8/10/2024
High Plains Late Models
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: Braxten Leonard Wins at Junction Motor Speedway in First Late Model Appearance
McCool Junction, Nebraska 8/10/2024 (www.highplainslatemodelseries.com) - Ayrton Senna famously once said, “Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose”. In Josh Leonard’s case, watching his son Braxten take the checkered flag in front of him and 15 other drivers was still a winning moment.
Only fourteen years old, Braxten got his start in a Mini Mod before quickly working his way into a IMCA Northern SportMod. As his father, Josh Leonard, who has been running late models for quite some time now, decided tonight was finally the night his son Braxten was able to hit the track with a Late Model.
In the first heat race, Jacob Kubicka was on rails, going from 7th to win the opening 8-lap heat. The second heat race saw Braxten Leonard wire the field to pick up the 8-lap heat as well.
During the top 6 redraw, Braxten again had the lucky draw, grabbing the pole position for the 25-Lap feature race. With the #5s Dylan Schmer starting to his outside, anything was possible at the drop of the green flag.
The #85B of Braxten Leonard quickly started to pace the field as the opening laps started to click away. With Braxten showing the way, it wasn’t long before his dad was making his way to 2nd.
Starting fourth, the #85 of Josh Leonard quickly found the front of the pack, and continued to follow his son lap after lap. Closing in on the final lap, Josh finally made a run to get alongside Braxten coming to the finish but fell just short.
The series will now head to Dawson County Raceway on Sunday, August 11th, to wrap up the final night of the Cornhusker Showdown.
Dirt Super Late Models 17 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:13:10.917
- 85B-Braxten Leonard[1]; 2. 85-Josh Leonard[4]; 3. 5S-Dylan Schmer[2]; 4. 23-Jacob Kubicka[6]; 5. 16H-Alex Humphrey[3]; 6. 14-Bill Kubik[12]; 7. 71M-Mike Morton Jr[10]; 8. 15B-Braxton Berry[14]; 9. 57-Brady Balderston[5]; 10. 37-Jason Rogers[9]; 11. 83D-Denton Duncan[13]; 12. 16-Tom Svoboda[11]; 13. (DNF) 6-Kyler Rojewski[8]; 14. (DNF) 11K-Kyle Clough[7]; 15. (DNF) 112-Tyler Smith[17]; 16. (DNS) 38-Mark Lueken; 17. (DNS) 1T-Tucker Stevens
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:10:36.439 - 23-Jacob Kubicka[7]; 2. 16H-Alex Humphrey[5]; 3. 85-Josh Leonard[8]; 4. 37-Jason Rogers[4]; 5. 16-Tom Svoboda[2]; 6. 6-Kyler Rojewski[9]; 7. (DNF) 15B-Braxton Berry[1]; 8. (DNF) 38-Mark Lueken[3]; 9. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Stevens[6]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:38.839 - 85B-Braxten Leonard[1]; 2. 57-Brady Balderston[2]; 3. 5S-Dylan Schmer[6]; 4. 71M-Mike Morton Jr[4]; 5. 11K-Kyle Clough[8]; 6. 14-Bill Kubik[3]; 7. 83D-Denton Duncan[5]; 8. (DNS) 112-Tyler Smith
Article Credit: Dalton Janousek
Submitted By: Kyler Fetters
