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Hard Charging Racing on Orion Lighting Fan Appreciation Night
By Mary Burbach
September 6, 2003- Eastern Wisconsin Stock Cars celebrated the Orion
Lighting Fan Appreciation Night at the Sheboygan County Fair Park in
Plymouth. With over 100 Orion Lighting employees in attendance, the fans
gathered for the second last points night in the 2003 EWSC season. As
the points battle tightened, the fans were treated to intense racing action in
all the EWSC divisions.
Heat winner # 22 Barry Maas of Cascade grabbed the lead early in the Winged
Super Modified 30-lap A-Main race. # 42 Matt Van Wyk of Sheboygan Falls
pulled in behind Maas by lap two and began chasing Maas down. A lap
later, # 2 Billy Hafemann of Cedar Grove maneuvered into third as point leader
# 4 Paul Pokorski of West Bend, # 00 Adam Brasser of Plymouth and fast
qualifier # 99 Chuck Tuschl of Reedsville ran three abreast for fourth
place. In lap four, Pokorski secured fourth and # 7 Pete Ostrowski of
Milwaukee picked up fifth. Charging passed Ostrowski in the next lap,
Tuschl moved into fifth behind Pokorski. In lap seven as leader Maas
raced up to lapped traffic, Pokorski battled with Tuschl to remain in
fourth. A lap later, Tuschl made his move and began chasing down third
place Hafemann as # 98 Tim McMullen of Plymouth passed Ostrowski for sixth
place. As Van Wyk chased down the leader, Maas began sending back lapped
traffic to the field. When Van Wyk finished passing the lapped cars,
Maas had acquired a half track lead over second place. By half-way
through the race in lap 15, Maas had a secure lead over Van Wyk, Hafemann,
Pokorski and now Ostrowski in fifth. In lap 17, Ostrowski ducked to the
inside of the racing groove to pass high-running Pokorski but Pokorski battled
back the next lap and regained fourth. At the end of lap 20, McMullen drove
his car down low under Ostrowski on the high groove and took over fifth.
McMullen kept his momentum and passed Pokorski for fourth on the next
lap. In the middle of lap 23, after leader Maas passed two more lapped
cars, the first and only yellow flag of the race occurred to pull Maas back
into the front of the field. With lap 23 not completed under green flag
conditions, the restart line-up was determined by lap 22. Maas’
half-track lead got cut as Van Wyk and Hafemann lined up directly behind him
with McMullen and Pokorski in the third row. By lap 24, Miller Lite fast
qualifier # 62 Gary Laack of Glenbeulah grabbed fifth from point leader
Pokorski. With only five laps to the checkered, McMullen took over
second while Pokorski and Laack switched places again to race fourth and
fifth. At the checkered flag, Maas won 2 A-Main wins in a row after
winning the Modified Main in Manitowoc a week ago. Fifth in points
McMullen followed in second with heat winner Hafemann, who is third in points,
finishing third. Fast qualifier Laack, fourth in points, finished fourth
in front of point leader Pokorski. The Meyer Motors Hard Charger Award
went to # 8 Kris Hansen of Manitowoc for passing seven cars.
In the Limited Late Model A-Main, # 67 Melissa Singer of Waldo grabbed the
early lead over # 52 Mark Zimmermann of Kohler. When a yellow flag
stopped the race in lap four, Singer, Zimmermann and # 69 Rick Thompson of
Campbellsport were charging out in front of the pack. In lap 8,
Zimmermann dove to the inside to pass Singer for the lead. A lap later,
Thompson passed Singer for second and # 89 Todd Jensema of Sheboygan Falls
moved into the top five. By the half-way lap of the 25-lap race, leader
Zimmermann was out in front alone with Thompson, Singer and Jensema chasing
him down. A couple of yellow flags in lap 19 slowed up the racing action
and sent leader Zimmermann to the pits to come back to line up in the back of
the field. As the new leader, Thompson lined up in front alone with
Singer and # 21 Dingel in the second row. After the green flag flew,
second-in-points # 3 Jim Pitzen of Plymouth jumped into third ahead of Dingel.
Just before a final yellow flag appeared in lap 23, Pitzen moved into second
but Pitzen would not line up in second as mechanical problems sent him to the
pits not to return. On the restart, Thompson set the pace with Singer
and # 6 Richard Hed of Sheboygan Falls pressuring from the second row.
With only two laps to go, Thompson charged out in front and held off the
challengers to win histhird A-Main this season. Hed followed in second
with Singer, point leader # 79 Jim Schmidt of Cleveland and # 65 Keith Borth
of Sheboygan rounding out the top five. The Meyer Motors Hard Charger
Award went to Hed after passing fourteen cars.
When the Super Stock A-Main restarted after a couple yellow flags, rookie # 45
Joe Schmidt of Plymouth grabbed the lead with # 8 Abe Meinnert of Elkhart Lake
and # 12 Brian Goetsch of Sheboygan chasing him down. Point leader # 98
John Dirks of Elkhart Lake maneuvered into third by lap four and # 35 Ben
Schmidt of Plymouth joined the top five. Two laps later, Schmidt passed
Goetsch for fourth. By lap eight, # 4 Kevin Zimbal of Sheboygan Falls
moved into fifth behind Dirks. Leader Joe Schmidt distanced his car out
in front of the field and with no yellow flags to pull the field back
together, Meinnert and Dirks chased him down. Five laps from the end of
the race, Dirks made his move and dove down underneath Meinnert to take over
second. In the same lap, point leader # 48 Doug Teunissen of Sheboygan
Falls climbed into fifth. As leader Schmidt approached lapped traffic,
Dirks caught up to Schmidt. At the white flag, Schmidt, Dirks and a
lapped car crossed the line side-by-side. As the leaders raced through
turns one and two, Dirks passed Schmidt to hold the lead down the back
stretch. Schmidt was not ready to lose and threw his car hard into turns
three and four to pass Dirks to take the checkered flag first. Rookie
Schmidt earned his first A-Main win this season. Heat winner Dirks
followed in second with Meinnert, point leader Teunissen and Zimbal in the top
five. The Meyer Motors Hard Charger Award went to Zimbal for passing 10
cars.
Point leader # 88 Tim Sauter of Plymouth grabbed the lead in lap three of the
first All-American Mighty 4 A-Main race. # 67 Bill Singer of Random Lake
and # 68 Joe Miller of Plymouth chased down Sauter for laps from second and
third. As Sauter raced out in front of the pack, a couple of late yellow
flags pulled the field back together in lap twelve. Second-in-points # 5
Duane Dippel of Plymouth jumped from fifth to second after the first restart
followed by # 62 Eric Muehlbauer of Kiel. After the final yellow flag,
the race ended in a green, white, checkered finish with Sauter winning his
eighth A-Main of the season. Dippel followed in second with Muehlbauer
in third. Rookie # 03 Sandra Meyer of Plymouth earned the Meyer Motors
Hard Charger Award for passing nine cars to finish fifth.
In the second Mighty 4 A-Main race, # 9 Jason Voss of Glenbeulah grabbed the
early lead and raced out in front. # 8 Ken Odekirk of New Holstein moved
into second by lap two with # 29 Nic Schuette of Glenbeulah following in
third. In lap nine, # 42 Jason Juech of West Bend passed Schuette to
move in behind leader Voss and Odekirk. At the white flag, Juech
maneuvered passed Odekirk for second. Voss held off Juech to win his
second A-Main of the season. Juech followed in second with Odekirk
third. The Meyer Motors Hard Charger Award went to Juech for passing six
cars.
Join Eastern Wisconsin Stock Cars for the final points race of the 2003 season
at the Sheboygan Chevrolet End of Season Championships on Saturday, September
13th. The race program will feature extended A-Mains in all EWSC
divisions. Saturday’s race begins at 5:45 pm with Qualifying. A
raindate is scheduled for the Championship Night for Sunday, September 14th
which will begin earlier at 4 pm.
Summary: Orion Lighting Fan Appreciation Night
Winged Super Modified:
Miller Lite Fast Qualifier: # 62 Gary Laack, Glenbeulah –
13.567
A-Main (30 laps): 1) Barry Maas, Cascade; 2) Tim McMullen, Plymouth; 3)
Billy Hafemann, Cedar Grove; 4) Gary Laack, Glenbeulah; 5) Paul Pokorski, West
Bend; 6) Kris Hansen, Manitowoc; 7) Pete Ostrowski, Milwaukee; 8) Chuck Tuschl,
Reedsville; 9) Robert Enders, Kiel; 10) Tony Wondra, West Bend;
B-Main (10 laps): 1) Craig Perko, Glenbeulah; 2) Hansen; 3) Chad Kistner,
New Holstein; 4) Dennis Klumb, Grafton; 5) Dave Becker, Greenbush; 6) Tom
Johnson, Slinger; 7) Jon Schraufnagel, Lomira; 8) Keith Anderson, Sheboygan;
Heat # 1 (10 laps): 1) Lee Mohs, Waldo; 2) Johnson; 3) Schraufnagel;
Heat # 2 (10 laps): 1) Maas; 2) Wondra; 3) Ostrowski;
Heat # 3 (10 laps): 1) Hafemann; 2) Klumb; 3) Hansen;
Limited Late Model:
Miller Lite Fast Qualifier: # 85 Tim Carman, Sheboygan Falls –
15.710
A-Main (25 laps): 1) Rick Thompson, Campbellsport; 2) Richard Hed,
Sheboygan Falls; 3) Melissa Singer, Waldo; 4) Jim Schmidt, Cleveland; 5) Keith
Borth, Sheboygan; 6) Tim Carman, Sheboygan Falls; 7) Dingel Brothers,
Sheboygan; 8) Brian Kessler, Plymouth; 9) Howie Weiss, Glenbeulah; 10) John
Scharenbroch, Sheboygan Falls;
B-Main (15 laps): 1) Borth; 2) Hed; 3) Schmidt; 4) Jim Lavey, Sheboygan;
Heat # 1 (10 laps): 1) Scharenbroch; 2) Borth; 3) Jim Pitzen, Plymouth;
Heat # 2 (10 laps): 1) Mark Zimmermann, Kohler; 2) Todd Jensema,
Sheboygan Falls; 3) Schmidt;
Heat # 3 (10 laps): 1) Lavey; 2) Hed; 3) Ken Childre, Appleton;
Super Stock:
Miller Lite Fast Qualifier: # 21 Kyle Odekirk, Plymouth – 17.281
A-Main (20 laps): 1) Joe Schmidt, Plymouth; 2) John Dirks, Elkhart Lake;
3) Abe Meinnert, Elkhart Lake; 4) Doug Teunissen, Sheboygan Falls; 5) Kevin
Zimbal, Sheboygan Falls; 6) Kyle Odekirk, Plymouth; 7) Brian Goetsch,
Sheboygan; 8) Ben Schmidt, Plymouth; 9) Jeremy Bushman, Kiel; 10) Jeremy
Sauter, Sheboygan Falls;
B-Main (15 laps): 1) Sauter; 2) Bradley Ruh, Elkhart Lake; 3) Zimbal; 4)
Bushman; 5) Steve Schad, Cleveland; 6) Mark Scholten, Oostburg;
Heat # 1 (10 laps): 1) Brian Kaat, Plymouth; 2) Luke Scholten, Oostburg;
3) Paul Perronne, Plymouth
Heat # 2 (10 laps): 1) Paul Dirks, Elkhart Lake; 2) Donny Kulow,
Plymouth; 3) Zimbal;
Heat # 3 (10 laps): 1) Bushman; 2) Sauter; 3) Teunissen;
Heat # 4 (10 laps): 1) John Dirks; 2) Ben Schmidt; 3) Ruh;
All American Mighty 4’s:
A-Main # 1 (15 laps): 1) Tim Sauter, Plymouth; 2) Duane Dippel,
Plymouth; 3) Eric Muehlbauer, Kiel; 4) Jeremy Goetsch, Sheboygan; 5) Sandra
Meyer, Plymouth;
A-Main # 2 (15 laps): 1) Jason Voss, Glenbeulah; 2) Jason Juech, West
Bend; 3) Ken Odekirk, New Holstein; 4) Justin Herbst, Oostburg; 5) Jason
Seehaver, Kiel;
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