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141 Speedway "Stocks Harley Davidson Night"
141 Speedway
Francis Creek, WI.
August 18, 2002
by Dan Deicher
With the Mid-Am's off this week at the 141 Speedway in Francis Creek, a huge field of cars still appeared at the 141 Speedway...on what was a very cool night of racing. The temperatures may have fallen into the mid 50's by the finale of the last feature event, but the racing action remained hot once again.
Stock's Harley Davidson presented the night's races, which all featured 40 lap feature events and the Super Stocks brought out some excitement and a new points leader. Denmark's Todd hacker grabbed the pole in this one and he had to stave off attempts by Green Leaf's Jeff Treml and Kaukauna's Jessie Gracyalny...but as the race unfolded, neither three would win the 40 lapper. Hacker led things until lap 12, when a crash involving Gracyalny, Derek Rosek, Bill Gast and Jason Henrickson, brought out the caution. Gracyalny recieved the extent of the damage as her front right hood rolled up like a can of sardines. No one was hurt in the wreck. On the restart, Francis Creek's Erol Berry found his way to Hacker's rear and the two battled door to door for three laps, when Berry caught hacker for the lead on lap 19. Berry would not look back as he took the feature win, his 2nd of the season. With the win, Berry moved in front of Andy Casavant by 11 points with two points races left at the 141 Speedway. 2nd- Hacker, 3rd- Josh Sand, Mishicot, WI, 4th-Randy Van Roy, Kaukauna,WI., 5th- Casavant.
The Mini Stock division this year has brought the name, Vanelzen, up many times as either a race winner or a top five finisher and Saturday night was no different as Menasha's Mat Vanelzen won for the second week in a row and he has now made it known that catching him for the points championship may be difficult to do this late in the season. Chris Nies caught the pole in the 40 lap feature but Manitowoc's Jason Novak and Manitowoc's Mike Oswald did not make it easy for Nies to run anywhere with this one. Throw in a hard charging Dave Senkbiel of Sheboygan and the top four made things close until a caution on lap 7 brought on a restart. Waiting in the wings was Vanelzen who was slowly picking off drivers one by one until challenging Novak's for several laps. Lap 31 was all Vanelzen as he cruised past Novak's machine and then went for the lead...which he held until the black and white checkered dropped. It was his 4th feature win of the year. 2nd- Novak, 3rd-Greg Vanelzen, Kaukauna,WI., 4th- Nies, 5th- Tom Melichar, Mishicot, WI.
The Hobby Stock 40 lap feature went 20 one way and 20 the other, and it did not matter where these drivers were going, Brillion's Jason Behnke was determined not to let this one slip away. Behnke waited until lap 32 to take home the checkered flag win, his 2nd of the year. Whitelaw's Kevin Wellner made this race look as though it was his to win as he led both the first 20 and the second 20. But on lap 25, Wellner was tapped by Two River's Kyle Kudick, placing him in a spin with Manitowoc's Jolene Mueller. Kudick was DQ'd for rough driving and both drivers stayed in the race. Maribel's Don Wood then caught the lead on the restart but he had to hold off Behnke until one of his tires decided to give way and the #18 caught him on lap 32. 2nd- Jason Kostichka, Green Bay, WI, 3rd- Mueller, 4th- Nathan Wegner, Maribel, WI. 5th- Crystal Koening, Mishicot, WI.
Wisconsin Sport Trucks-
1) Tom Gee Jr. Green Bay, WI.
2) Nate Ortlieb Chilton, WI.
3) Dan Vixmer Fon Du Lac, WI.
4) Dan Hansen
5) Robyn Wussow Black Creek, WI.
*****RACE NOTES*****
The Mid-Am's were off this week..........#26 Super Stock was driven by Kaukauna's Randy Van Roy.....the #27 Hobby Stock was driven by Mid Am driver,Travis Groelle, who won the first Hobby Stock heat race.
Next Saturday night the 141 Speedway presents it's 5th Anniversary of re-opening under track owner, Matt Rowe. Admission is what it was then, $5. All divisions will be back in action along with the 2-Man Cruisers.
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