The racers that compete at Dawson County Raceway went way beyond the expectations of the fans in the stands in presenting an encore-racing program that rivaled the fireworks shows displayed on the Independence Day holiday on Sunday evening in Lexington, Nebraska.

Lightning up the night with their stellar efforts that resulted in trips to the winners circle were IMCA hotshoes: Colton Osborn, Brandon Clough, Casey Werkmeister, Kyle Bond and Grand National veteran Josh Leonard on Sunday.

Grabbing the lead at the halfway point, the Cozad cruiser Colton Osborn was able to power his way to the IMCA Modified Feature victory. Osborn snared the lead on the 11th circuit and never looked back after starting in the fifth row. Close behind Colton was brother Cale Osborn in second place overall, after he started in the fourth row and had a strong final five laps to earn runner-up accolades. Making the long-haul from Lincoln was worth it, as Mike Densberger was among the leaders throughout the feature and his efforts to avoid incidents resulted in a third place finish. Densberger along with Chuck Stryker of Eddyville were the earlier in the evening heat race winners.

Doing his best to trump the field, Gibbon’s Josh Leonard swept the checkered flags in the Grand National races that he competed in on Sunday. In the Feature, Leonard went to the cushion and was on a rail like a runaway freight train, as he refused to lose and drove away for the victory. Jarred Hackler of Hastings started in the third row, but was quickly in contention for a podium finish and his efforts paid off with a runner-up finish. Veteran wheelman Robbie Leonard was third overall in the Feature after winning his initial heat race earlier in the evening.

Breaking through to the top of the podium in the IMCA Northern Sport Modified division with his first Feature win of 2014 at Dawson County Raceway was Brandon Clough of Wallace. Clough has been a mainstay inside the top five and flirted with winning but it was his night this time around as he scored the win from his front row starting position. Continuing his hot streak on ovals in Southwest Nebraska, Jamey Kennicutt of Gothenburg was the runner-up as he was able to drive to the podium from his fourth row starting position during the early laps to avoid accidents deep in the field. Making a late charge from his fourth row starting position, the Ageless Wonder, Denny Egge of Kearney was third overall with a strong final five laps.  Clough and Kennicutt were the heat race winners in the division.

No stranger to the winners circle, Casey Werkmeister recovered quite nicely from a setback earlier in the weekend where he blew up a motor to finished with back-to-back feature wins in the IMCA Stock Car division in North Platte on Saturday and Lexington on Sunday. Werkmeister darted to the front on the fifth lap, after getting a great start to be among the leaders just prior to the fifth circuit. Making a late charge and challenging for the lead in the waning laps was Cozad’s Colton Osborn, who was forced to settle for runner-up honors. Leading the initial four laps of the feature was Jeff Whiting of Gothenburg, who was able to stay up on the wheel and pedal his way to a third place finish. Whiting and Werkmeister were the heat race winners in the Stock Car division.

Doing their best to put on the best show possible for the fans in the stands, fan favorites Dillon Thompson and Kyle Bond put on a whale of show along with Tiffany Bittner, as the trio ran away and hid from the rest of the field of IMCA Hobby Stocks on Sunday. Bond of Gibbon was able to drive his way to the point on the second circuit and never look back to claim the victory. Close behind with many challenges for the lead was Thompson of Campbell, who crossed the finish line in second place overall.  Having to come from deep, as a result of getting stuck in traffic, Norfolk’s Tiffany Bittner closed the gap in the waning laps with fast lap times to finish third overall.

(Unofficial Results)

–IMCA Modified Feature: 1. 50c-Colton Osborn; 2. 6c-Cale Osborn; 3. 81-Mike Densberger; 4. 7a-Steve Aitken; 5. 34jw-Cole Hodges; 6. XII-Jay Steffens; 7. 2-Jeremy Herbst; 8. 1c-Cole Egge; 9. 30x-Micah Veleba; 10. 19-Chuck Stryker.

Heat Race Winners: 81-Mike Densberger; 19-Chuck Stryker.

–Grand National Late Model Feature: 1. 85-Josh Leonard; 2. 3h-Jarred Hackler; 3. 85x-Robbie Leonard; 4. 51-Les Siebert; 5. 23-Tom Kubicka; 6. 55-Jake Neighbors; 7. 5s-Dylan Schmer; 8. 83-Denton Duncan; 9. 88-Brandon Leonard; 10. 28-Kevin Safranek.

Heat Race Winners: 85-Josh Leonard; 85x-Robbie Leonard.

–IMCA Northern Sport Modified Feature: 1. 20b-Brandon Clough; 2,. 15k-Jamey Kennicutt; 3. 1x-Denny Egge; 4. 0hp-Bryan Herrick; 5. 12j-Kerry Jones; 6. 15r-Robbie Kosmacek; 7. 33-Chad Young; 8. 8c-Corey Cruzan; 9. 68-Craig Howard; 10. 67-Terry Fletcher.

Heat Race Winners: 15k-Jamey Kennicutt; 20b-Brandon Clough.

–IMCA Stock Car Feature: 1. 24w-Casey Werkmeister; 2. 50c-Colton Osborn; 3. 16w-Jeff Whiting; 4. 35jw-Casey Woken; 5. 19-Dana Morgan; 6. 45-Mikey Dancer; 7. 24-Bob Chalupa; 8. 29e-Brendan Eilts; 9. 99k-David Easterday; 10. 00-Sara Klein.

Heat Race Winners: 24w-Casey Werkmeister; 16w-Jeff Whiting.

–IMCA Hobby Stock Feature: 1. 0-Kyle Bond; 2. 11-Dillon Thompson; 3. 95b-Tiffany Bittner; 4. R89-Nate Refior; 5. 26-Ryan Gardine; 6. 85-Robert Leonard; 7. 2c-Zach Canas; 8. 5-Chuck Ledbetter; 9. 53e-Tyler Easterday; 10. 2x-Travis Kernick.

Heat Race Winners: 0-Kyle Bond; 11-Dillon Thompson.