Nicholson Stays Smooth To Win Super Late Model Feature At I-80 Speedway

By: Joey Sparano

(GREENWOOD NEB., 07/08/2007) On a night where 90+ drivers braved the blistering summer heat to compete at I-80 Speedway; John Nicholson, Reese Coffee, Tim Podraza, Jesse Sobbing, and Rob Kosiski all visited victory lane as Shopko presented the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and the annual Kids Bike Races.

The 25 lap Dodge Super Late Model "A" feature event seen the #77 of John Nicholson jump out to the early from his front row starting position. Just as lap one was being completed, the caution would fly for the #58 of Keith Mander Jr. who entered the spin cycle in turn four. When the green waved once again, it was still Nicholson out front with Rick Stolley and Alonzo Grosse close behind. The yellow would be displayed for the second time in the race when the #z62 of Justin Zeitner experienced a mechanical failure in turns one and two. With the field stacked up, it was easy to see that the two cars on the move were the #53 of Joe Kosiski and the #6 of Al Humphrey. By this time in the race the two had worked their way close to the top five after starting in the sixth row. On the restart Nicholson held his line on the top as Kosiski made his way into second using the bottom. Lap 19 would see the final caution period of the night as Troy Daly's #44 came to a slow on the back chute. The restart would give Kosiski a great opportunity to make the pass for the lead one final time, but it was John Nicholson driving as "Mr. Smooth" around the top of the track on route to victory. Kosiski and Humphrey finished second and third. Leon Zeitner and Al Zeitner rounded out the top five.

Jeremiah Sillman would lead the field to the green in the 18 lap Modified "A" main event. Sillman held the early advantage, but J.C. Wyman and Mike Johnson would apply pressure in the early laps. As a pair of yellows delayed the race on lap three, the car on the move was the #16 of Reese Coffee. Coffee would stick to the bottom rail of the track and work his way to the lead. Coffee would then keep the top spot on his way to victory, his 4th of the year. Sillman finished second, Wyman third, Jeff Stephens fourth, and Matt Richards fifth.

The 18 lap Certified Transmission Pro Am "A" feature seen Tim Podraza race from the fourth starting position to win the event. Shawn Bulin would start 10th and work his way up to finish 2nd. Dr. Nick Steier finished third, with Saturday nights Pro Stock winner Marty Steinbech finishing fourth. Chad Sanders drove his #49x to finish fifth.

The 15 lap Hobby Stock "A" feature event would start with Mike Mass rolling over on lap one. Mass would be uninjured as he quickly exited his car. When the race got back underway it was Jesse Sobbing jumping out to a huge advantage. Sobbing would drive to victory picking up the $50 Tom & Tiffs Family Restaurant bonus. Tom Myers came home second. Chad Bassinger, Jimmy Nichols, and Rick Munson rounded out the top five.

Rob Kosiski would start on the pole and win the 8 lap Novice Crate "A" feature event. Micah Brown would run a close second with Ryan Gladwin finishing third. 15 year old Jase Kaser finished fourth and Kortney Kosiski was fifth.

Results From 07/08/07

Dodge Super Late Models:
1) 77 John Nicholson, 2) 53 Joe Kosiski, 3) 6 Al Humphrey, 4) 62 Leon Zeitner, 5) 76 Al Zeitner, 6) 10L Rick Stolley, 7) 44z Alonzo Grosse, 8) 11 Don Droud Jr., 9) 1m Todd Bell, 10) 1w Mike Wallace, 11) 10 Jay Stewart, 12) 00 Clint Benson, 13) 1h Chad Humston, 14) 1 Jason Hobscheidt, 15) 25 Kenny Edwards, 16) 52 Bill Leighton Jr., 17) 80 Scott Koskovich, 18) 1t Vance Tonack, 19) 58 Keith Mander Jr., 20) J1 Jay Burdic, 21) 2x Andrew Kosiski, 22) 23 Dave Hanke, 23) 44 Troy Daly, 24) z62 Justin Zeitner.

Modifieds:
1) 16 Reese Coffee. 2) 52s Jeremiah Sillman, 3) 4 J.C. Wyman, 4) 92 Jeff Stephens, 5) 1r Matt Richards, 6) 3x Mike Johnson, 7) 20m Mark Leiting, 8) 5 Harry Nixon, 9) z00 Brad Tuttle, 10) 21n Dave Newton, 11) 8 Larry Goertz, 12) 95 Buzz Wilson, 13) h1 Lowell Holland, 14) 91 Tim Thomas, 15) 3r Rodney Stopak, 16) 07 Mike Goldfuss, 17) 53 Staci Stava, 18) 33r Larry Robinson Jr., 19) 31j Jeremy Rasmussen, 20) 1m Robert Brinkman, 21) 37f Randy Foote, 22) 5s Bob Zoubek, 23) 1s Scott Carlson, 24) 2m Mike Meyer, 25) 69x Bill Bader Jr.

Certified Transmission Pro Ams:
1) 3t Tim Podraza, 2) 36 Shawn Bulin, 3) 8 Nick Steier, 4) 5 Marty Steinbech, 5) 49x Chad Bassinger, 6) 9x John Allensworth, 7) 24 Don Mohr, 8) t72 Thad Thomson, 9) 84 Doug Stevenson, 10) 35 Rich Steier, 11) 6 Denny Berghahn, 12) 12 Terry Cleveland, 13) 55 Ray Dessel, 14) 15 Andy Thompsen, 15) 49 Jeff Atkins, 16) 6x Denny Berghahn Jr., 17) 72 Rick Negrete, 18) 55d Nick Deal, 19) 92 Tony Barnes, 20) 25x Joe Feyen, 21) 33x Chuck Dillon, 22) 66 Jeff Joldersma, 23) 64 Nick Hermsen.

Hobby Stock:
1) 99 Jesse Sobbing, 2) 7 Tom Myers, 3) 4x Chad Bassinger, 4) 6 Jimmy Nichols, 5) m70 Rick Munson, 6) 61b Brandon Wergin, 7) 4w Joe Wollenhaupt, 8) 12 George Whitmore, 9) 32d Kenny Darnold, 10) 00 John Austin, 11) 2t Josh True, 12) 52 Roger Timperley, 13) 40 Mike Mass, 14) 11x Kenny Toliver-Humpal.

Novice Crates:
1) 52 Rob Kosiski, 2) 92 Micah Brown, 3) j1 Ryan Gladwin, 4) 15 Jase Kaser, 5) 35 Kortney Kosiski, 6) 20 Lindsey Yost, 7) 80 Isiah Droud.