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Kirchner Takes Final Win Over Schendel At Fest
By: Kevin Ramsell
Friday, October 06, 2006 (West Salem, WI) – It started out with a two point
difference between Dan Fredrickson and Tim Schendel. It ended with a
three point difference and a new winner in victory lane as the final NASCAR
AutoZone Elite Division Midwest Series ran its final laps at the Oktoberfest
Race Weekend at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
La Crosse native, Brent Kirchner took home the victory by taking over the lead
from Tim Schendel with two laps to go in the Farewell 150 lap event.
Schendel’s second place finish gave him his first Midwest Series
Championship over Fredrickson.
Schendel and Fredrickson were the class of the 20-car field that took the
green flag on the second night of the four day race weekend.
Josh Bauer and Ronnie Hawley led the field the green flag in front of a packed
house with Grand Marshal Dick Trickle waving the green flag.
Bauer would grab the early lead while Schendel, who started sixth and
Fredrickson, started eighth, quickly made their way to the front.
Fredrickson would take over the top spot on lap 13 with Schendel right on his
rear bumper.
The two would pull away from the rest of the field and put on a show for the
fans. Schendel would be patient as he looked for a way to get past
Fredrickson. On lap 29, Schendel would get on the inside of Fredrickson
coming out of turn two. At the line, Schendel take the lead by the
fender. A lap later, Schendel would pull away from Fredrickson.
Four caution flags would fly throughout the event. Fredrickson admitted
after the race that his car was better right after the cautions. “I
think we started the tires to high, we were real good on re-starts and I could
have gotten by him but I didn’t want to get dirty with him and have it bite
me in the long run.” Fredrickson stated. “We gave it our all, we
tried our best.”
Kirchner would stay quiet throughout the race running in the top five.
With 30-laps to go, he would get on the bumper of Fredrickson to challenge for
second. Kirchner would get past Fredrickson on lap 128 and set his
sights on Schendel.
With 15 laps to go, Kirchner would catch Schendel and put the pressure on him
for the top spot. With two laps to go, Kirchner would get on the inside
of Schendel going into turn three. Schendel would try to close the door
but the two touched sending Schendel up to the marbles. Kirchner would
take over the lead coming down for the white flag. Schendel would
quickly recover and hold on to second.
“I don’t know where the 88 (Kirchner) came from,” Schendel stated after
the race. “I tried to hold him off but he was faster than me and my
right rear was getting down there and I couldn’t hold the bottom. He
got into me a little bit but that’s racing. It’s a good win for him
and for me it was a battle of survival to the checkered flag.”
Kirchner, who has three top-ten finishes coming into this event, surprised the
hometown crowd by taking the win with Schendel taking second and Fredrickson
in third. Steve Carlson would come home fourth with Josh Vadnais
rounding out the top five.
The final checkered flag was waved by longtime ARTGO flagman Bill Gronley.
“It was pretty wild; I had a better bite coming off the corner. He was
better through the center,” Kirchner stated in victory lane. “I knew
I was little bit better coming off, we touched a little, and I made the pass
and was able to get the win. It was great to win on our home track.”
Schendel’s second place finish was enough for him to capture his first ever
NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Midwest Series Championship. He captured
the title by three points over Fredrickson. Schendel ended with 1000
points with Fredrickson capturing 997 points. Steve Carlson would finish
in third with 940 points with Scotty Backman in fourth with 874.
Kirchner’s win vaulted him from seventh to finish fifth in points with 864
points.
“This is great to win this at my home track,” the excited Sparta, WI
driver stated after the race with fireworks in the air off of turn three and a
hug from his father and spotter Ron.
The top drivers in the Midwest Series will now travel to Irwindale, CA to
compete in the Toyota All-Star NASCAR Showdown on October 20-21. The
event will be shown live on Speed Channel.
Nascar AutoZone Elite Division 150
Feature (20 cars) — 1. Brent Kirchner, La Crosse; 2. Tim Schendel,
Sparta; 3. Dan Fredrickson, Lakeville, MN; 4. Steve Carlson, West Salem; 5.
Josh Vadnais, White Bear Lake, MN; 6. Bryan Roach, Becker, MN; 7. Todd Hansen,
Minneapolis, MN; 8. Mark Kraus, Strattford; 9. Russ Blakeky, White Water; 10.
Tom Kippenberg, Channahon, IL; 11. Darren Bucklin, Greeley, CO; 12. Scotty
Backman, Littleton, CO; 13. Ronnie Hawley, Winona; 14. Josh Bauer, Random
Lake; 15. Bruce Yackey, Greeley, CO; 16. Mike Gallegos, Wheat Ridge; 17. David
Finney, Sycamore; 18. Greg Fowler, Longmont, CO; 19. A J Rhoads, Hastings, MN;
20. danny Darnall, Beach Park, IL;
Qualifying — 1, Dan Fredrickson, Lakeville, 19.054 seconds, 103.049
MPH; 2, Josh Vadnais, White Bear Lake, 19.253 secs, 101.984 MPH; 3, Tim
Schendel, Sparta, 19.377 secs, 101.331 MPH; 4,Todd Hansen, Minneapolis, 19.525
secs, 100.563 MPH; 5, Mike Gallegos, Wheat Ridge CO, 19.548 secs, 100.445 MPH;
6, Russ Blackley, Whitewater, 19.601 secs, 100.173 MPH; 7, Ronnie
Hawley, Winona, 19.618 secs, 100.087 MPH; 8, Josh Bauer, Random Lake,
19.711 secs, 99.614 MPH; 9, Mark Kraus, Strattford, 19.749 secs, 99.423 MPH;
10, Brent Kirchner, La Crosse, 19.787 secs, 99.232 MPH.
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