Two Ponca City drivers win Figure 8, demolition derby race in Caldwell
Submitted to Sumner Newscow — Travis Jordan of Ponca City was the winner of the Sumner County Fair Association’s annual post fair Figure 8 Race held August 19 at the race arena on the west edge of Caldwell. Another Ponca City resident, John Rajsl, was the winner of the Demolition Derby.
Jordan received $600 as the Figure 8 Champion while Rajsl won $1,000.
Money prizes were awarded to the top five finishers in both contests.
Kasey Biddle of Winfield was the second place finisher in the Figure 8 competition – earning $400. Third Dakota Russell of Winfield earned $400 by finishing third. Travis Topper of Winfield was the fourth place winner and took home $100. Scott York of Caldwell placed fifth and earned $50.
Twenty-two drivers entered the contest.
Driving in heat one were Kasey Biddle, Brittan Stacey, Michael Bryant, Grahmn Lower, Justin Epperly and Dakota Russell with Russell and Biddle moving on to the finals.
Joseph Campbell, Jessen Hodges, Cody Kearns, Travis Topper, and Scott Biddle raced in heat two with Kearns and Topper making it through to the finals.
In third heat the drivers were: L.K. Susny, Andrew McKee, Savannah Ryan, Casey Mangrum and Scott York; Susny and York moved on to the finals.
Heat four drivers were Travis Jordan, Kyle Derringer, Joel Hemree, Christian Smith, Lawrence Kablinger, and Cole and Clint Tolle with Jordan and the Tolles making the finals.
Starter for the event was John Keiter.
A short break was taken while the drivers who had not qualified for finals prepared to race again in the consolation heats. Then the skies opened up, and rain poured down!
The consolation final heats were rescheduled and held at 6 p.m. Saturday before the beginning of the Demolition derby. Returning to race in the consolation heat were Brittan Stacy, Justin Epperly, Scott Biddle, Andrew McKee, Saannah Ryan, Lawrence Kablinger, and Joel Hembree; Biddle and Stacy progressed on to the final heat. The 10 car final consisted of 20 laps run on a muddy track and was started by Austen Krenek.
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The 39th annual Demolition Derby began immediately following the finals of the Figure 8 race. Twenty-six cars checked in and were inspected for this event. Â John Keiter was the official starter for the derby.
Heat one participants were Stephen Becker, Derek Zulkoski, Robert Taylor, Michael Stanley, and Nathan Linder with Becker and Zulkoski moving on to finals.
Second heat drivers were Alex Davis, Tyler Testa, Justin McLaughlin, Hunter Zulkoski, and Riley Thom with Davis and Thom moving on to finals. John Rajsl, Rocky Wood, Justin Epperly, Tyler Starks, and Dakota Russell drove in the third heat, and Rajsl and Starks moved on to finals.
Heat four drivers were Shane McLaughlin, Rocky Hunt, Eric Cales, Justin Eastman, and Lacie Ward; moving on to finals were McLaughlin and Eastman. Driving in the fifth heat were Preston Keys, Robert Wilson, Gary Kilpatrick, Ian King, Tony Russel, and Terry Sowersby with Sowersby and Russell qualifying for finals.
No consolation heats were run because there were only six cars in condition to run so they were put in the finals. Entering the arena to drive in the final heat were Stephen Becker, Derek Zulkoski, Alex Davis, Riley Thom, John Rajsl, Tyler Starks, Shane McLaughlin, Justin Eastman, Tony Russell, Terry Sowersby, Lacie Ward, Preston Keys, Ian King, Rocky Wood, Michael Stanley, and Nathan Linder.
A hard fought “crash ‘em up†battle ensued. Money prizes were awarded to the top five finishers.
Finishing fifth and earning $75 was Justin Eastman of Winfield; coming in fourth and earning $150 was Rocky Wood of Blackwell; hanging on, finishing third, and earning $400 was Riley Thom of Dexter. The last two drivers were Zulkoski and Rajsl, and they had a real battle determining the champion of the derby! Finishing second and earning $650 was Derek Zulkoski of Mulvane.
Demolition Derby winner who took home the $1000 first place prize was John Rajsl of Ponca City. The fair association thanks Jeff Nulik, Jimmy Brown, Jory Hutsler, Austen Krenek, David Barnes, Jarrod Bruey, Scott York, Troy Strnad, and Ken Whaley for their work as judges and in the arena moving cars. Special thanks also go to the counters and flagmen for the figure 8 race.
The fair association would also like to thank all the patrons who braved the rain and mud to support the events.
