SALINA, Kan. — The track where Jake Nightingale says he’s “always had some pretty good luck” was the site of more of the same Friday night.
The Friesen Performance IMCA Modified heavyweight from Hutchinson took the lead right after midway in the championship night main event, earning $2,000 and Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility.
“It was a pretty hammer down deal with lots of moisture. We were wide open all the time,” Nightingale said following his third win and 10th top three finish in as many Salina starts this season. “We ran a lane and a half off the top all the way around.”
He started fourth and passed Austen Huehl for the front spot on the 11th of 20 circuits. Restarts kept the field close but Nightingale would build an advantage of three seconds when green flag racing prevailed.
Tenth starting Tyler Sutton and Huehl completed the top three. Nightingale heads to Sherman County Speedway in Goodland on Saturday for night two of the Flatlander special in his defense of the Jet Racing Central Region crown.
Scott Miller was the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car winner, ahead of Dylan Chambers and Tim Watts, and Alison Jeske paced the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compacts from her outside row five start. Katelyn Abker was second and Dan Kruse third in the 4-cylinder feature.
First-time winners were rookie Dallas Chambers in the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods, who outran Todd Wichman and Matthew Miller to the checkers, and Dylan Bell in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.
“It felt fantastic,” Chambers said of after win number one. “We made a few minor adjustments to the car this week and won our heat race by close to half a track. After that, we left the same setup in, started on the pole and never looked back.”
“I held my line and never saw anyone try to get around me.”
Bell is in just his second full season in the Hobby Stock division and held a multitude of hard charger candidates at bay, winning ahead of 11th starting Nicholas Ronnebaum, eighth starting Tyler Heath, ninth starting Dennis Berry, 12th starting Adam Armstrong and 18th starting Colton Czapanskiy.
“I started second, took the green and never looked back,” said Bell. “The car (a 2021 Charger Chassis) was working pretty good and I probably wouldn’t have won without that Schwein Racing engine.”