Tom Freimann
OLATHE, Colo. (August 4) - On the weekend of the of the annual Olathe Sweet Corn Festival, the WDRA Super Dirt Late Models came to town to put on a show at Thunder Mountain Speedway. New Track Promoter Sean Gibbs made sure that the track had a presence at the festival, and Jeep Berry was kind enough to have a car on display to show the soon to be fans what was going to be making the noise later that night. The track had a late afternoon shower move through that added much needed moisture to the usually dusty track. The late rain delayed the racing start, but it was well worth the wait, and the fans were not disappointed as the Late Models took to the track for their heat races.

Heat One was a full throttle event as Mike McGinn was on the pole and keep out in front of the pack to take the win. He was followed to the checkers by a hard charging Dan Shepherd, who ran the entire race on 3 wheels. Coming in third was Racin Jason Davis in his 29A, Jeep Berry raced from last to 4th on the wet and slick track with Kyle Hill rounding out the top 5. Andy Hill's night ended in the first heat as he broke his transmission and drive train, and was forced to sit out the rest of the night, spending his time helping his fellow drivers get their machines ready for the feature.
Heat Two found Jesse Dimick on the pole with Dean Moore driving his once again black car called Mojo on the outside. Dean ran away with the heat win, running again full throttle around the 1/3 oval. Coming in second was Helper, UT's number 15 machine of Corey Smith, with Terry Boushee, Jesse Dimick and Michael Wright rounding out the Top 5.

The 4 lap pole dash lined up with the top 4 cars in passing points from the heats, and once again Dean took advantage of the tacky track conditions, running his 14m Rayburn Race Car at full power to give the fans a heck of a race. The first caution of the year during a Pole Dash came out on lap 3 as the 68 of Dan Shepherd and the 27 of Mike McGinn got together in turn two, giving Shepard a flat left rear, and putting McGinn to the back. That gave Corey Smith the front row outside starting position for the feature.

The Late Models rolled on the best track of the year for the 25 lap feature, and gave the fans a 4 wide salute for coming out. At the drop of the green, the late models roared to life, with Dean taking the lead and moving out on the pack until a caution on lap 15 brought the pack back together. Jeep Berry, who has won every feature race this season, and started the feature in 7th place, and was up to 3rd by the time the caution came out. As the green flag flew, Jeep had worked up to 2nd, and was gaining on Moore, looking to keep his perfect record alive. Another caution flag came out as Jesse Dimick spun into the infield and he collected the 27 of McGinn, as Mcginn was trying to take second back from Berry. The hard hit sent McGinn airborne on the front stretch and heavily damaged McGinn's race car. As the green came out again, Moore wiggled off of the hook that Berry was reeling him in with, and scored his first Feature win of the season. Corey Smith got past Berry in the last few laps to take home the runner up spot, followed by Berry. In fourth was the #93 of Aurora, CO's Terry Boushee, and the 3C of Curt Daniels, who came from the last starting position to finish 5th. Rounding out the 10 ten were the 05 of Gary Dechant, Kyle Hill, Ron Lengel, Dan Shepherd, and Rifle, CO's Michael Wright.

It was a fabulous night of racing, with no dust and a great tacky track for the racers to play on.

The WDRA will be in action next Saturday as they travel back to Desert Thunder Speedway in Price, UT. After that the WDRA Super Dirt Late Models will be heading to Aztec, NM on September 1st for the $2000 to win, $250 to start, Snap-On Dealers Late Model Races.
For more information, be sure to visit our web site at www.wdra.net or join our myspace page at: www.myspace.com/western_dirt_racing_assoc

RESULTS

Heat #1
1 1 27 Michael Mcginn Wellington , Ut 10 2 5 68 Dan Shepherd Greeley , Co 9 3 4 29A Jason Davis Grand Junction, Co 8 4 7 75 Jeep Berry Grand Junction, Co 7 5 6 47 Kyle Hill Buena Vista, Co 6 6 2 49 Ron Lengel Price , Ut 5 7 3 71 Andy Hill Cahone , Co 4

Heat #2
1 2 14 Dean Moore Grand Junction, Co 10 2 4 15 Corey Smith Helper , Ut 9 3 7 93 Terry Boushee Aurora , Ca 8 4 1 38 Jesse Dimick Price , Ut 7 5 6 28 Michael Wright Rifle , Co 6 6 3 05 Gary Dechant North Glenn, Co 5 7 5 3C Curt Daniels Paonia , Co 4

Feature
1 1 14 Dean Moore Grand Junction, Co 50
2 2 15 Corey Smith Helper , Ut 47
3 7 75 Jeep Berry Grand Junction, Co 44
4 5 93 Terry Boushee Aurora , Ca 41
5 13 3C Curt Daniels Paonia , Co 38
6 12 05 Gary Dechant North Glenn, Co 36
7 9 47 Kyle Hill Buena Vista, Co 34
8 11 49 Ron Lengel Price , Ut 32
9 3 68 Dan Shepherd Greeley , Co 30
10 10 28 Michael Wright Rifle , Co 28
11 4 27 Michael Mcginn Wellington , Ut 26
12 8 38 Jesse Dimick Price , Ut 24
13 6 29A Jason Davis Grand Junction, Co 22
14 14 71 Andy Hill Cahone , Co 20