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A.J. Fike Scores First Prairie Win; Davey Ray Clinches Badger Title
By Bryan Gapinski
Sun Prairie, Wis, August 24---A.J. Fike scored a exciting victory in the
25-lap Badger Midget Series feature, Sunday Night at Angell Park Speedway.
The win was his first ever at the facility. Davey Ray who finished second
clinched the Badger Midget Series Drivers title. Ra-Jo/Wilke PAK Racing (Ralph Wilke, and Joe Vukovich) clinched the Car Owners title.
Randy Fiscus jumped into the lead at the start of the event. On the second
lap Critter Malone, Boyd Calvert, and Kevin Doty were involved in a hard
crash on the front stretch. Doty's car caught fire from a major impact in the
tail tank. The event was stopped, Doty escaped injury.
Fiscus paced the event until the fifth lap, when he suffered electrical
problems, and was forced to retire. Fike inherited the lead, and led a
tightly bunched field. Fike led Ray by two car lengths at the midway point
with Jerry Coons Jr. in third. Coons retired with a flat tire three laps
later.
Ray challenged Fike several times, and trailed Fike by a car length with
five laps remaining. A stalled car on the 23rd lap set up a two lap
shootout. On the restart third place running Scott Hatton flipped, escaping
injury. The final two laps Ray ran wheel to wheel with Fike. Fike finished
0.36 seconds ahead of Ray. Brandon Waelti, Cody Wisensel, and Don Droud Jr.
rounded out the top five. Fike drove the Wisco Racing Stealth-Esslinger
entry. Fike's brother Aaron the 2002 Badger Champ escaped injury in a wild
flip in qualifying.
Ray's title comes 26 years after his father Dave's Badger Championship,
making them the third father-son combination to win the Badger Championship.
The event capped off the weekend's events which included the National Midget
Auto racing Hall of Fame Inductions. The 22nd annual Fireman's Nationals
presented by Coca-Cola will be the season finale this Sunday at the
facility.
SUMMARY
25-lap Feature: 1. A.J. Fike; 2. Davey Ray; 3. Brandon Waelti; 4. Cody
Wisensel; 5. Don Droud Jr.; 6. Dan Boorse; 7. Quinn McCabe; 8. Aaron Fiscus;
9. Brad Kuhn; 10. Kurt Mayhew; 11. Harley Slotten; 12. Scott Hatton; 13. Rob
Keelan; 14. Jerry Coons Jr.; 15. Chad DeSelle; 16. Ryan Scott; 17. Randy
Fiscus; 18. Rick Mueller; 19. Critter Malone; 20. Kevin Doty; 21. Boyd
Calvert; 22. Mike Heiss
15-lap Semi-Feature Winner: DeSelle
10-lap heat race winners: Rick LaBrosse, Droud, Boorse, Ray
Trophy Dash Winner: Ray
Fast Time: DeSelle, 14.983 seconds
National Midget Driver of the Year
1. Aaron Fike975
2. Mike Hess 973
3. J.J. Yeley916
4. Tracy Hines 893
5. Bobby East 774
6. Dan Boorse754
7. Davey Ray 712
8. Jay Drake 692
9. A.J. Fike654
10. Scott Hatton 650
Badger Midget Series
1. Davey Ray 1560
2. Dan Boorse1302
3. Scott Hatton 1153
4. Chad DeSelle1147
5. Aaron Fiscus1043
6. Aaron Fike 935
7. Brandon Waelti 876
8. Boyd Calvert 851
9. Quinn McCabe 826
10. Brad Kuhn 810
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