Smith Collects WDRL Win At Fox Ridge Speedway
Wisconsin Driver Picks Up Second Series Win of Season

(Arcadia, WI) The excitement in the air was almost tangible Friday night as the grand stands filled at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY. The fans were a bit more animated and more than a few took the stroll to the far end of the grand stands to peer through the safety fence into the pit area.

The Late Models were back at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY, and the fans were ready to enjoy the show. The WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Super Series had brought their traveling Late Model show into town and were preparing to attack the high-banked 3/8-mile FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY.

With big time Late Model names like Kosiski, Berck and Webb on hand, the crowd was over-joyed when, at the end of the evening, it was a local favorite sitting in Victory Lane.

Brady Smith inherited the lead from Kyle Berck eleven laps from the checkers Friday night and went on to grab the checkered flag in the $5000 to win Fox Ridge 50.

Smith, of Solon Springs, Wisconsin, moved to the front when Berck, the two-time defending series champion, suffered a flat tire on a lap 39 restart, and then held off fellow Wisconsin driver Ace Ihm to pick up the win.

“We’re going to take this win and run with it,” said Smith in victory lane. “I couldn’t be happier.”

“As good as Kyle was I don’t know that I would have been able to race with him,” he added. “I feel bad for Kyle getting the flat tire, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”

Berck darted into the lead at the drop of the green flag, outracing pole setter Nick Anvelink through turns one and two on the opening circuit, with Smith running a short distance ahead of Skip Frey for third.

Smith drove past Anvelink to grab the runner-up spot on lap three, but after a pair of caution flags, the first on lap eight and second one three laps later, dropped back to third when hard-charging Steve Isenburg made the outside pass on lap 14 to grab the position.

After a lap 23 caution flag again regrouped the field, Hazel Green, Wisconsin driver Ace Ihm took over the runner-up position, with Smith racing past Isenburg to grab third. Six laps later, the resurgent Smith battled his way past Ihm to retake the number two position, before disaster struck the front-running Berck during the lap 39 caution period.

After Cosgrove, Iowa’s Dave Eckrich brought out the caution flag with a flat tire, Berck suffered a similar fate on the ensuing restart, allowing Smith to inherit the lead eleven laps from the finish.

From there to the checkered flag, Smith’s Kapus-Erickson Chrysler-sponsored entry was never seriously challenged, and the 26-year old crowd favorite crossed the line a comfortable distance over the second-place Ihm.

 “The thing was a rocket ship all night and we kind of ‘tuned’ ourselves out a little bit,” noted Smith. “ The track was coming to us, it was getting drier the more laps it got on it, and with a tight race car you want it to dry out. But we were just fortunate to pull this one out.”

Following Smith and Ihm to the line was Steve Isenburg. Rick Egersdorf of Mendota Heights, Minnesota finished fourth followed by Terry Anvelink, who started 22nd in the field before fighting his way to a fifth place finish.

The hard hit of the night came mid-way through the 50-lap feature when Winona’s own Keith Foss slammed his Late Model into the back straight wall exiting turn two. The car was so severely damaged that it couldn’t even be taken to the pit area; it was simply dragged into the infield of the speedway where it sat until the end of the feature.

Foss’s team actually had to drive their hauler down into the speedway infield and put in another 3-5 hours of work deconstructing the mangled machine just so that it could be hoisted into the trailer. Luckily, Foss was uninjured in the accident.

Weber wins on first night out
Osceola, Wisconsin’s Mike Weber raced his way to Victory Lane in his first night at FOX RIDGE SPEEDWAY this season. Battling Winona’s John Duffy, who eventually finished fourth, and Pole Sitter Dan Arneson through the first third of the evening’s WISSOTA Super Stock feature event, Weber went on to dominate the remainder of the race crossing the Start / Finish line beneath the waiving checkered flags while second heat race winner Troy Brand was still negotiating turn three in second place.

Brand’s heat win and second place finish in the A-Main will insure a larger spread for him atop the point standings as Mondovi’s Rodney Dregney, just one point behind Brand in the standings entering Friday’s show, suffered not one but two mechanical failures while running near the front of the field with less than five laps to go. “It’s more like what DIDN’T break,” sighed Dregney after the tough 17th place finish, “The left upper A-Frame broke first. The left front tire just kind of collapsed in on the front of the car, that’s why you saw all the sparks up front.

“Then the axle snapped in the rear-end and that’s when you saw all the sparks under the rear of the car. We’re already planning lots of garage time.”

Shawn Huse enjoyed a strong night at the track, working his way through the field to round out the top-3 finishing positions.

Wehlage makes it two in a row
Shaun Wehlage appears to have turned the corner in this first half of the 2004 WISSOTA Street Stock season. For the second week in a row Wehlage’s #100 sat in Victory Lane at the end of the Street Stock feature event.

Starting from the front row, second heat-race winner Wehlage darted away from the field and was never once challenged for the lead. Current point leader Travis Krause, mean while, battled through more than half the field, and accepted a last lap ‘gimme’ just to pick up a second place finish. On the final turn of the final lap, Alma’s Danny Hanson lost the handle on his #5 while running a strong second, “I wasn’t muscled out of the way or anything,” commented Hanson afterwards, “it just got away from me there at the last minute. I bobbled a little bit and Travis dove underneath me for second.”

The third place feature finish and a second in his heat race had Hanson in a good mood none-the-less, “It was really a good night. The car was fast all night, it really felt strong.”

All divisions will be back in action next Friday night with the USRA Modfieds, WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks, WISSOTA Street Stocks, and Pure Stocks at the track. Hot laps begin at 7:00 with the first green flag at 7:30. Visit www.foxridgespeedway.com for more information!


WDRL Late Model RACE REPORT:

First PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Brady Smith (Solon Springs, WI), 2. Justin Fegers (Mound, MN), 3. Skip Frey (Ely, IA), 4. Steve Isenburg (Marshfield, WI), 5. Greg Peck (Sioux City, IA).

Second PolyDome Qualifier; 1. Nick Anvelink (Navarino, WI), 2. Ace Ihm (Hazel Green, WI), 3. Keith Foss (Winona, MN), 4. Gary Webb (Blue Grass, IA), 5. Dave Eckrich (Cosgrove, IA).

Third PolyDome Qualifier: 1. John Anderson (Omaha, NE), 2. Kyle Berck (Marquette, NE), 3. Rick Egeresdorf (Mendota Heights, MN), 4. Brad Waits (Zumbrota, MN), 5. Eric Pember (Pittsville, WI).

KSE Racing Products Consolation:1. Pat Doar (New Richmond, WI), 2. Denny Eckrich (Tiffin, IA), 3. Mark Teske (Spring Valley, MN), 4. Terry Anvelink (Navarino, WI), 5. Matt Furman (Iowa City, IA).

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. N. Anvelink, 2. Berck, 3. Smith, 4. Frey, 5. Anderson, 6. Fegers.

Fox Ridge 50: 1. Smith, 2. Ihm, 3. Isenburg, 4. Egersdorf, 5. T. Anvelink, 6. Fegers, 7. Steve Kosiski (Papillion, NE), 8. Berck, 9. Da. Eckrich, 10. De. Eckrich, 11. Pember, 12. Peck, 13. Kerry Hansen (Spencer, WI), 14. Furman, 15. Teske, 16. Anderson, 17. Doar, 18. Joe Kosiski (Omaha, NE), 19. Frey, 20. Waits, 21. Foss, 22. Webb, 23. John Kaanta (Elk Mound, WI), 24. N. Anvelink.


Billet Proof Lap Leaders: Berck (1-39), Smith (40-50)
QA1 Shocks Passing Points Winner: Smith (64.28)
Seubert Calf Ranches Rookie-of-the-Race: Smith
Chase Race Decals Hard Luck Driver: Foss