August 7, 2023 | By Dean Reichel

Jack Wagner doubles up at Double-X Speedway season closer

California, CA —  The final checkered flag of 2023 fell at Double X Speedway on Sunday night. Following the events on the track, season long awards were presented to the drivers who earned the honors. But before the festivities would begin there was racing action to be held.

Starting off the evening were the Pure Stock cars with two heat races to be contested. In heat one Shannon Sullivan would lead lap one but Chris Messerli would use the high road in turn four to take the lead on lap two and not be challenged for the duration. Russell Beach would finish second, John Shane finished third and Shannon Sullivan would be credited with fourth after a spin on the final lap as the leaders was taking the checkered flag. The second heat would see Shayne Healea and Darin Porter battle each lap for the lead, Porter would make several strong attempts but Healea would not be denied in taking the victory. Porter would cross the strip in second, Curt Turpin finishes third and Rhonda Lamke rounds out the field.

The Super Stocks saw two of the top drivers in National POWRi points in competition once again at Double X. The first heat saw Dale Berry take the early lead only to have it erased by mechanical issues handing the lead to Harlan Dowell on lap three. Dowell would carry the momentum to the checkered flag. James Nishwonger, a national title contender in the division would finish second, Adam Halley finished third, Ryan Shikles was fourth, Jimmy Burrus fifth and Dale Berry was credited with sixth. Heat two had Tyler Crocker taking the lead on lap one while Jody Romig and Ted Welschmeyer would battle for second. At the checkered flag it was Crocker winning heat number two with Romig in second, Welschmeyer third, Steve Beach fourth and Joe Miller completing the field.

The Winged Sprint Cars also set the feature lineup by virtue of two heat races. In heat one, fresh off of a “E” Main victory Saturday night at the 360 Nationals in Knoxville, IA, Tyler Blank ran off from the field in picking up the victory. Taylor Walton woud advance to second, Ben Brown would finish third, Doug Fry fourth, Russell Potter would finish fifth, Tucker Daly sixth and Skylar Daly seventh. Heat two saw the “Lone Jack Posse” making up 75% of the front two rows. Jack Wagner wasted little time moving to the front with brother Samuel settling into second and fellow posse member Garret Hulsey moving into third. This would be the finishing order for the top three with Rob Rimel moving u to fourth, Kendall Weymuth fifth and Blake Bowers finishing sixth.

The make up feature from last week for the Winged Sprint Cars would be the first race in the track after intermission. Wagner Brothers Racing made up the front row. At the drop of the green it was a drag race into turn one with Samuel Wagner outing the #73 machine to the point with brother Jack in tow. It took Tyler Blank three laps to move into third with Ben Brown and Skylar Daly in the top five. Biding his time Jack Wagner moved into the top spot on lap eleven and Tyler Blank would move into second on lap twelve. By lap fifteen the lead duo were working their way around lapped cars with Wagner maintaining a six car length advantage over Blank. Running green to checkered it was “Gentleman” Jack Wagner picking up the feature win in the “Jason Russell Memorial” Sprint Car Main Event. Tyler Blank finishes second, Samuel Wagner third, Taylor Walton was awarded the “Hard Charger” award from the Russell family for his drive from thirteenth to fourth and Ben Brown would complete the top five.
Leading off the Championship night card of feature events were the Pure Stocks. Shayne Healea would take the early lead before National Pure Stock points contender Darin Porter would move to the point. Porter would maintain the lead to the checkered flag with Healea finishing second, Chris Messerli runs third, John Shane would finish a strong fourth with Russell Beach fifth and Rhonda Lamke finishing sixth.

Super Stocks took to the track to complete their season finale at Double X for 2023. Tyler Crocker took the lead at the drop of the green with Jody Romig making a strong move into second. Crocker would bring out a caution with mechanical issues on lap three with Romig taking over the lead. On lap six Romig would bring out a caution by looping his car in turn three. This would place Ted Welschmeyer in the rocking chair with a hard charging James Nishwonger in second. Nishwonger would run the high line challenging the 6Z of Welschmeyer and would take the lead coming out of turn two on lap eleven but it was erased as the caution flag flew before the lap was complete. A lap fourteen caution as Nishwonger tried a different line going into turn one and ran out of real estate spinning himself out in the process. A green, white, checkered restart would occur with Welschmeyer prevailing over Harlan Dowell in second, Steve Beach with an impressive drive to third, James Nishwonger recovered to finish fourth edging Joe Miller at the line with Miller finishing fifth.

The final Winged Sprint Car Feature of 2023 would see the top two in season points, Jack Wagner and Tyler Blank, tied at 1503 points each. Starting side by side for the main event Blank would take the lead on lap one but a caution for a spinning Rob Rimel would negate the charge and set up for a complete restart. When the green flag dropped on the restart, Blank would again take the lead running a low line into turn one with Jack Wagner following along in second. A lap four caution for Taylor Walton would bunch the field behind the leader. Blank would lead until lap nine with Wagner moving back to the point for the next two circuits. A caution on lap twelve would bring the field to Wagner’s rear bumper, on the restart Blank would overtake the #77 for the lead. Tight racing between the the leaders would see Blank spinning off the top of turn one and retiring to the pit area on lap nineteen. Wagner would survive a challenge from Ben Brown on the restart but was not to be denied as he would pick up the feature win and the 2023 Winged Sprint Car Championship. Completing the top five were Ben Brown in second, Taylor Walton finishes third, Samuel Wagner in fourth and Tucker Daly finishing fifth.

At the conclusion of the evenings racing action it was time to honor drivers for their dedication and commitment to local dirt track racing. The Point awards, Rookies of the Year and Perfect Attendance are listed below. Track owners and promoters Kyle & Carol Wirts, the staff and behind the scenes persons at Double X Speedway say "THANK YOU" to all of the drivers crews, families, sponsors and fans for letting us do what we do to keep local dirt track racing alive in Central Missouri. Please mark your calendars for Sunday May 5, 2024 and celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Double X Speedway as we host the 37th season of Sunday Night Thunder in California, MO.

Double-X Speedway Championship Night Results
August 6, 2023

Winged Sprint Cars-
“Jason Russell Memorial” Feature from 7/30/23
1.77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 2. 75-Tyler Blank, California; 3. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack; 4. 93-Taylor Walton, Odessa; 5. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall; 6. 99D-Tucker Daly, Hallsville; 7. 7K-Rob Rimel, California; 8. 52D- Skylar Daly, Columbia; 9. 3P-Russell Potter, Boonville; 10 61A- Doug Fry, Wheatland; 11. 52B-Blake Bowers, Knob Noster (DNF); 12. 7-Paul Solomon, Queensland, Victoria, Australia (DNS); 13. 26B- Matt Fox, Sedalia (DNS).

“Championship Night” Feature Event
1.77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 2. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall; 3. 93-Taylor Walton, Odessa; 4. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack; 5. 99D- Tucker Daly, Hallsville; 6. 88G-Garrett Hulsey, Lone Jack; 7. 3P-Russell Potter, Boonville; 8. 52D-Skylar Daly, Columbia; 9. 61A-Doug Fry, Wheatland; 10. 75-Tyler Blank, California (DNF); 11. 4K-Kendall Weymuth, Sedalia (DNF); 12. 7K- Rob Rimel, California (DNF); 13. Blake Bowers, Knob Noster (DNS)

Heat 1- 1. Blank; 2. Walton; 3. Brown; 4. Fry; 5. Potter; 6. T. Daly; 7. S. Daly
Heat 2- J. Wagner; 2. S. Wagner; 3. Hulsey; 4. Rimel 5. Weymuth; 6. Bowers

Super Stock

Feature- 1. 6Z-Ted Welschmeyer, Tebbetts; 2. 29-Harlan Dowell, Tipton; 3. 10-Steve Beach, Eldon; 4. 44-James Nishwonger, Osawotamie,KS; 5. 409-Joe Miller, Centertown; 6. 8H-Adam Halley, New Haven; 7. 12-Jody Romig, Syracuse; 8. 40-Ryan Shikles, Russellville; 9. 72J-Jimmy Burrus, Eldon (DNF); 10. 19J-Tyler Crocker, Holts Summit (DNF); 11. 05-Dale Berry, Tuscumbia (DNS)

Heat 1- 1. Dowell; 2. Nishwonger; 3. Halley; 4. Shikles; 5. Burrus ; 6. Berry (DNF)
Heat 2-1. Crocker; 2. Romig; 3. Welschmeyer; 4. Beach; 5. Miller

Pure Stocks

Feature- 1. 21-Darin Porter, California; 2. 17-Shayne Healea, California; 3. 88-Chris Messerli, Califorina; 4. 707-John Shane, Florence; 5. 44R- Russell Beach, Lake Ozark; 6. 68-Rhonda Lamke, Washington; 7. 15-Curt Turpin, Eldon (DNF); 8. 49-Shannon Sullivan, Eldon (DNF)
Heat 1- 1. Messerli; 2. Beach; 3. Shane; 4. Sullivan
Heat 2- 1. Healea; 2. Porter; 3. Turpin; 4. Lamke

2023 Season Awards

Winged Sprint Cars

Season Points

1. Jack Wagner-1648 Points
2. Tyler Blank- 1612 Points
3. Samuel Wagner -1540 Points
4. Ben Brown- 1480 Points
5. Taylor Walton- 1444 Points

Rookie of the Year-Skylar Daly

Perfect Attendance
Tyler Blank
Ben Brown
Jack Wagner
Samuel Wagner
Taylor Walton

Super Stocks

Season Points

1. Harlan Dowell-1582 Points
2. Jody Romig-1444 Points
3. Steve Beach- 1346 Points
4. Adam Halley- 1316 Points
5. James Nishwonger- 1300 Points
6. Joe Miller- 1205 Points
7. Tyler Crocker- 1011 Points

Rookie of the Year- Ryan Shikles

Perfect Attendance
Steve Beach
Harlan Dowell
Adam Halley
Jody Romig

Pure Stocks

Season Points

1. Darin Porter-838 Points
2. Shayne Healea- 810 Points
3. Chris Messerli- 633 Points

Perfect Attendance
Shayne Healea
Darin Porter