New motor propels Topil to win

COLUMBUS - Changing motors proved to be the right move for Rising City's Nick Topil.

After battling engine problems during the last three races, Topil decided it was time to swap motors. The move paid off as the three-time defending points champion drove to a victory in the Hobby Stock feature over David City's Brandon Kresha at the U.S. 30 Speedway Thursday night.

“The motor that my crew and I put in was a basic one, and it turned out to be pretty good,” Topil said.

Topil got into a wreck at the Speedway last Thursday and dropped the water out of the motor and bent a valve. At Junction Speedway Saturday, Topil suffered a stuck valve as he finished third. After fixing the motor again, Topil bent the intake valve at Butler County Motorplex Tuesday, which prompted Topil and his crew to change the engine just a few hours before Thursday's race.

After the first stoppage on the sixth lap, Topil moved up four spots to take the lead as he passed Columbus' Marty Eaton as the green flag dropped. The race stopped four more times because of accidents, but Topil held on to the lead and cruised to the victory.

Wayne's Sean Spann finished behind Kresha in third place. Columbus' Derek Thiem finished fourth, followed by St. Edward's Chris Tenski, Columbus residents Zach Reicks and Brent VanDiest. Columbus' Quinten Spragg and Eaton finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

Topil said his car ran fine during the race, especially after the start of the first stoppage.

“I felt pretty good once I got that lead,” Topil said. “The car seemed fine because the track was really dry. The dryer the track, the better this car gets. I'm not sure why.”

Columbus' Troy Bergman took the checkered flag in the Open Street Stock feature. He was in second place for the first eight laps behind Bruno's Roger Eaton. He bumped into Eaton during the ninth lap and took the lead for the reminder of the race. Norfolk's Dave Freudenburg was the runner-up and North Bend's Dusty Poessnecker placed third. Duncan's Joe Runquist and Columbus' Terry Wallingford Jr. took sixth and seventh, respectively.

Norfolk's Shannon Pospisil won his fourth consecutive Hornets feature as he cruised to a victory over Richland's Brandon Wemhoff. David City's Austin Brauner came in third, while Silver Creek's Josh Gembica was fifth, followed by Columbus' Brenda Prigge, Rogers' Eric Cerny and Shelby's Robert Blahak.

Lincoln's Chris Alcorn had little trouble picking up the win in the I.M.C.A. Modified A feature after he took the lead with 13 laps to go.

Finishing behind Alcorn was Rising City's Michael Stearns and Columbus' James Kleinheksel. Osceola's Dylan Smith placed fourth and was followed by David City residents Tom Svoboda and Jason Harms. Boone's Dave Anson round out the area drivers in the feature as he placed eighth.

Beatrice's Daniel Nelson grabbed the win in the B feature as he was on the final turn before Aaron Pella, who was second, finished the first turn of the final lap.

Jeremy Orlowski took the lead in the Good Ol' Time Racing Association feature with two laps left and never looked back for the win. Ken Ganskow and Carroll Behlen, both of Columbus, placed second and third. Rich Anderson, also of Columbus, was fourth and David City's James Sylvester placed fifth.

U.S. 30 SPEEDWAY

Thursday's Results

I.M.C.A. Modifieds

# FEATURE A - 1. Chris Alcorn, 3, Lincoln; 2. Michael Stearns, 2X, Rising City; 3. James Kleinheksel, 7W, Columbus; 4. Dylan Smith, 95, Osceola; 5. Tom Svoboda, 16, David City; 6. Jason Harms, 66, David City; 7. Clint Homan, 27, Bellevue; 8. Dave Anson, 98, Boone; 9. Aaron Pella, 3A, Lincoln; 10. Aaron White, L-5, Plainview.

# FEATURE B - 1. Daniel Nelson, 94, Beatrice; 2. Pella; 3. Mark Kaspar, 2EZ, Prague.

# HEAT WINNERS - White; Alcorn; Harms; Jason Gaver, B18, Columbus.

Open Street Stock

# FEATURE - 1. Troy Bergman, 31B, Columbus; 2. Dave Freudenburg, 24, Norfolk; 3. Dusty Poessnecker, 22P, North Bend; 4. Jason Frisch, 94J, Norfolk; 5. Joe Runquist, 60, Duncan; 6. Terry Wallingford Jr., 25T, Columbus; 7. Jeremiah Slough, 15S, Doniphan.

# HEAT WINNERS - Roger Eaton, 25X, Bruno; Slough.

Hobby Stock

# FEATURE - 1. Nick Topil, 7T, Rising City; 2. Brandon Kresha, 21K, David City; 3. Sean Spann, 23X, Wayne; 4. Derek Thiem, 17, Columbus; 5. Chris Tenski, 23, St. Edward; 6. Zach Reicks, 7R, Columbus; 7. Brent VanDiest, 4, Columbus; 8. Lea Bittner, 96B, Norfolk; 9. Quinten Spragg, 79S, Columbus; 10. Marty Eaton, 33, Columbus;

HEAT WINNERS - Topil; Spann; Spragg.

Hornets

# FEATURE - 1. Shannon Pospisil, 00X, Norfolk; 2. Brandon Wemhoff, 02, Richland; 3. Austin Brauner, 10A, David City; 4. Tony Rost, 99T, Utica; 5. Josh Gembica, 10, Silver Creek; 6. Brenda Prigge, 80, Columbus; 7. Eric Cerny, 00, Rogers; 8. Robert Blahak, 87, Shelby.

# HEAT WINNERS - Brauner; Pospisil.

G.O.T.R.A.

# FEATURE A - 1. Jeremy Orlowski, 93.5, Madison; 2. Ken Ganskow, 29, Columbus; 3. Carroll Behlen, 55, Columbus; 4. Rich Anderson, 9, Columbus; 5. James Sylvester, 42, David City; 6. Dan Titus, 30, Norfolk; 7. Jim Mills, 11M, Webb, Iowa; 8. Larry Aldrich, 33, Dwight; 9. Gary Delp, 10, Norfolk; 10. Rocky Fagen, 54, Webb, Iowa.

# HEAT WINNERS -Jerry Sperling, 1900, Stromsburg; Orlowski; Mills.