Cody Salem Picks Up First URSS Feature Win At McCook Speedway

The United Rebel Sprint Series made its 2008 appearence at the McCook Speedway Friday night and when the dust settled yet another first time winner was crowned. St. Joseph Missouri's Cody Salem emerged victorious giving the URSS Series its fourteenth different winner out of eighteen races held this Season. Salem, a third generation driver finally grabbed that elusive first win for Flying Angels Racing.

Seventeen of the eighteen URSS 305 Sprint Cars that came to battle on the small 3/8 mile track of McCook Speedway lined up for the twenty-five lap A Feature. Wakeeney, Kansas’s Willie Wynn led the field to the green and took off with the early lead. Four caution periods in the first five laps, including a four-car pileup on lap five with a rollover not to far away from that, kept Wynn from spreading out from the field. It also helped heat race winners Smokey Fairbank of Ransom, Kan., and Cody Salem to work their way to the front. During the stoppage of the race for cleanup, Salem’s crew was able to make some adjustments to his car to help it handle better. After the restart, Salem chose to run the high line and blew by Wynn on lap ten.

Smokey Fairbank got by Wynn a little later, but by then, Salem had all but checked out. At the finish of the race, Salem was about a straightaway ahead of Fairbank, but the lead would have been further but for lapped cars. Wynn was elated by his best-ever third place finish. Local driver Darren Berry took home fourth place. Heat winner Randy Bantam of Norton, Kan. rounded out the top five.

The Weld Racing Wheels “Hard Charger Award” went to Goodland Kansas’s Chuck Lutters who raced his way from his fourteenth starting position to finish in the sixth spot.

Heat race winners were Cody Salem, Smokey Fairbank and Randy Bantam.

A-Main: 1-Cody Salem (23), 2-Smokey Fairbank (2), 3-Willie Wynn (36W), 4-Darren Berry (12), 5- Randy Bantam (5R), 6-Chuck Lutters (55), 7-Bill Hays (2H), 8-Ken Lutters (79), 9-Larry Radcliffe (3R), 10-Tommy Williams (29T), 11-Tyler Linner (43L), 12-Tom Vacura (777), 13-Tim Perkins (99), 14-Tom Belsky (28), 15-Reed Bernbeck (C3), 16-Mark Bantam (82), 17-Jeff Radcliffe (21R), 18-Corey Koberstien (29)