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Two Repeat And Four New Winners At Cedar Lake Speedway
Larson, Mass, Cain, Sinna, Olson, and Hanestad on top.
By Greg Parent
05/12/2007 - Saturday night dirt track racing action on Mothers Day Weekend
saw another fine evening of weather, as the Cedar Lake Speedway hosted their
fifth night of racing during the 2007 season. A field of 121 cars in
five DTRA divisions plus the first-ever appearance of the Fastrak Upper
Midwest Region crate late models were on hand to entertain race fans. It
was a night that would see a couple of very good feature races while a couple
of classes had a bit of the yellow fever syndrome to slow the action in their
main events.
In typical fashion, the DTRA street stocks kicked off the night with two heats
for their 15 car field. Last week's feature winner Chris Peterson led
all 10 laps enroute to victory in the first heat race with Shawn Kammerud
moving up from 6th to 2nd. The second heat would see Ron Hanestad,
making his first CLS appearance of the season, lead the first seven laps
before Jason Vandekamp worked past for the win as these two drivers battled
side by side on several occasions. They would resume their battle in the
feature race a bit later on in the evening.
Usually drawing the largest amount of cars on race nights, the DTRA Midwest
Modifieds had a strong field of 31 cars to run three heats. Vince Corbin
went green to checker all the way to pick up the win in the first heat with
Jason Gross coming from 6th to finish 2nd and young Andy Jones from 10th to
3rd. Greg Chesley, a two-time feature winner at CLS in 2007 so far, went
from 9th to 1st to top the second heat. A caution with 6 laps in would
see Chesley bolt from his third running position at the time to first all in
one corner. Former sno-cross racer and DTRA Midwest Mod rookie Sam
Nelson held off defending track champion Justin Schill to earn the victory in
the third heat.
Making their inaugural CLS appearance, the Fastrak Upper Midwest Region crate
late models only had a 4 car field on hand. This class is in its very
first season in the area, so it appears as though it will take some time to
build up a group of cars. The class has grown very quickly in other
parts of the country, and it is expected to eventually gain a following in
this area too. Dave Mass led all the way to pick up the six lap heat
race win.
The DTRA Super Stock division would see a couple of heat races for the 21 cars
on hand. Jim Gullikson showed the way for the first six laps in the
opening heat, but it was defending track champion Larry Boumeester racing past
Gullikson on lap 7 on his way to victory. Opening night feature winner
Tim Borgeson led all 10 laps to win the second heat.
Three heats for the 26 cars in the DTRA Modified division got underway with
the first heat having a few yellows. Larry Zeller came from his 9th
starting spot to pass leader Chris Magistad on lap 5 on his way to the
win. Celebrating his 30th season of racing, Ron Schreiner had things his
way in the second heat with a green to checker run. Joey Jensen did
likewise from his pole starting spot in the third heat race to defeat Dave
Cain. Darrell Nelson passed five cars to finish third.
Two crate late models elected to run with their bigger counterparts, so the
DTRA late model class ran 3 heats for the 24 cars signed in. Brent
Larson pulled away for the win in the first heat. Eric Breeschoten,
winner on opening night, blasted away from the field in the second heat.
Ashley Anderson moved forward six spots to finish second. Pat Doar,
looking to make it three straight wins, had no problems in leading all 10 laps
in the third heat. Both crate cars were in the final heat, and Dave Mass
managed to earn the final redraw position with a fourth place finish.
Dave would later draw the pole position for the feature race.
The Midwest Modifieds usually need to run a B Main and tonight was no
exception. Only 7 of the scheduled 13 starters made the call, so just
one car would not make the feature from the consi tonight. Paul
Fontecchio topped Jim Schweitzer for the win in the 6 lap race. On most
race nights, an intermission is taken following this race. Not so
tonight, as CLS track officials decided to run the street stock feature event
first prior to the break.
Following a couple of cautions on the first two attempts to start the race,
the DTRA Street Stock 15 lap feature would then run nonstop and showcase a
great battle up front between Ron Hanestad and Jason Vandekamp. These
two drivers picked right up where they left off in the heat race. With
the original pole sitter gone due to a spin, Ron Hanestad moved up a row and
immediately took the lead. Jason Vandekamp quickly went from his fourth
starting spot to run second at the end of the first lap. Hanestad was
generally running the bottom groove while Vandekamp worked the high
side. Vandekamp moved past Hanestad on lap 3 for the lead.
Vandekamp led through lap 6 only to see Hanestad come back strong on the
bottom again to retake the lead on lap 7. Vandekamp returned the favor
to lead laps 8-10. Hanestad again moved back to the front, this time to
stay, on lap 11. Ron Hanestad led the final five circuits enroute to his
first feature victory of the season in his first appearance of the
season. Jason Vandekamp stayed close to finish second. The three
through five spots also saw a very good battle between three drivers.
Jeff Heintz rode home in third followed by Chris Peterson and Shawn Kammerud.
2006 track champion Keith Tourville moved up from his 11th starting position
to finish 6th. So far in 2007, the street stock division has had four
different winners in the four nights they have raced.
After a break to groom the track and give fans a chance to visit the
concession stand, the scheduled 24 car starting field for the DTRA Midwest
Modified division came trackside. One car scratched, so 23 cars would
take the green flag for 15 racing laps. Ryan Olson was gunning for three
straight wins and his pole starting spot put him in a great position for that
to happen. Olson quickly jumped out into the lead. Winner of the
first two midwest mod features this year, Greg Chesley went from 4th to 2nd in
less than two laps. It looked like the two titans would battle it out
following a caution for debris, but suddenly on lap 4 Chesley turned his #97
machine around in turn 4 and was contacted by Clark Perry. Both cars
rode the hook to the pits, thus ending Chesley's bid for his third win of the
season. Ryan Olson continued to pace the field, as last year's DTRA
Rookie of the Year Andy Jones was on the move from 6th to 2nd. A couple
more cautions for spins would keep the field close, but it was Ryan Olson
leading all the way to post his third straight win of the season. Andy
Jones held strong for second followed by Justin Schill, Shawn Phillips and
13th starter Bryan Siercks. Loren Inman advanced nine positions to earn
hard charger honors over Siercks coming from 17th to 8th at the end.
Defending DTRA National point champion Dan Wheeler suffered a breakdown in his
heat race and was unable to return to competition for the remainder of the
evening.
The Fastrak crate late models then held their 12 lap feature. Brent
Mueller led all 12 laps to earn what was an apparent victory and etch his name
in the record books at CLS. In his excitement following photos and an
interview in victory lane, Brent forgot to head to the scales after leaving
the track. Because of this, second place finisher Dave Mass ended up
garnering the victory and putting his name in the records as the first-ever
Fastrak Upper Midwest Region crate late model feature winner at the Cedar Lake
Speedway. Justin Dodge was second, Dan Hesch third, and Brent Mueller
would end up last. A disappointed Mueller indicated that he is certain
he will never forget to scale again after a win. It would have been his
first career feature victory, but that milestone will have to wait for another
evening. Brent is not the first driver to have this happen to him, and
based on his strong run, he stands a good chance to find himself in victory
lane again before the season is over.
With one car unable to start the 20 lap DTRA Sunoco Super Stock feature race,
20 cars roared under starter Jeff Stacken 's green flag. J B Stortz took
command up front, but he was soon under pressure from Matt Sinna and the Weber
brothers. These four cars had a good race going on up front. On
lap 8, Sinna moved past Stortz for the lead. The race continued under
green until the halfway mark. This is when things went downhill for the
super stocks. The caution first waved for a spin. On the ensuing
restart, another spin in turn 4 collected a couple of cars. Chris Gorka
ended up on the hook, ending his night. The next start attempt saw an
accident occur in turn 1. 2006 track champion Larry Boumeester rode the
hook to the pits while J B Stortz was sent to the tail. Six laps later,
a stalled car in turn 4 brought out the fourth yellow. Dan Carlson had
been steadily moving forward from his 12th starting position. Two more
laps and a spin in turn 4 saw the yellow flag fly once again. Things did
not go well at all on the restart. In fact, a big mess on the
frontstretch saw lots of carnage take place after the leaders got all bunched
up. Mike Weber slammed hard into the concrete wall, causing extensive
damage to his car. Also involved in the crash was Jim Gullikson, Jake
Hiatt, Conrad Rivard, and Chris Crotty Mike's brother, Charlie Weber,
was sent to the rear but a number of fans expressed a different opinion on
what had happened. The race then ran two laps to conclude with Matt
Sinna capturing his first win in his first CLS attempt in 2007. Tim
Borgeson finished second, Dan Carlson ended up third, Ben Hillman also in his
first appearance was fourth, and J B Stortz raced forward from the back at the
halfway mark to round out the top five. After the race was over, a group
of unhappy drivers converged on the scale area and the #7 car of Sinna.
They appeared to be upset about a couple of the restarts!
Yellow fever was not done yet, as the 26 car starting grid for the DTRA
Modifieds would also see six cautions fly in their feature race. The
scheduled distance was shortened to 17 laps due to time limit. Despite
the cautions, all of them for spins, the race itself had three different
leaders. Tyler Keyser led the opening two laps. Following the
first yellow, Ron Schreiner took over the top spot. Rapid Ron survived a
caution with five laps in, but two laps later Dave Cain motored by. Cain
led lap 8 but the race was soon under yellow. Two more laps and another
spin slowed the pace. Another spin on the restart and the fifth caution
waved. Finally with 15 laps in, the final caution flew. It would
then be a green-white-checker dash to the finish. Dave Cain defeated Ron
Schreiner to earn his second win of the young season. Tyler Keyser,
Shawn Peterson, and 12th starter Darrell Nelson rounded out the top
five. Jason Miller charged forward from 17th to 6th.
Lightning was flashing in the far southern sky when the 24 car DTRA Impact
Printing Late Model feature was led to the green flag by polesitter Dave Mass
in his crate division car. A melee on the backstretch on the opening lap
saw four cars dart around to avoid each other. Darrell Nelson ended up
tagging the tail and a complete restart was in order. The race then went
30 laps nonstop and featured a very good battle for several laps for the top
four positions. Steve Laursen grabbed the early lead from his outside
row one spot with Ashley Anderson, Brent Larson, and Pat Doar close
behind. Larson moved past Anderson for second on lap 14. Two laps
later he got by leader Laursen. Anderson moved past Laursen on lap
18. It looked like Ashley was going to stay close, but Brent Larson's B1
car got faster and faster to pull away a bit. Doar drove past Steve
Laursen on lap 21 for third. The running order up front would remain the
same for the rest of the race, as Brent Larson lapped up to the 12th place
car. Larson recorded his first win of the season followed by Ashley
Anderson, Pat Doar, Steve Laursen and Eric Breeschoten. Dave Mass earned
the $200 GRP Crate Late Bonus for being the highest finisher between the two
crate lates that elected to run in the DTRA division, as Dave rode home in
12th place five spots ahead of Brent Mueller. The final checkers waved a
few minutes before 11:00pm.
Next week the popular School Bus Night will be held at the Cedar Lake
Speedway. Area teachers and some track personnel race against each other
for bragging rights in school buses. A school bus or two has been known
to get upside down in years past. This night is quite popular with many
local area high school students. The DTRA late models, modifieds, super
stocks and street stocks headline the racing program next week with the
midwest mods having a night off. Racing is slated to get underway at
6:30 pm on Saturday May 19. See you at CLS for the 3rd Annual School Bus
Night.
Results:
DTRA Street Stocks:
Heat 1 Peterson, Kammerud, Howland, Nyreen, Larson, Raboin,
Korstad, Tourville
Heat 2 Vandekamp, Hanestad, Heintz, Loss, Knutson, Miller,
Fjorden-Nord
Feature Hanestad, Vandekamp, Heintz, Peterson, Kammerud, Tourville,
Fjorden-Nord, Howland, Raboin, Loss, Nyreen,
Korstad, Miller
DTRA Midwest Modifieds:
Heat 1 Corbin, Gross, Jones, Phillips, Siercks, Trog, Fontecchio,
Schweitzer, Durham , Friese, Larson
Heat 2 Chesley, Olson, Frederick , Steffen, Potvin, Inman, Gorka,
Lepinski, Patrin, Smart
Heat 3 Nelson, Schill, Louschke, Perry, Patterson, Matuska, Kurk,
Wheeler, Roschen, Schweitzer
B-Feat Fontecchio, Schweitzer, Durham , Lepinski, Gorka, Patrin, Roschen
Feature Olson, Jones, Schill, Phillips, Siercks, Gross, Corbin, Inman,
Frederick , Louschke,
Schweitzer, Patterson, Fontecchio, Durham , Gorka, Lepinski, Nelson, Patrin,
Steffen, Trog, Perry, Chesley, Potvin
FASTRAK Crate Late Models
Heat Mass, Hesch, Dodge, Mueller
Feature Mass, Dodge, Hesch, Mueller
DTRA Sunoco Super Stocks
Heat 1 Boumeester, Gullikson, Wiome, Sinna, C. Weber, Lorimar,
Loomis, Davis, Bruggeman, Rivard, Pellersells
Heat 2 Borgeson, Storz, Crotty, M. Weber, Hillman, Carlson, Gorka,
Emerfoil, Hiatt, Campeau
Feature Sinna, Borgeson, Carlson, Hillman, Storz, Gullikson, Lorimor, Loomis,
Campeau, Hiatt, C. Weber, M. Weber, Rivard,
Crotty, Emerfoil, Bruggeman, Boumeester, Gorka,
Pellersells, Wiome
DTRA Amsoil Modifieds
Heat 1 Zeller, VanMeter, Kallenback, Gross, Magistad, Mueller,
Carlson, Gross, Doelle
Heat 2 Schreiner, Grube, Peterson, Splittstoesser, Kelly Jr,
Miller, Viebrock, Doriott, Lear
Heat 3 Jensen, Cain, Nelson, Keyser, Schill, Froehlich, Brightbill,
Girolamo
Feature Cain, Schreiner, Keyser, Peterson, Nelson, Miller, Schill, Zeller
Splittstoesser, Jensen, Viebrock, Kelley
Jr, VanMeter, Grube, Kallenback, Magistad, Mueller, Brightbill, Doriott,
Girolamo, Lear, Carlson, Gross, Gross, Doelle, Froehlich
DTRA Impact Printing Late Models
Heat 1 Larson, Nutzmann, Schreiner, Patchen, Cryderman, Raboin,
Chrest, Martire
Heat 2 Breeschoten, Anderson, Nesbitt, Nelson, Hipsag, Mahder,
Keeney, Emerson
Heat 3 Doar, Egersdorf, Laursen, Mass, Hucovski, Mueller, Carlson,
Wennen
Feature Larson, Anderson, Doar, Laursen, Breeschoten, Egersdorf, Cryderman,
Schreiner, Nutzmann, Patchen, Nesbitt, Mass, Hucovski, Nelson, Hipsag,
Emerson, Mueller, Wennen, Keeney, Chrest,
Mahder, Raboin, Carlson, Martire
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