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VanZuilen Takes First Ever Win
By Bill Nelson
July 9th - Spring Valley MN - A warm and muggy afternoon required some extra
effort by the track crew this week but it paid off with excellent features
throughout the evenings racing. Jim’s Autocare of Rochester was on
hand as the nightly sponsor with Associate sponsor Firestone also on hand.
The first feature of the night set up the racing action for the evening with
the WISSOTA Street Stocks performing well and having good racing action
throughout the field. Steve Eischens took the early lead from his
fourth starting position with Tony Shaner and Shaun Wehlage battling for
second. Danny Hanson made his presence known after moving
past Wehlage on lap four to take over the second spot. With
nine laps remaining Hanson pulled alongside but was not able to complete the
pass before a caution flew. Eischens led on the restart with Wehlage
working back into second. Hanson and Cory Rosen were then locked in a
battle for third with Hanson flying on the top side and Rosen in the middle of
the speedway. Wehlage and Eischens then heated up the speedway and
the fans with a great last three laps. Wehlage moved under Eischens but
Steve had the momentum up high. Rosen worked into third and joined the
front two for the race to the white. Wehlage made one last attempt on
the bottom of the speedway coming out of four, while Rosen worked
higher. Eischens held on for his second win of the season while Rosen
snuck past for second.
Craig Bentzin paced the field for the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature while
the field ran three wide in the middle of the pack. Tom Paulson and Greg
Erickson battled for the second spot early on with Bryan Hernandez in hot
pursuit. Following another caution Hernandez moved into the second
position with Paulson and Jason Cummins racing for third. Paulson
brought out a caution with ten to go ending his good run. With three
laps to go Hernandez moved past Bentzin just before a caution flew negating
his pass. Bentzin held on for the win.
The WISSOTA Super Stocks pulled onto the track with Chris Klinger looking
strong early on with Brad VanZuilen running in second. Further back in
the field Kevin Hager and Schatney Sanders ran side by side for fifth.
Cole Queensland and Bobby Swanson had their own war waging for third as the
first caution of the event flew. Klinger pulled off as the front
suspension of his car collapsed. The second caution flew a couple laps
later as Queensland lost his nose cone on the speedway. VanZuilen
continued to hold the point as Sanders moved into second. Dustin Nelson,
Queensland and Swanson raced hard for third. Sanders kept pressuring
VanZuilen but the rookie Super Stock driver held on for his first career win
in any class.
Albert Wytaske led the USRA Modifieds to the green flag and took command of
the race as the pack went two and three wide behind him. Jay Ihrke took
control of second with Tim Donlinger, Tommy Myer and Dain Schultz racing hard
for fourth. On a restart with fourteen to go Myer worked into third
behind Ihrke. Another caution slowed the field and on the restart with
thirteen to go Ihrke and Wytaske made slight contact which allowed Myer and
Donlinger to shoot by into first and second respectively.
Myer continued to charge through the field and took home the win by over a
full straight away lead.
The Classic Dwarf Cars had a classic race tonight with Drew Jech gaining the
early advantage over Curtis Luhmann with Mike Gaines and Tate Bestor racing
for third. After two complete circuits Jech finally gained the top spot
with Gaines moving right behind him in second. The dwarf cars found the
top and bottom of the speedway working for them. Eight laps left and
Gaines worked past Jech into the lead. Shortly after Bestor worked into
second and Roger Torgerson worked on Jech for third. Lapped traffic came
into play holding up Gaines on the White flag lap but was able to hold onto
the lead for the win.
Mark Teske took the lead at the start of the WISSOTA Late Model feature with
Barry Underdahl charging into second early on. Paul Novotny worked the
bottom side and started to chase Underdahl after the first couple
circuits. Tommy Myer driving Ben Matticks late model was in a great race
with Nick Herrick for fifth with Lance Matthees behind them. A caution
with sixteen to go bunched the field back up with Matthees, Underdahl and
Novotny battling for second. Matthees took the spot as he and Teske
pulled steadily away from the field. For the following twelve laps
Matthees hounded Teske but was unable to get any help from the lapped traffic
to make it past the leader.
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature - Mark Teske, Lance Matthees, Barry Underdahl, Paul Novotny, Tommy
Myer, Andrew McKay, Jerry Bloom, Bob Bunne, Doug Herrick, Nick Herrick
Heat 1 – Matthees, Teske, Novotny, Myer, Matt Madsen
Heat 2 – Bunne, Underdahl, N. Herrick, McKay, D. Herrick
USRA Modifieds
Feature - Tommy Myer, Tim Donlinger, Albert Wytaske, Bruce Angst, Neil Eckhart,
Bobby Sorensen, Mark Noble, Nate Wasmund, Jay Ihrke, Karl Fenske
Heat 1 – Bob Timm, Angst, Dain Schultz, Noble, Brad Waits
Heat 2 – Fenske, Ihrke, Hank Rollinger, Matt Aarsvold, Eckhart
Heat 3 - A.Wytaske, Myer, Donlinger, Sorensen, Craig Scott
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature - Brad VanZuilen, Schatney Sanders, Bobby Swanson, Dustin Nelson, Cole
Queensland, Brian Fetting, Kevin Hager, Dave Lewison, Josh Bartel, Tony Bloom
Heat 1 – Chris Klinger, Nelson, Jason Gabrielson, Bartel, Sanders
Heat 2 – Queensland, Lewison, Hager, VanZuilen, Swanson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature - Craig Bentzin, Bryan Hernandez, Kenny Wytaske, Jason Cummins, Greg
Erickson, Dean Hoffman, Joe Bunne, Ben Anderson, Jerry Young, Andrew Wiste
“B” Feature – Terry Timmerman, Sam Siskow, Derrick Bridley, Wiste, Tim
Siskow
Heat 1 – Erickson, Bentzin, Hoffman, Jim Struckman, Mike Paulson
Heat 2 – Travis Krause, Jeff Brauer, Johnny Magnum, Joe Wernecke, Bunne
Heat 3 – Tyler Clark, Cummins, Matt Narveson, Young, Bill Curran
Heat 4 – Hernandez, Wytaske, Tom Paulson, Greg Pfeifer JR., Anderson
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature - Steve Eischens, Cory Rosen, Shaun Wehlage, Chuck Nerland, Tony
Shaner, Tyler Rubin, Tony Horsman, Kevin Hager, Danny Hanson, Kenny Adams
Heat 1 – Eischens, Mark Zvorak, Hanson, Horsman, Shaner
Heat 2 – Nerland, Wehalge, Rubin, Jeff Nelson, Rosen
Classic Dwarf Cars
Feature - Mike Gaines, Tate Bestor, Roger Torgerson, Drew Jech, Jeff Jech,
Brian Kiehne, Rick Utley, Curtis Luhmann, Corey Whalen, Kevin Bigalk
Heat 1 – Bestor, B. Kiehne, Luhmann, Torgerson, Utley
Heat 2 - D. Jech, Gaines, J. Jech, T. Kiehne, Whalen
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