Timm Goes Flag To Flag At Deer Creek
July 17
by Bill Nelson

Spring Valley MN

After a very successful Valley Transportation Combine Demolition Derby on Thursday night the track crews worked hard to get the track in great racing shape again for Saturday night.  The racing action for all 6 regular classes of racing were sponsored by Brauer Roofing of Rochester and Olstad Implement of Chatfield.  Also Peterbilt of Winona was on hand with a display of big rigs in the infield.  A very nice crowd was on hand to take in another night of excellent racing action.

First on the track for their feature event were the WISSOTA Street Stocks. Travis Krause drew the outside front row and used it to pull into the lead exiting corner two.  The middle and upper lines of the track seemed to be preferred by the Street Stock drivers with a few of them running perilously
close to the wall.  Steve Eischens, Chuck Nerland and Danny Hanson were locked in a three wide battle for the third spot as Greg Erickson and Jason Gabrielson battled behind them.  Gabrielson slid up the track and brushed the wall in turn two slowing his momentum and he soon dropped off the track.  Shaun Wehlage moved up to battle with Krause as the two lead the field around the track in a great side by side race as the first caution flew.  On the restart Wehlage used the high side of the track to take the point and Eischens moved under Krause to take over the second spot.  Nerland moved into battle with Krause for the third position.  With five to go Krause started to move back to the front and soon ran down Wehlage to take back the top spot.  Wehlage was running the high line and started to move down as he and Nerland touched bringing out the second caution with Nerland going to the rear.  Wehlage took the lead again on the restart as his car was a rocket on the starts but the final caution came right back out on the next lap as Fred Prudoehl slid sideways and David Gustafson had no where to go and ran into him.  Gustafson's car spun sideways and flipped wildly out of turn 4.  Gustafson was okay but the car was junk after the wreck.  Wehlage kept his advantage on the restart and came home with the win.

The Classic Dwarf cars had another great battle with the top 4 swapping places a lot during the feature event.  Brian Kiehne and Drew Jech raced for the point early on.  Kiehen led the first three laps with Rick Utley and Corey Whalen in a heated battle for third.  Behind the top four cars Jeff
Jech, Tate Bestor, Kevin Bigalk and Matt Aarsvold ran in a four wide formation around the track.  Drew Jech finally worked past Kiehne and took over the lead with ten to go as Whalen ran on their bumper trying to find a hole to run in.  Jeff Jech and Utley were locked together for the fourth
spot as Kiehne took back over the point with eight to go.  Two laps later Whalen got a good run in the middle of the track and worked past Drew for the second spot as he set sail for the leader.  A restart with five to go found Utley running up against the wall in a momentum battle with Jeff Jech
who was running the bottom of the track. The two of them swapped position as Whalen was working on Kiehne up front.  Kiehne was too strong and took home the win.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds put on a whale of a show with Ron Houdek and Jacob Dahle leading the field to the green.  Dahle was having handling problems early on and got loose out of two slowing down the field behind him as all of the drivers missed any incidents and all continued on.  The first caution came out as Jerry Young stalled his car against the wall in turn one.  Greg Pfeiffer Jr. used the restart to work around Houdek into the lead.  Brian Hernandez took to the high side of the track and planted his right rear almost up against the wall as he started to fly up from his ninth starting spot.  After two laps were completed Hernandez was right beside Houdek for second.  After clearing into second Houdek pulled past Pfeiffer for the lead as you could see a few drivers further back in the field migrate up to the top of the track.  Terry Timmerman was having a good run making the bottom of the track work as he ran with Pfeiffer for position.  Albert Wytaske also jumped to the top of the track from his twelfth starting spot working forward.  With seven laps to go Wytaske pulled alongside of Pfeiffer with a great number of two and three wide battles further back through the field.  Wytaske closed in on Hernandez's bumper over the last four laps but was unable to complete a pass after pulling alongside a couple times.

A great race occurred during the WISSOTA Super Stock event early on.  Robert Bautch and Bobby Swanson battled for the top spot as Dustin Nelson, Adam Stockhausen and Cole Queensland raced three wide for the fourth spot.  The top two stayed side by side for the first seven laps with Kevin Hager running in third.  As the battle for fourth settled down Nelson moved around Hager for the third spot.  With thirteen to go Nelson pulled under Swanson and Bautch for the lead.  They three go three wide into one with contact between Swanson and Bautch with Swanson spinning bringing out the caution.  Nelson was credited with the lead and held the point on the restart.  Dave
Mass and Adam Stockhausen doing Swanson in a race for the second position.  The second caution of the event came out as Mark Oeltjenbruns piled into the turn 1 wall.  Nelson held onto the point on the restart with Mass in hot pursuit but to no avail as Nelson was too strong and took home the win.

USRA Modifieds had the crowd on their feet again tonight as the battles were hotly contested throughout the field during the feature event.  Bruce Angst took the early lead with the pack three wide behind him as Kenny Wytaske, Bobby Swanson and Todd Scharkey battled for third.  The first of two cautions came out as a five car pileup took out a few cars in turn three. Angst used his starting spot to bolt back into the lead as Mike Sorensen went to the extreme bottom of the track in a five wide battle for second with Sorensen taking the spot.  On the next circuit Sorensen took the lead as the field continued to battle three and four wide for position.  Tim Donlinger worked from his tenth starting spot to the outside of Angst for the second position on the fifth lap as Todd Klees, Jay Ihrke, Bobby Sorensen and Wytaske ran four wide for fifth.  Ten circuits left on the scoreboard Donlinger moved past Mike Sorensen for the lead that he would never relinquish.  Ihrke saw the middle of the track working for Donlinger and followed him past Sorensen for second.  Still some great battles were going on throughout the field as Donnie Zweiffel broke in turn four with four to go to bring out the second caution.  Donlinger remained strong out front with Ihrke second and Sorensen third to the checkers.

WISSOTA Late Models pulled their fourteen cars to the track with Bob Timm pacing the field alongside of Jerry Bloom.   Bloom, Teske and Timm went three wide out of two for the lead with Teske on the outside against the wall.  The caution came out before the completion of the first lap with both Ben and Josh Mattick breaking down in three and four.  On the restart Teske made the same move outside of the pace setters working into the second spot behind Timm.  Jeff Matjeka moved into the fourth spot as Steve Yaggy cracked the top five.  Bloom dropped slowly from the front pack as Matjeka and Yaggy worked around him a and Brad Waits took over the fifth spot.  Waits worked the bottom of the track to move into the third spot about midway in the feature.  Waits moved into challenge Teske for the second spot while Teske battled Timm for the top spot.  Timm was running the preferred line and held off the challenges on this way to the win.

Next week is the rainout for the Firecracker 40 with the Late Models racing 40 laps for $1200 to win and the USRA Modifieds racing for $1000 to win during their 30 lap feature event.  All 4-remaining classes will be racing also for their normal purse.  The event is sponsored by Brad Skifter the
local Pioneer Seeds dealer of Southeast Minnesota.  Special thanks to Featherlite Trailers, First Farmers & Merchants State bank, J.B. Distributing Co, Inc., Steve Hovda Insurance, Warren Grain Co., Rochester Mortgage, Grand Meadow License Bureau, O'Connell Excavating, Universal
Marine and R.V., Krugels Propane and Matt's Auto Body for their track sponsorship.

WISSOTA Late Models
Feature - Bob Timm, Mark Teske, Brad Waits, Jeff Matjeka, Steve Yaggy, Barry Underdahl, Nick Herrick, Paul Novotny, Jon Chrest, Jerry Bloom, Roger Herrick, Joe Ludemann, Ben Mattick, Josh Mattick.
Heat 1 - Timm, Teske, B. Mattick, Yaggy, Bloom
Heat 2 - Novotny, Herrick, Waits, Matjeka, Underdahl

USRA Modifieds
Feature - Tim Donlinger, Jay Ihrke, Mike Sorensen, Todd Klees, Todd Scharkey, Brad Waits, Bobby Sorensen, Trevis Underdahl, Bruce Angst, Kenny Wytaske.
Heat 1 - Gary Schmidt, Klees, B. Sorensen, Wytaske, Waits
Heat 2 - Donlinger, Ben Anderson, Angst, Nate Wasmund, Dennis Hillson
Heat 3 - Hank Rollinger, Scharkey, M. Sorensen, Ihrke, Dave Siercks

WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature - Dustin Nelson, Adam Stockhausen, Dave Mass, Matt Durnen, Schatney Sanders, Cole Queensland, Bobby Swanson, Dave Haberman, Kevin Hager, Dave Lewison
Heat 1 - Nelson, Durnen, Chris Klinger, Stockhausen, Queensland
Heat 2 - Mass, Swanson, Haberman, Hager, Robert Bautch

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature - Brian Hernandez, Albert Wytaske, Terry Timmermann, Ron Houdek, Greg Pfeiffer Jr. Vince Corbin, Nick Kramer, Mike Paulson, Derrick Bridley, Tim Siercks
"B"-Feature - Tom Paulson, Craig Bentzin, Harlan Morehart, Jim Struckman, Lance Vagt Jr.
Heat 1 - Siercks, Timmerman, Pfeiffer Jr., M. Paulson, Tyler Clark
Heat 2 - Kramer, Houdek, Hernandez, Bridley, Bryan Siercks
Heat 3 - Corbin, Wytaske, Jacob Dahle, Jerry Young, Ron Skalicky

WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature - Shaun Wehlage, Mark Avorak, Steve Eischens, Danny Hanson, Travis Krause, Greg Erickson, Mark Hovland, Mike Sample, Tony Horsman, Tom McEldowney
Heat 1 - Eischens, Jeff Nelson, Chuck Nerland, Hovland, Hanson
Heat 2 - Wehlage, Jason Gabrielson, Krause, Erickson, Sample

Classic Dwarf Cars
Feature - Brian Kiehne, Corey Whalen, Drew Jech, Rick Utley, Jeff Jech, Tate Bestor, Jim Dahle, David Marso, AJ Wiste, Joe Kath
Heat 1 - Utley, J. Jech, Marso, Kevin Bigalk, Dahle
Heat 2 - D. Jech, Kiehne, Whalen, Bestor, Matt Aarsvold