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Marshfield Super Speedway
Marshfield, WI, August 9, 2003 - In one of the wildest events in Wisconsin
Challenge Series history, Mark Eswein of Wisconsin Rapids drove a smooth race
and scored his first career Wisconsin Challenge Series victory. In a
battle of former series champions Eswein, the 2001 WCS champion managed to
fend off Gary Back, of Vesper, the 2002 title holder to take the win by just
over a car length. Veteran racer Joe Krzykowski of nearby Junction City,
made the three car race to the checkered an exciting one as the lead trio were
nose to tail at the finish.
Eswein's victory in the 75 lap feature contest came after some heady
driving. In the closing stages of the race, Eswein found himself running
second to current WCS point leader Erik Darnell of Beach Park, IL.
Darnell's car however had been running extremely rough in the later stages of
the race as a result of carb problems, rather than abuse his equipment to
battle for the lead, Eswein waited patiently in second place. Darnell
would lose power and stall on the raceway with 16 laps remaining in the race,
giving the lead to Eswein who then paced the remaining distance to take the
victory.
Run under near perfect weather conditions one of the largest paid event crowds
of the season at Marshfield Speedway were on hand to witness the event.
The race would prove problematic to numerous drivers, including several of
those near the top of the point standings.
Jeff Kendall of Montello, came into the race second in the series standings,
would start the 75 lap main event outside the front row next to Adam Royle of
Farmington, MN. Kendall would surge ahead into the opening lead, but
would only pace the first lap of the contest before his engine backfired and
lost power. Kendall was unable to make his way back to
the pit area coming to a stop in turn four. As the yellow flag flew on
lap two for Kendall's slowing car, the cars of Jeff Watters and Jeff
Weinfurter made contact sliding off the track in turn three.
Watters would retire from the event, while Weinfurter would take a few more
laps before calling it a day. Kendall was also done for the day, with a
broken rocker arm.
Prior to the caution flag, Kyle Kinder of McFarland had worked past Royle for
the top spot, with Darnell, who won the most recent race at 141 Speedway
already showing in the third spot. Royle found himself under fire the
second the green flag flew and Darnell would work past for the second position
before the start of lap four. Royle would lose several more spots over
the next few laps.
Kinder now found himself next on Darnell's list as the lead pair diced for the
top position. The pair ran wheel to wheel for several laps before
Darnell, using the outside line, pulled ahead on lap eight. By this
time, Eswein had already been moving forward and had reached the fifth
position. Eswein advanced another spot on lap 13, when he sliced to the
inside of former track champion Judd Brandl for the fourth
position.
Eswein now closed in on Dean LaPointe who was running a strong race in the
third position. LaPointe who had rebuilt his car from an accident two
weeks prior had his machine running well near the front of the pack, but
Eswein was able to close up on his rear deck and begin to challenge for the
spot.
Out front Darnell appeared to be running comfortably pulling away from the
field, however on lap 19 his car began to backfire and run rough, though his
pace didn't slow. The second caution of the race appeared on lap 20 when
Jason Weinkauf looped his machine in turn four.
When the race resume Darnell again set the pace with Kinder remaining close on
the restart. Eswein immediately went to work on LaPointe and squirt past
into third brining Brandl with him on the next lap.
Darnell's pace didn't appear to be affected by change in engine tone
continuing to lead. On lap 30, Eswein worked the low groove to pass
Kinder for the runner-up spot. By this time however Darnell had built up
a dozen car length lead.
Darnell's advantage was wiped out when Pete Kempf and Adam Royle locked horns
caution the third caution to appear on lap 33. The leader board showed
Darnell, Eswein, Kinder, Brandl, Krzykowski and Back on the top six positions.
Underway again Darnell again set the pace with Eswein in tow. The
lead duo pulled away from the third place battle between Kinder and Brandl as
the laps clicked by. Brandl managed to work under Kinder on the restart
bringing Krzykowski and Back with him as Kinder fell from the top five stuck
in the outside groove.
With 30 laps to go caution four appeared when Kempf took a wild ride off the
backstretch. Again the lead pair of Darnell and Eswein broke away from
the pack as action began. Back, who had been running fifth began to make
his run toward the front of the pack, picking off Krzykowski and Brandl during
the next several circuits to run third before caution number five appeared
again for a spinning car with 20 laps remaining.
Shortly after this restart Darnell's fortunes would take a turn for the
worse. Though it appeared he had the speed to keep Eswein at bay. Eswein
began to apply heavy pressure to Darnell for the lead. Darnell slowed
dramatically with 16 laps to go turning the lead over to Eswein. Before
he could bring his car to the pits Darnell came to a stop on the track and
caution flag number six flew.
This setup perhaps the wildest accident of the evening as Chris Weinkauf and
Kinder made contact coming off turn four just after the green flag
returned. The resulting melee collected several cars including
LaPointe and Gajewski. Weinkauf, Kinder and LaPointe retired
to the pits after the incident while Gajewski returned to the track with all
the front end sheet metal missing. During the extended caution Darnell
was able to refire his engine and he returned to the track one lap down when
the green flag returned, he would eventually finish 11th.
The final sprint to the checkered would go uninterrupted as Eswein lead Back
and Krzykowski in close formation, with Brandl, Kevin Brescia and Royle in
tow. With five laps to go, Back managed to pull alongside Eswein in the
outside groove through turns three and four, but Eswein was up to the
challenge and pulled ahead. Behind them the battle for fourth was
just as intense as Brandl, Royle and Brescia all fought for position.
Eswein would lead Back to the checkered with Krzykowski in tow.
Royle's late race charge would net him a fourth place finish his best
performance in WCS competition. Brandl would complete the top five
runners. Brescia, had drove a smooth race during the entire event to
earn sixth. Jason Weinkauf recovered from his early race spin to take
seventh, and Ken Reiser, the all-time series point leader claimed eighth.
Earlier in the day, Todd Stapleman of Wautoma, made his second series start of
the year and he came home with a victory in the 25 lap qualifying race over
Allen Check and Weinfurter. The top six runners which also included
Gajewski, Watters and Burton Brown made the main event. Of the
group Brown would finish 9th, the highest of the transfer cars.
The 20 lap Legend feature saw four different leaders. John Burgess led
lap one, but Dan McGiveron quickly took the top spot. As McGiveron led,
Tim Brockhouse and Eric Lokemoen were charging to the front. Brockhouse
took the lead on lap six and Lokemoen took second from McGiveron on lap
nine. Fast timer Josh Schoenick made his way into the top five with
point lead Elliott Weiler not far behind. Lokemoen passed Brockhouse for
the lead on lap 12. The caution flag flew on laps 13, 14 and 15.
The first two were for spins and the last for debris. When the race
resumed, Lokemoen led, Elliott Weiler second, Brockhouse third, Greg Gress
fourth and Schoenick fifth. Brockhouse, Schoenick and Gress battled for
the third position until the checkered. Lokemoen won, Elliott Weiler
second, Schoenick third, Brockhouse fourth and Dave Keays fifth.
Rodney Feltz led the entire 1-Man Cruiser feature until the final lap as he
and Mike Dodson raced for the lead. Dodson, almost running Feltz off the
track down the back stretch was able to take over the lead. Dodson won,
Feltz maintained second, Randy Meyer third, Travis Zvolena fourth and Steve
Bores fifth.
The winner of the Wal-Mart bicycle was Brian Langreck of Pittsville.
Join us this Tuesday night August 12 for the MACCI Business After 5 Race Night
with Dick Trickle Signing Autographs. Sponsored by the Marshfield
News-Herald, Stevens Point Journal and the WI Rapids Daily Tribune.
Tuesday night's racing includes CARQUEST Super Late Models, CARQUEST &
Coca-Cola Super Stocks and 1-Man Cruisers. Grandstand gates open at 5
p.m., Miller Time Trials at 6 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30. Next
Saturday is WYTE 96.7 FM Night. Grandstand gates open at 5 p.m., Miller
Time Trials at 6 p.m. and racing starts at 7:30. Racing includes Super
Late Models, Super Stocks, 4-Cylinders, 1-Man Cruisers and Powder Puff
Racing. Marshfield Super Speedway is located 3.5 miles West of
Marshfield on County Trunk H.
The Marshfield 75 - Results
Marshfield Super Speedway - August 9, 2003
75 Lap Feature: 1.) Mark Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 2.) Gary Back, Vesper;
3.) Joe Krzykowski, Junction City; 4.) Adam Royle, Farmington, MN; 5.) Judd
Brandl, Arpin; 6.) Kevin Brescia, Portage; 7.) Jason Weinkauf, Merrill; 8.)
Ken Reiser, Waukon, IA; 9.) Burton Brown, Neenah; 10.) Todd Stapleman,
Plainfield; 11.) Erik Darnell, Beach Park, IL; 12.) M.G. Gajewski, Wausau;
13.) Frank Kreyer, Cottage Grove; 14.) John Zimmerman, Markesan; 15.) Pete
Kempf, Nekoosa; 16.) Dean LaPointe, Marshfield; 17.) Kyle Kinder, McFarland;
18.) Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 19.) Allen Check, Rosholt; 20.) Jeff Weinfurter,
Wisconsin Rapids; 21.) Jeff Watters, Mineral Point; 22.) Jeff Kendall,
Montello
25 Lap Qualifier: 1.) Stapleman; 2.) Check; 3.) Weinfurter; 4.) Gajewski; 5.)
Watters; 6.) Brown; 7.) Rocky Breezer, Portage; 8.) Dan Mills, Menomonee
Falls; 9.) Rod Brewe, Appleton; 10.) Russ Weiler, Marshfield
Qualifying
Legends: Josh Schoenick 21.424
1-Man Cruisers: Travis Zvolena 22.863
Dashes
Legend: Lokemoen, Gnatzig, E. Weiler, Keays, Schoenick.
Heats
Legend
Heat 1: McGiveron, Gress, Helgerson, Adler, Burgess.
Heat 2: Lokemoen, E. Weiler, Brockhouse, Keays, Schoenick.
1-Man Cruisers
Heat 1: Meyer, Dodson, Zvolena, Feltz, Dickman.
Features
Legend: Lokemoen, E. Weiler, Schoenick, Brockhouse, Keays, Gress,
Gnatzig, McGiveron, R. Weiler, Bula.
1-Man Cruiser: Dodson, Feltz, Meyer, Zvolena, Bores, Sudduth, Klimpke,
Larsh, Denny, Dickman.
Point Standings as of August 9, 2003
CARQUEST Super Late Model
1. #32 Doug Drost560
2. #27 Judd Brandl549
3. #15 Dean LaPointe443
4. #81 Russ Weiler395
5. #3 Jeff Weinfurter374
6. #17 Eric Wisz361
7. #11 DuWayne Davis 349
8. #94 Dave Cabelka349
9. #97 Pete Kempf346
10. #93 Wayne Mackesy334
CARQUEST Super Stock
1. #80 Tim Plowman 515
2. #28 Larry Schultz 499
3. #43 Kyle Davis 472
4. #1 Tim Hintz458
5. #6 Matt Raykowski425
6. #4 Randy Emmerich413
7. #99 Don Tieman Jr. 368
8. #66 Brendan Klueckman343
9. #74 Bruce Stanley 326
10. #41 Wayne Meyer 300
1-Man Cruiser
1. #6 Randy Meyer 419
2. #04 Travis Zvolena414
3. #21k Nick Klimpke313
4. #02 Pat Dickman312
5. #83 Sam Sudduth284
6. #21k Steve Bores 240
7. #55 Mike Dodson226
8. #99 Nathan Briski204
9. #Z2 Rodney Feltz110
10. #40 Justin Moore 95
4-Cylinder
1. #0 Keith Wirtz202
2. #43 Torey Nitzsche191
3. #64 Robert Dalsky187
4. #19 Steve Hauser185
5. #10 Jason Bell 176
6. #15 Deven Adams 172
7. #45 Erin Schlough170
8. #3Z Kevin Eckes159
9. #15 Doug Adams 154
10. #01 Paul Berg 135
Legend
1. #8 Eric Lokemoen288
2. #01 Elliott Weiler285
3. #44 Josh Schoenick259
4. #81 Russ Weiler207
5. #14x Dan McGiveron203
6. #6 Curt Gnatzig192
7. #36 Mike Bula192
8. #2x Dave Keays153
9. #72 John Burgess 132
10. #13 Tim Brockhouse93
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