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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Heartland Motorsports Park has been a staple on the NHRA national drag racing schedule since the facility opened in 1989, hosting at least one national event every season except 2020 when Topeka's largest sporting event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the facility that bills itself as the "House of Speed'' will end hits long and distinguished assocation with the NHRA on Sunday at the conclusion of the 2023 Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor, with event scheduled to move to Odessa, Mo. in 2024.
But while Sunday will be a sad day for Topeka and area drag racing fans, Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly Heartland Park Topeka, will leave behind a proud legacy.
With the final national event set to kick off on Friday, here’s a look back at 15 of the great moments in Topeka drag racing history from the perspective of someone who's had the privilege of attending every national event since the track opened:
Drag racing legend John Force won the Funny Car title at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2021, his track-record 10th Topeka win. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
1. John Force called his Funny Car win at Heartland in 2008 the biggest of his career. That’s saying a lot for a driver who has won 16 championships and an NHRA-record 155 national events as a driver and 22 world championships as an owner with John Force Racing.
What made the 2008 victory stand out for the drag racing legend was that it was Force’s first victory after a serious crash at Dallas in '07 that ended his season and put his career in jeopardy.
“Coming back from that wreck, that race was key,” Force told The Topeka Capital-Journal in an interview. “It showed that I could still drive, that I could still cut it.
"I knew even then my legs were still weak. I struggled just getting in and out of the car, but to get that win after a year of rehab was huge -- to be there and hear those fans scream the way they did.”
2. In 1990 the late Gary Ormsby put Topeka on the national racing map, becoming the first driver in NHRA history to break the 4.9-second and 295 mile-per-hour barriers in his Top Fuel dragster, clicking off a pass of 4.881 seconds at 296.06 mph.
Ormsby, who won the 1989 Top Fuel championship, died after a battle with cancer on Aug. 28, 1991. Ormsby ran his final race at HMP, defeating Lori Johns in a match race.
Ormsby will always be linked with Heartland Park, with the main entrance into the facility named Gary Ormsby Drive after his death.
3. The 1993 Sears Craftsman Nationals at HMP delivered a double dose of history in the Funny Car class when Chuck Etchells and Jim Epler both broke the four-second and 300-mph barriers.
Etchells became the first Funny Car racer to run in the fours with a 4.987 pass while Epler recorded the first 300-mph run with a 300.40 pass.
Former Funny Car star Courtney Force posted the 100th win by a woman in NHRA history at Heartland Motorsports Park in 2014. [Photo by NHRA]
4. Courtney Force topped Cruz Pedregon in the 2014 Funny Car final at HMP to post the 100th event win by a woman in NHRA history.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Sunday, August 13, is likely to be a very sad day for area drag racing fans.
NHRA officials and Heartland Motorsports Park jointly announced on Friday that the final event at the Topeka facility will take place on Aug. 11-13 with the Menards NHRA Nationals presented by PetArmor.
NHRA legend John Force, a 10-time Topeka winner, will make his final appearance at Heartland Motorsports Park Aug. 11-13 in the wake of Friday's announcement that the upcoming race will be the final NHRA national event at HMP. [File photo/TSN]
Heartland Motorsports Park, formerly Heartland Park Topeka, has hosted NHRA national events since the facility opened in 1989, but the track is likely to be closing its doors due to a long and ongoing tax and land dispute with Shawnee County.
NHRA officials announced Friday that the new Flying H Dragstrip in the Kansas City area will be part of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series national event schedule in 2024.
“We have a rich history at Heartland Motorsports Park and we want to thank Chris Payne and his team for many years supporting NHRA drag racing,” NHRA President Glen Cromwell said in a release. “But as one door closes, another opens and we are looking forward to the great opportunity of racing in the Kansas City area at a brand new facility. Scott Higgs and his team are building a fantastic new track at Flying H Dragstrip and we are excited to have our first event there in 2024 and create a wealth of new memories in the area.”
“We are extremely thankful for our longtime partnership with the NHRA and its racers, as well as all the fans who have visited Heartland Motorsports Park over the years,” Heartland Motorsports Park owner Chris Payne said in Friday's release. “Because of the actions by Shawnee County, unfortunately this will be the last national event at Heartland Motorsports Park. We look forward to completing the 2023 season as well.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
You don't achieve the level of success that Washburn University's Justice Akinmoladun has enjoyed in football and track and field without setting the bar high.
Junior defensive tackle Justice Akinmoladun represented Washburn's football team at Tuesday's MIAA Football Media Day in Kansas City, Mo.
And as the 6-foot, 290-pound defensive tackle prepares to start his junior football season, Akinmoladun won't settle for anything less than being the best this fall.
"All-American, first team,'' Akinmoladun said when asked about his goals for the 2023 season. "I want to be first-team everything. I will be the best D-lineman in D-II.in the nation.''
Already an All-American thrower in track and field, Akinmoladun is also one of the top defensive returners for the Ichabod football team, which is coming off a 7-4 season.
Akinmoladun is one of just three returning starters on defense for Washburn, but said he is confident that the Ichabods have the talent to be strong on the defensive side of the ball again this season.
"That's the good thing about having good players last year is we had good players under them, too, who were able to see what they did to be great,'' said Akinmoladun, a native of Grandview, Mo. "We have a lot of good guys coming in who have been working their butt off this whole summer so I'm not worried.
"We're just a young group, but I think we're ready to go.''
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Kellen Simoncic's outstanding 2022 football season came to an abrupt end in the ninth game of the year at Northeastern State when the Washburn University quarterback went down with a season-ending injury to his right (throwing) shoulder.
Washburn quarterback Kellen Simoncic (left) draws a chuckle from Ichabod coach Craig Schurig during Tuesday's MIAA Media Day while Simoncic talks about his younger brother, Cody, who plays for Northwest Missouri State. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It was kind of a weird game, always playing down there (at Northeastern) is weird,'' Simoncic said. "We were driving and I kind of took off up the middle and tried to run a little bit and a guy hit me on the legs.
"I was always taught to try not to land on the shoulders and kind of roll on your back, but that didn't happen and I landed right on it.''
But after undergoing surgery and going through a lengthy rehabilitation period, the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder is chomping at the bit to return to action for the Ichabods.
"It was probably a couple of months at least to be able to throw,'' said the Smithville, Mo. native, who earned All-MIAA honorable mention a year ago. "We have a great training staff that spent countless hours working with me and I'm very thankful for them.
"But I was able to do spring ball, so that was awesome to get back out there and do 7 on 7.''
In his first season as the Ichabods' starter, Simoncic completed 195 of 312 pass attempts for 2,354 yards and 25 touchdowns while throwing just eight interceptions.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Washburn University was picked fourth out of 11 teams in the 2022 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Football Preseason Polls, released during Tuesday's MIAA Media Day.
Craig Schurig's Washburn football team, coming off a 7-4 season last fall, was picked fourth in both MIAA preseason polls, released Tuesday. [File photo/TSN]
The Ichabods received 73 points in the coaches poll, five points behind No. 3 pick Emporia State, and 16 points ahead of Central Oklahoma and Nebraska-Kearney, who tied for the fifth spot.
Washburn received 209 points in the media poll, 49 points behind Emporia State (one first-place vote) and 1 point ahead of Central Oklahoma.
The Ichabods posted a 7-4 record last season.
Washburn coach Craig Schurig, the dean of MIAA head coaches in terms of service with 22 seasons, said the MIAA may be more balanced than it's ever been.
"That's what makes our conference so tough,'' said Schurig, who has a 137-92 career coaching record. "Obviously by the end of the year there's going to be a couple teams that have kind of separated themselves like usual but it's the three through 10 and those are hard games.
"Sometimes the bottom team has had a rough year or whatever, but it's tough. You go toe to toe. When you look at some of the other teams you're like well they're seventh or eighth but those games will be damn hard so you've got to play really well every week. There's no week off.''
Defending MIAA champion Pittsburg State was tabbed No. 1 in both the coaches and media preseason polls.
The 2023 MIAA football season officially kicks off Thursday, August 31 with Washburn traveling to Pittsburg State.
In the coaches poll, Pittsburg State earned 98 total votes and eight first-place votes. Northwest Missouri earned three first-place votes and totaled 93 points to finished second.
The Gorillas also topped the preseason media poll, collecting 22 first-place votes and 320 points.
Northwest Missouri was ranked second by the media with 302 points and seven first-place votes.
2023 MIAA Football Coaches Poll
