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Durnen Visits Victory Lane On First Visit At The Creek
By Bill Nelson
July 30 - Spring Valley MN - A perfect day for racing saw 131 cars check into
the back gate on Snap On Tools night at the speedway. A great crowd was
treated to some great racing action around the high banked speedway.
The WISSOTA Street Stocks set the pace for the nights racing activities with a
great race for the lead early on and great racing throughout the mid pack
later in the race. After a complete restart Jamie Johnson took the lead
with Kevin Hager in second and Danny Hanson and Jeff Nelson racing for
third. Hanson took third and then gained the second spot after working
under Hager. Johnson meanwhile was pulling away from the field up
front. The only caution flew with eight to go with Johnson leading again
but having heavy pressure applied by Hanson. A great 4 car battle for
fifth ensued with Shaun Wehlage, Michael Conrad, Tom McEldowney and Steve
Eischens all holding the fifth spot at least once in the last five laps.
Hanson kept close to Johnson for the remaining circuits but was unable to
complete a pass.
After a few weeks of struggling to keep their feature going the full distance
the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds pulled off a barn burner tonight. Gregory Jensen
led at the drop of the green with Jeff Brauer and Craig Bentzin racing for
second while everyone behind them searched for the fastest line on the
speedway. The top three came out of four three wide for the lead with
Bentzin getting the nod at the line with Brauer and a fast charging Bryan
Hernandez now locked in for second. A caution flew with ten to go and
leader Bentzin headed to the pit area with problems. Hernandez took the lead
on the restart while Greg Erickson and Travis Krause dueled for the third
spot. Seven to go and Brauer moved to the front with Krause taking over
third behind him. The top two put some distance on the field as Brauer
took home the win.
Matt Durnen made his first visit to the speedway in the WISSOTA Super Stock
class a successful one. After a complete restart Durnen took the lead at
the drop of the green. Durnen looked strong up front but unfortunately
the caution flew frequent in the race. The best racing early on was for
third with Ryan Siegle and Ferlin Miller racing hard and clean. Mid pack
early on the field was two and three wide as the cautions continued to wave
frequently. After clearing Siegle, Miller set sail after Troy Brand who
was running a solid second. A late race restart set up a green, white,
checker dash to the finish. Coming to the checkers Brand was running
high with Miller running mid track. Out of four Brand drifted up and
slapped against the turn four wall shooting him back down into the side of
Miller. Both drivers continued to the line with Miller taking second and
Brand third as Durnen ran a perfect line up front to take home the
win.
Tim Donlinger started on the front row for the feature and took the early lead
with Brian Shaw directly behind in second. Shaw in a recently purchased
Skyrocket chassis has looked vastly improved and was in the top five until a
late breakdown. Mike Sorensen and Brad Waits worked into second and
third respectively until a caution with fifteen to go sent Sorensen to the
pits with a tire change. Donlinger continued to lead on the restart with
Waits and Shaw duking it out for second. Bruce Angst and Bob Timm were flying
around the top in fourth and fifth. Waits gained second with twelve to go with
Timm moving into third shortly thereafter. Timm worked past Waits with
six to go for the second spot as Steve Wetzstein cracked the top five. A
restart with three to go made for an exciting finish. Donlinger
continued to dominate while Timm followed him around the track to the
checkers.
David Marso and Curtis Luhmann ran side by side for the first two laps of the
Classic Dwarf car race when Marso took control. Brian Kiehne moved into
the second position with the rest of the field stacked up tight for position
behind the front three. Nine to go and Kiehne moved into the lead as
Mike Gaines joined Marso and Drew Jech for second place. Gaines took the
spot and followed Kiehne around the speedway until a flat forced Kiehne to the
infield. Gaines took advantage of the flat to take home another checker
flag at the speedway.
Lance Matthees and Jerry Bloom battled early in the WISSOTA Late Model feature
race with Matthees running low and Bloom circling up by the wall. The
two raced out of the corners side by side for two laps with Matthees taking
the lead. Mark Teske then worked into second and the race for the
checkers was on for the front runners at the speedway. As they pull away
from the field Barry Underdahl and Bloom raced for third for most of the
feature with Underdahl gaining the spot. Chris Adams, Doug Herrick, Nick
Herrick, Dennis Hillson and Paul Novotny had the crowd watching them as they
ran close and battled hard to work into the top five. With six to go the
leaders started to work heavy traffic with Teske looking for a better line
through the pack but Matthees worked the slower cars well. A caution
with three to go set up the dash for the finish but Matthees was on his game
tonight and came home with the checkers.
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature - Lance Matthees, Mark Teske, Barry Underdahl, Jerry Bloom, Troy
Brand, Nick Herrick, Doug Herrick, Ben Mattick, Dennis Hillson, Chris Adams
Heat 1 Matthees, Underdahl, Matt Madsen, D. Herrick, Adams
Heat 2 Bloom, Brand, Teske, Hillson, N. Herrick
USRA Modifieds
Feature - Tim Donlinger, Bob Timm, Brad Waits, Bruce Angst, Mike Sorensen,
Nate Wasmund, Jay Ihrke, Hank Rollinger, Jay Poidinger, Chris Ortel
Heat 1 Poidinger, Donlinger, Angst, Matt Aarsvold, Mike Budensiek
Heat 2 Brian Shaw, Albert Wytaske, Timm, Bobby Sorensen, Rollinger
Heat 3 Waits, Ortel, M. Sorensen, Neil Eckhart, Wasmund
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature - Matt Durnen, Ferlin Miller, Troy Brand, Ryan Siegle, Dustin Nelson,
Jason Gabrielson, Dave Haberman, Justin Pogones, Cole Queensland, Kevin Hager
Heat 1 Durnen, Haberman, Hager, Nelson, Brian Fetting
Heat 2 Miller, Siegle, Pogones, Tim Williamson, Queensland
Heat 3 Gabrielson, Justin Sass, Brand, Chris Quast, David Gustafson, Mike
Madsen
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature - Jeff Brauer, Bryan Hernandez, Travis Krause, Greg Erickson, Jason
Cummins, Greg Pfeifer Jr., Dustin Steinbrink, Sean Hemker, Tyler Clark, Kenny
Wytaske
B Feature Wytaske, Sam Siskow, Jerry Young, Ben Anderson, Harlan
Morehart
Heat 1 - Pfeifer Jr., Hernandez, Dean Hoffman, Joe Bunne, Clark
Heat 2 Erickson, Joe Wernecke, Hemker, Andrew Wiste, Gary Wilde
Heat 3 Krause, Steinbrink, Jason Weis, Greg Kral, Tyron Friese
Heat 4 Brauer, Craig Bentzin, Gregory Jensen, Matt Narveson, Cummins
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature - Jamie Johnson, Danny Hanson, Mark Zvorak, Shaun Wehlage, Kevin
Hager, Michael Conrad, Jim Gustafson, Tom McEldowney, Steve Eischens, Chuck
Nerland
Heat 1 Wehlage, Zvorak, Jeff Nelson, McEldowney, Ryan Goergen
Heat 2 Tony Horsman, Tyler Rubin, Gustafson, Conrad, Ron Rucker
Heat 3 Johnson, Hager, Hanson, Eischens, Nerland
Classic Dwarf Cars
Feature - Mike Gaines, Roger Torgerson, Drew Jech, Danny Torgerson, David
Marso, Curtis Luhmann, Jeff Jech, Todd Kiehne, Tate Bestor, Rick Utley
Heat 1 Bestor, Rick Utley, D. Torgerson, Marso, Corey Whalen
Heat 2 - Brian Kiehne, R. Torgerson, Luhmann, D. Jech, Gaines
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