region came to Hays to compete for a $5,000 grand prize in the 1st Class Chassis Stock Car ShootOut.
Tornadoes briefly touched down north of the speedway Tuesday, but did not detour racers and fans on the first night of the races. Spectators were urged to temporarily take cover as the sirens sounded.
This was the inaugural year for the ShootOut at RPM presented by 1st Class Chassis Race Cars, Hoisington.
Drivers from nine states, including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Kansas registered for the races.
Jordan Grabouski of Beatrice, Neb., beat national stock car champion Mike Nichols of Harlan, Iowa, for the IMCA Stock Car feature win.
Nichols is an eight-time National Stock Car Champion and has over 700 career wins in nine states and one Canadian province.
The pits were packed with racers eager to vie for the $5,000 or one of the other prizes up for grabs Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Jason Rogers, Selden, has eight track titles at RPM. He had a start in the 11th position for the feature and ended the race in seventh.
Rogers has been racing for 18 years and races most weekends at the Hays track. He said the competition keeps him coming back for more.
“I just try to be as consistent as I can be and be there at the end every week,” he said.
When he is not racing, he farms. His son is now old enough he is racing in the hobby stock class.
Angel Munoz, 33, Lamar, Colo., is also a regular racer at RPM. He started in the 10th position Wednesday in the IMCA stock car class and finished fifth in the 2M car.
Munoz, who works for a small trucking company, said RPM usually has plenty of cars and tough competition, which is why he likes racing at the track.
“You just get a rush out of it you can’t get anywhere else,” Munoz said of racing.
Dominic Ursetta, 31, of Denver, was hoping for a good finish Wednesday after securing the fourth position in the IMCA stock car class, but did not finish the race.
“I don’t know if a can explain it. It is some kind of drug or something,” Ursetta said of why he races. “It is something with motors and winning. We like to win.”
Friends Tyler Tipton, 26, Weskan, and his father, Randy Tipton, regularly race at the Hays track. Tyler was unable to start his feature race Wednesday night in the stock car class.
Randy raced for 25 years until Tyler was old enough to race, and now he wrenches on the car while Tyler drivers. Tyler said as a kid he spent his weekends fetching tools for his dad in the pits.
“He grew up in the grand stands watching me, so now I figure it’s his turn,” Randy said.
Tyler said now racing is like a second full-time job.
“I get off work and go back to work [on the car],” he said.
See results of the feature races below or on the RPM website results page. Also learn more about RPM on its Facebook page.
