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Cold Weather Gives Way To Hot Racing
Article and results for the Bridgestone Tire Badger Kart Club Championship points race
Story by Mike Weaver
October 13, 2002
Dousman, WI
Frigid cold weather greeted the racers for Round 18, the final race of the BKC Bridgestone Tire Points Championship. Because this was the last points-paying race for the 2002 season, the turnout was far greater than one would expect on the first real cold day of the fall. However, the “hot” racing would soon warm up the atmosphere as several track championships were settled today.
Charlene Jung managed to capture her first championship since campaigning at Badger since the mid-nineties. “Char”, the owner of her own floral shop in Hartland, has been racing with her husband Mark in Yamaha Lite for several seasons. This year she got a great jump on the points lead around mid season and kept the momentum going. Although breakdowns and crashes in the last couple of races put a cloud over her championship hopes, Char managed to overcome and take home the championship with a win in the feature race.
The Sr. Sportsman Lite champion was decided when Jon Ellingham scored second place in the feature. Erin Cechal was only a few points behind and desparately needed to win in order to upset Ellingham. Cechal did her part by destroying the field for the victory, but Ellingham’s second-place win was more than enough to clinch the title.
HPV’s Matt Mercier’s win of the final race of the season earned him the championship over Nicole Baier. Baier had led the points for a good portion of the season when Mercier came on strong and took it over just a few weeks earlier. Although Mercier was still in reach for Baier, his feature victory assured him the championship.
Grant Hoffmeister led Cody Weber by just over 100 points in Briggs Jr. Sportsman, going into the final week. During the feature, Hoffmeister pulled away and seemed in total control of his own destiny. Behind him, Steven Wirtz was leading a pack of three karts for second place when his brakes failed in Badger’s hairpin turn called No-Mans Land. Wirtz had no choice but to crash straight into the bales. The hit was a pretty hard one and Wirtz emerged from his kart but fell to the ground in pain. The race was red-flagged and emergency personel tended to him immediately. Although Wirtz appeared OK as of this writing, he was still transported to the local hospital for a full check-out. The early halt to the race gave Hoffmeister the feature win and championship.
Many karters had sewn up their championships the week or two prior. Mike Landeck won the Briggs Heavy Championship and Garrett Goth needed only to take a green flag for the Lite championship. Jessica Brannan had 2-cycle Jr. Sportsman in the bag, but put on a cap on a great season with a feature win in the last race. Jeff Funk had Jr. SSX can all wrapped up as well as Ronny Graham with Jr. Can. Derek Crane, 2001’s Jr. Rookie of the year not only took the Jr. Briggs title but wound up in the top 5 in Jr. Can. Joe Hartman won Briggs Jr. Stock and Randy Reichardt won the 125cc Shifter class. Finally, Steve Mente locked up the Sr. Sportsman Heavy title.
Congratulations to all the champions. Next week, Badger will host its traditional “Backwards Enduro” race where the karters run the road course in the OPPOSITE direction. Additionally, they must run for 30 minutes and there is a mandatory pit stop (unheard of in
karting!).
Photos courtesy of Mike Weaver (Click on Photos for bigger, better
quality picture)
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Charlene Jung (16) leads husband Mark (32) and Joel Steffen (5) on the
final lap to her first championship in Yamaha Lite.
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Yamaha Lite points leader
Joel Steffen (5) found himself mired in traffic all day. This would cost
him the
championship by
days-end. |
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Jon Ellingham (86) works his
way through traffic en route to another heat race win at Badger. Also
pictured is Melissa Mente (4), Jill Rubenzer (22), Erin Cechal (26), Tony Johnson (3), Terri Schot (10). |
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Results
2-cycle Jr. Sportsman Yamaha Lite Junior Briggs
1. Jessica Brannam 1. Charlene Jung 1. Derek Crane
2. Forrest Biersach 2. Mark Jung 2. Joe Graf
3. Patrick Olsen 3. Joel Steffen 3. Michael Schumacher
Briggs Jr. Sportsman Yamaha Heavy Briggs Jr. Stock
1. Grant Hoffmeister 1. Jerry Kindler 1. Alex Stauber
2. Cody Weber 2. Mike Fuchs 2. Shelley Krzewinski
3. Tom Anderson 3. Craig Finger 3. Joe Hartmann
Jr. Can 125cc Shifter Jr. SSX
1. Joe Brenner 1. Mark Vielgut 1. Wes Steege
2. T.J. Nevels 2. Chris Alby 2. Tony Gidlund
3. Kyle Gluth 3. Curt Ellis 3. Nick Orth
HPV Sr. Sr. Sportsman Lite Sr. Sportsman Heavy
1. Matt Mercier 1. Erin Cechal 1. Howard Hanisch
2. Mike Mueller 2. Jon Ellingham 2. Bob Ropke
3. Dennis Borchardt 3. Tony Johnson 3. Bob Jeziorski
Briggs Heavy Briggs Lite HPV Jr.
1. Rachel Neitzel 1. Garrett Goth 1. Nick Gillette
2. Tom Weber 2. Tylor Wolfert 2. Zack Emmons
3. Jerry Smith 3. Tom Schroeder 3. Bryce Dunn
Briggs Animal Sr. Briggs Animal Jr. Expert
1. bye week 1. Danny Corcoran 1. Regan Vehring.
2. 2. Catlin Tannis 2. Jim Tannis
3. 3. 3. Mike Landeck
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