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Cedar Lake Speedway Kicks off 50th Year
by Greg Parent
April 20, 2007
After adverse weather pushed back the opening weekend of racing at the Cedar
Lake Speedway on two successive weekends, a fantastic spring evening greeted
race fans and drivers on Friday night April 20. The first night of the
scheduled two night season opener lifted the lid on the 50th season of dirt
track racing at the popular 3/8 mile high-banked Wisconsin track. Each of the
five DTRA racing divisions had several top runners on hand to put on a
fast-paced and entertaining show for the fans. The CLS track prep crew did an
awesome job, as many fans and drivers commented that the opening night track
conditions were the best they had seen for many years.
With the voice of the Cedar Lake Speedway, Chris Stepan, starting his 10th
season of calling the racing action, the DTRA street stocks officially kicked
off the 2007 season with their 10 lap heat race. Veteran driver Butch Madsen
of Rice Lake passed leader Shawn Kammerud on lap 8 enroute to becoming the
first winner of the year. Two DTRA midwest modified heats went nonstop with
division rookie Shane Kisling winning the first heat and defending CLS track
champion Justin Schill taking top honors in the second heat.
An accident on the opening lap of the first DTRA super stock heat race saw the
cars of Jeff Pellersels and Larry Boumeester make contact exiting turn 2.
Pellersels car lost the right front tire and sustained enough damage to
require a ride on the hook. Jeff was done for the night. 2006 CLS track
champion Larry Boumeester's car was damaged after contacting the concrete wall
on the backstretch, forcing him to head to the pits. Making his first-ever CLS
appearance, Jason Gabrielson held off 2006 track points runnerup Dan Carlson
for 10 laps to pick up the win in heat #1. Mike Loomis led all the way for the
win in the second super stock heat race.
Jason Miller held off Dave Cain for several laps to earn the win in the first
DTRA modified heat. The second DTRA modified heat race saw a spectacular flip
in turn 1 on the second lap of the race. Returning to CLS after a few years
absence, Steve Arpin was challenging for the lead when the right front of his
#00 mod rolled over, hooked into the track and sent him spiraling skyward.
Steve's aerial flight in his mod was easily as high as any sprint car flip
seen at CLS in recent years. Landing hard on the front end of the car, the #00
rolled over upside down and came to rest on its roof. Fortunately the popular
young Fort Francis, Ontario native was not injured. In fact, Steve caught the
attention of many fans when he even helped pick up some mud clods and fill in
the hole where his car had dug into the track. When racing resumed following
the red flag, Darrell Nelson passed leader Jason Gross on lap 7 and went on to
take the win.
Pat Doar won by a large margin in the first DTRA super late model heat. Racing
in his 49th season, Tom Nesbitt was a solid second in heat #1. Rick Egersdorf
returned to CLS in the very familiar orange #17 late model colors to post the
victory in heat #2. Action in the second heat was halted on lap 4 when the car
of Jon Chrest suddenly veered right and smacked the concrete wall on the
frontstretch. Jon's car was heavily damaged and done for the night.
Following an intermission for a quick touch-up on the track surface, the first
feature of the season came trackside. Rice Lake driver Shane Kisling bolted
from his pole starting position to lead all 15 laps of the DTRA street stock
feature. Butch Madsen quickly moved from 4th to 2nd and then applied the
pressure on Kisling. Butch was unable to overtake Shane's #6 streeter and had
to settle for the runnerup spot. Rounding out the top five were Shawn Kammerud,
Brian Loss, and Jason Vandekamp with a late race breakdown.
The 15 lap DTRA midwest modified feature saw 2006 track points runnerup Greg
Chesley take the lead from the pole starting spot. Jason Gross stayed a close
second, but Chesley held the point for 15 laps to take the opening night
feature win. After suffering a mechanical breakdown in his heat, Ryan Olson
came from the back of the pack to finish third with a last lap turn 4 pass of
Chad Patterson. Close behind Patterson in fifth was Jimmy Schweitzer. Shane
Kisling's luck in his midwest modified was not so good, as he was a DNF in the
main event.
The DTRA 20 lap super stock feature race proved to be a dandy! Mike Weber
grabbed the early lead from his pole starting position. On lap four, 4th
starter Tim Borgeson powered by on the outside to take the lead from Weber.
One lap later, Mike Loomis moved by Weber into second. As the lead trio ran
close together, Dan Carlson took 4th from Jimmy Gullikson on lap 7. On lap 11,
13th starter Larry Boumeester moved into the sixth spot. On lap 14, Mike Weber
got back around Mike Loomis for second. By this time, Dan Carlson had closed
in on the leaders. Weber put the pressure on Borgeson, but he was not able to
get by. Tim Borgeson held off Mike Weber for an exciting win. Dan Carlson
slipped past Mike Loomis coming off of turn 4 on the final lap to grab third
at the finish. Jimmy Gullikson rounded out the top five in what turned out to
be a very good super stock feature that saw the race go 19 laps green after
the lone caution.
The 20 lap DTRA modified feature turned out to be kind of a battle of
attrition. Jason Gross led early then broke. Jason Miller then led to the
halfway point and broke. Joey Jensen led the final 10 circuits over Darrell
Nelson to put his name into the opening night winner's column. Tyler Keyser,
Chris Carlson, and Marc Johnson rounded out the top five. Defending track and
DTRA national champion Dave Cain was done early in the main event when his car
reportedly broke a gear.
The final feature race of the evening would be another superb race for the
DTRA super late models. Although Eric Breeschoten ended up leading all 30 laps
to earn his second career opening weekend victory (his last was in 2004), Pat
Doar applied serious pressure on numerous occasions throughout the race. A
couple of times Doar pulled alongside of Breeschoten and nearly led lap 27 as
the leaders worked lapped traffic. In the end, Breeschoten held off Doar by
about a car length at Jeff Stacken's checkereds. Rounding out the top five
were Joel Cryderman, Brent Larson, and Rick Egersdorf. The next five at the
finish were Mike Balcaen, Tom Nesbitt, Ron Schreiner, Steve Laursen, and Terry
Lillo. The main event ran 25 laps nonstop following the only caution five laps
into the race.
Thanks to all the fans and drivers who were on hand to help the Cedar Lake
Speedway get their 50th season underway.
Race Results:
DTRA Street Stocks
1. 6 Shane Kisling
2. 94 Butch Madsen
3. 99K Shawn Kammerud
4. 37 Brian Loss
5. 16 Jason Vandekamp
6. 77 Melvin Raska
DTRA Midwest Modifieds
1. 97C Greg Chesley
2. 12 Jason Gross
3. 21 Ryan Olson
4. 15X Chad Patterson
5. 25 Jim Schweitzer
6. 11S Justin Schill
7. S4 Sam Nelson
8. 5 Jarrod Happel
9. 86 Mark Trog
10. 6 Shane Kisling
11. 97G Jared Gorka
12. 25S Cash Schweitzer
DTRA Super Stocks
1. B37 Tim Borgeson
2. 26 Mike Weber
3. 24 Dan Carlson
4. 17 Mike Loomis
5. 21G Jim Gullikson
6. 4 Larry
Boumeester
7. 05 Jason Gabrielson
8. 26W Charlie Weber
9. 22JB JB Storz
10. 19 Doug Fisk
11. 60 Mark Chamernick
12. 15 Conrad Rivard
13. 33 Frank Befera
14. 11 Mike Bruggeman
DTRA Modifieds
1. V2 Joey Jensen
2. 44 Darrell Nelson
3. 7K Tyler Keyser
4. 7C Chris Carlson
5. 21J Marc Johnson
6. 24 Jeremy Gross
7. 12M Jason Miller
8. 12 Jason Gross
9. 01 Joey Galloway
10. 2C Dave Cain
11. 2G Troy Girolamo
DTRA Late Models
1. 66 Eric
Breeschoten
2. 11 Pat Doar
3. 51 Joel
Cryderman
4. B1 Brent Larson
5. 17 Rick
Egersdorf
6. 10 Mike Balcaen
7. 1
Tom Nesbitt
8. 97 Ron
Schreiner
9. 19 Steve
Laursen
10. 24 Terry Lillo
11. 44H Paul Hipsag
12. 7C Jim Carlson
13. 61 Jeff Keeney
14. 24A Aaron Lillo
15. 21E Caley Emerson
16. F18 Bob Slater
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