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Eddie Hoffman Wins July Spectacular 150 At I-94 Raceway
By Dean Reller
(SAUK CENTRE, MN) July 5th--Eddie Hoffman, of Wheaton Illinois gave the race
fans plenty to cheer about as he won the NASCAR International Truck and Engine
Corporation Midwest Series July Spectacular 150 at the I-94 Raceway in Sauk
Centre, MN. Bryan Roach, a two-time I-94 Raceway Track Champion, outran Ron
Breese Jr. on the opening lap to take the lead. Then, Breese blasted by to
take over and lead for the next 53 laps. Meanwhile, third starting Justin
Diercks moved up to challenge and he wrestled the lead away on lap 54.
Rookie driver Clint Bowyer smacked the front stretch wall on lap 84 to bring
out the only caution of the race. Tire wear was a concern for many of the
front runners and several used the yellow to pit and change tires. This gave
the lead back to Breese, who elected not to pit. On the restart, Steve
Carlson, who also stayed out, moved past Breese to become the new race leader.
Hoffman was one of the drivers who took on tires and he worked his way to the
front and took the lead from Carlson on lap 105. Brian Hoppe, who started the
race in a back-up car, due to a crash in qualifying slowly closed in on
Hoffman as the laps wound down with the aid of several lapped cars.
The final 20 laps saw a nose-to-tail race for the lead, with Hoppe looking to
make a pass low out of the turns. With two laps to go, the front pair crossed
the line side-by-side and it was anybody’s race to win. Dave Finney, the
last car on the lead lap, was just ahead as the leaders caught him on the
final lap. Hoffman made it by, but Hoppe had to get out of the gas just a bit
and that was enough for Hoffman to lock down the win.
Sauk Centre, MN - Unofficial race results for the NASCAR Elite Division, Int'l
Truck and Engine Midwest Series
Saturday night, July 5, at I-94 Raceway with start position in
parentheses,
driver, hometown, car make, laps completed, money won and status:
1 (12) Eddie Hoffman Wheaton, IL Chevrolet 150 $3,950 running
2 (5) Brian Hoppe Madison, WI Chevrolet 150 $2,550 running
3 (10) Jon Lemke Greenfield, MN Chevrolet 150 $2,175 running
4 (18) Tim Schendel Sparta, WI Chevrolet 150 $2,550 running
5 (6) Jeremy Lepak* Wausau, WI Chevrolet 150 $1,650 running
6 (3) Justin Diercks Davenport, IA Chevrolet 150 $1,550 running
7 (15) Steve Carlson West Salem, WI Chevrolet 150 $1,850 running
8 (14) Nathan Haseleu Marshall, WI Ford 150 $1,275 running
9 (11) Ryan Hanson Beloit, WI Ford 150 $1,300 running
10 (9) Josh Vadnais White Bear Lake, MN Chevrolet 150 $1,000 running
11 (8) Dave Finney Sycamore, IL Chevrolet 149 $1,125 running
12 (1) Ron Breese, Jr Dekalb, IL Chevrolet 149 $1,450 running
13 (2) Bryan Roach Becker, MN Chevrolet 148 $1,025 running
14 (17) Pete Moore McFarland, WI Chevrolet 148 $1,000 running
15 (7) Eric Fransen* West Bend, WI Chevrolet 148 $1,025 running
16 (13) Jeff Way Burlington, WI Chevrolet 148 $900 running
17 (22) A.J. Rhoads* Hastings, MN Chevrolet 146 $850 running
18 (20) Dan Bedard* Prior Lake, MN Chevrolet 146 $850 running
19 (24) Todd Hansen Minneapolis, MN Chevrolet 145 $650 running
20 (16) Mark Voigt* Marine, IL Chevrolet 145 $850 running
21 (21) Dave Bean* Westby, WI Chevrolet 140 $650 running
22 (19) Les Ferris Northfield, MN Chevrolet 107 $850 vibration
23 (4) Clint Bowyer* Emporia, KS Chevrolet 84 $850 accident
24 (23) Tim Rothe Appleton, WI Chevrolet 79 $650 handling
*Denotes Victory Circle Chassis Rookie of the Year Contender
1 Cautions for 10 Laps: (84-94)
5 Lead Changes Among 5 Drivers: Ron Breese, Jr (grid), Bryan Roach 1,
Breese 2-54, Justin Diercks 55-88, Breese 89-93, Steve Carlson 94-104, Eddie
Hoffman 105-150
Time of Race: 48 minutes, 43 seconds
Average Speed: 69.278 mph.
Margin of Victory: .210 seconds
Bud Pole Winner: Jon Lemke, K.C. Colors/Certified First Chevrolet, 16.899
seconds (79.886 mph)
POWERade Power Move of the Race Award: Tim Schendel, Mathews Archery
Chevrolet
25-Lap Last Chance Qualifier: 1) Pete Moore; 2) Tim Schgendel; 3) Les Ferris;
4) Dan Bedard
Failed to Qualify: (1) Tim Olson
Next Race: Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Illinois, Gateway 125,
Friday, July 18, 2003
More From I-94
John Notch showed the large crowd on hand that he remains the one to beat
as he won the Modified Feature. Dave Schafer got the race rolling as he took
the lead on the opening lap. Notch planted his car on the bottom as he worked
his way to the lead on lap five. Once in front, Notch distanced himself from
the others as Jon Lewerer worked his way from deep in the field to take second
from Jeff Rohner, just past the halfway mark. Lewerer ran down Notch and by
the time the white flag waved, the top two were right next to each other. As
they entered turn three, they made contact, getting both cars out of shape.
Notch quickly regained control and moved on to take the win, while Lewerer
straightened things out to finish second.
Dirk Henry found extra grip on the bottom of the track and that aided him in
winning the Thunder Car Feature. Jerry Messer was shooting for a weekend sweep
as he took charge of the race from the start. Sixth starting Henry saw how
Brian Hoppe used the bottom groove in the NASCAR race and found that it worked
for him as well as he swooped under Messer to take the lead. Ace Valencour
staged another of his classic late race charges as he moved by Messer in the
final few laps to take second, but ran out of time to track down the leader as
Henry took home the win.
Andy "Hot Rod" Heying completed a thriller as he won the UCAR
Feature. Sam Hanson set the pace out front as everyone stayed in close
company. Jay Thompson pulled to Hanson’s bumper as he searched for a way
around. Tony Hallerman, Joe Karl and Heying closed in , making it a five car
race for the lead. Thompson edged ahead by an inch with one lap to, but Hanson
and Heying surged making it three-wide for the win in turn three. Heying got a
hook on the bottom and he sprung out by just enough to take the win. Thompson
crossed the line in second, while Hanson finished a very close third.
I-94 Raceway Results July 5, 2003
Modifieds
First Heat
1.) Jon Lewerer (Stillwater) 2.) Oren Hoeper (Dalton) 3.) George Sniezek (St.
Joseph) 4.) Jeff Rohner (Willmar) 5.) Jerry Voigt (Cold Spring) 6.) John
Gottwald (Paynesville) 7.) Pat Hornick (Sauk Centre) 8.) Aaron Marthaler
(Glenwood)-DNF
Second Heat
1.) John Notch (St. Cloud) 2.) Brady Barker (Grove City) 3.) Dave Schafer
(Glenwood) 4.) Terry Merten (Sauk Centre) 5.) Matt Anderson (Atwater) 6.) Dave
Ostendorf (St. Cloud) 7.) Jon Olson (Hamel) 8.) Aaron Trisco (Osakis)
Feature
1.) John Notch 2.) Jon Lewerer 3.) Jeff Rohner 4.) Brady Barker 5.) Jerry
Voigt 6.) Terry Merten 7.) Aaron Marthaler 8.) Jon Olson 9.) Dave Ostendorf
10.) Pat Hornick 11.) John Gottwald 12.) Matt Anderson 13.) Dave Schafer 14.)
George Sniezek-DNF 15.) Oren Hoeper-DNF 16.) Aaron Trisco-DNF
Thunder Cars
First Heat
1.) Ace Valencour (Sauk Centre) 2.) Shawn Robinson 3.) Daryl Harth (Glenwood)
4.) Jerry Messer (Sauk Centre) 5.) Lance Stueve (Greenwald) 6.) Tim Wojtowicz
(Minneapolis)
Second Heat
1.) Dirk Henry (Sauk Centre) 2.) Jonathan Olmscheid (Elrosa) 3.) Pat Amelung
(St. Joseph) 4.) Doug Olmscheid (Elrosa) 5.) Pat Rothfork (Melrose) 6.) Matt
Miller (Glenwood) 7.) Keith Nohner (Grey Eagle)-DNF
Feature
1.) Dirk Henry 2.) Ace Valencour 3.) Jerry Messer 4.) Daryl Harth 5.) Shawn
Robinson 6.) Jonathan Olmscheid 7.) Lance Stueve 8.) Matt Miller 9.) Pat
Rothfork 10.) Tim Wojtowicz 11.) Keith Nohner 12.) Pat Amelung-DNF 13.) Doug
Olmscheid-DNF
UCARs
First Heat
1.) Andy Heying (St. Cloud) 2.) Dan Bolstad (Fergus Falls) 3.) Jim Drager
(Long Prairie) 4.) Adam Fronning (Dalton) 5.) Sam Hanson (Fergus Falls) 6.)
Kevin Messer (Sauk Centre) 7.) Marlin Schmitz 8.) Doug Fick
Second Heat
1.) Tony Hallerman (Sauk Centre) 2.) Joe Karl (Osakis) 3.) Billy Weyer (Sartell)
4.) Jay Thompson 5.) Jesse Reynolds (Albany) 6.) Marc Rosenow (Grey Eagle) 7.)
Alan Thompson (Waite Park) 8.) Tim Anaili 9.) Chris Merten (Sauk Centre)
Feature
1.) Andy Heying 2.) Jay Thompson 3.) Sam Hanson 4.) Tony Hallerman 5.) Joe
Karl 6.) Billy Weyer 7.) Tim Anaili 8.) Jim Drager 9.) Marc Rosenow 10.) Kevin
Messer 11.) Doug Fick 12.) Jesse Reynolds-DNF 13.) Marlin Schmitz-DNF 14.)
Adam Fronning-DNF 15.) Alan Thompson-DNF 16.) Chris Merten-DNF 17.) Dan
Bolstad-DNF
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