By: Sheldon Wickwar
Special to the Hays Post
RPM Speedway hosted the 13th Annual Sunflower Classic with 144 race teams participating on Friday Night. John Martinez won the sport compact feature race, Zach Olmstead triumphed in the hobby stocks, Brandon Spanjer secured victory in the sport mods, Kyle Pfeifer emerged victorious in the stock cars, and Dakota Sproul dominated the modifieds.
One hundred and thirty-seven race teams checked into the RPM Speedway in Hays, Kansas, for the final night of the 2025 Sunflower Classic. Drivers and fans alike braved cold temperatures and strong northwest winds all night, but the racing action heated up quickly, with numerous close finishes all night long. Visiting victory lane were Connor Schwien in the sport compact, Blaine Walt in the sport mod, Dillon Richards in the hobby stock, Troy Burkhart in the stock car and Clay Money in the modified!
The sport compacts started the program off with one heat race won by John Martinez, their fifteen-lap main event featured a front row of Connor Schwien and Zack McLaughlin. Schwien took an early lead and never really looked back, in the closing moments Martinez made a push for the weekend sweep but was unable to pull it off. Connor Schwien picked up the win, second was John Martinez, third was Kyle Mortensen, fourth was Kaishen Brack and fifth was Brin McAtee. Hard charger in the event was John Martinez who gained five spots.
The sport mods ran second on the program, they ran three heat races won by Tyler Watts, Blaine Walt, and Douglas Beaman, their b-main was won by Connor Barnes. Their twenty-lap main event featured a front row of Tyler Watts and Blaine Walt, Watts held the advantage until right before halfway when Blaine Walt took over the race lead, a couple cautions in the second half kept Watts right on Walt’s tail but he was never able to get by.
Blaine Walt brought his Fury Chassis to victory lane for the first time in 2025, second was Tyler Watts, third was Riley Osantowski, fourth was Cody Gearhart and Brady Bencken finished fifth. Hard charger in the event was Carson Lang who gained thirteen spots, other nice runs included Jeff Ray up seven spots, Arie Schouten and Nick Hankins gained six spots each, Sam McCune and Dylan Cherry grabbed five spots each.
The stock cars ran the third main event of the evening, their three heat races were won by Brett Berry, Cole Czarneski, and Bobby Eubanks, rookie Hunter Smith won the b main. Their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Johnny Yutterman and Kolby Stegman, quickly Jason Rogers and Troy Burkhart found their way to the front of the field, and the duo battled tightly throughout the contest. The veteran drivers raced each other cleanly, and on the final corner, Troy Burkhart powered through to win a drag race to the finish line, winning by less than eight-hundredths of a second. Troy Burkhart picked up his first win of 2025, second was David Murray Jr, third was Bobby Eubanks, fourth was Jason Rogers and fifth was Johnny Yutterman. Hard chargers in the event were Bobby Eubanks and Bill Brack who gained six spots each.
The modifieds ran the fourth main event of the evening, their heat races were won by Curtis Barnes, Greg Gustus and Clay Money, Dakota Sproul won the class’s b main. Their twenty-lap main event featured a front row of Greg Gustus and Tim Hamilton, Gustus fired off to the early lead, and Hamilton tried to keep pace. A few laps in, Clay Money and Tanner Black made runs to the lead battle, with Money and Gustus battling it out, Money got by and took his new Rage Chassis to victory lane for the first time in 2025, second was Tanner Black, third went to Greg Gustus, fourth was Jeremy Frenier and Friday Night’s feature winner Dakota Sproul, took home fifth place. Matt Bonine was the hard charger with nine spots gained, other nice runs included Dakota Sproul up eight spots, Colton Czapanskiy up seven spots, David Murray Jr and Jeremy Frenier up six spots each, and Dalton Bell gained five spots.
The hobby stocks finished the program out, they ran four heat races won by Dillon Thompson, Dillon Richards, Brayden Hurley, and Zach Olmstead. Dylan Bell and Levi Jones won the two b mains. Their twenty-lap main event started with a front row of Dillon Thompson and Cody Williams, the duo raced side-by-side throughout the feature, and late in the feature Dillon Richards brought himself into the battle. Williams led the first fifteen laps before Richards got by and held him off. Dillon Richards picked up his ninth win of the season so far in 2025, collecting several wins in Arizona during the IMCATV Winter Nationals, second was Cody Williams, third was Dylan Bell, fourth was Dillon Thompson and fifth was Dion Priddy. Hard charger in the event was Tylan Lambertus who gained fourteen spots, other nice runs included Trent Matson and Dylan Bell up ten spots each, Dillon Richards grabbed six spots, while Zach Olmstead, Terry Greuter and Cole Schulte all gained five spots each.
Racing action returns to the RPM Speedway on Saturday, April 12th! The next racing event in Western Kansas will be the High Limit Show in Dodge City, Saturday April 5th! Big names like Rico Abreu, Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet and more will battle it out in Dodge City!