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Marshfield Super Speedway
Marshfield, WI, September 20, 2003 - For this first time in the history of the
two-day Fall Spectacular, all the events were completed as scheduled.
Friday night's action included Last Chance events for the Super Late Model to
qualify into the 7th Annual Race of Champions (held Saturday), plus a 40 lap
feature for the drivers that did not qualify. The Super Stocks were also
on hand Friday night with a special 24 lap feature starting 24 cars in memory
of Merle Weinfurter #24. The Legends, 1-Man Cruisers and IMCA Oldtimers
concluded Friday's racing. Saturday's big race was the 100 lap Super
Late Model Race of Champions. Driver's qualified for this race either by
setting fast time or winning the feature at Marshfield, Golden Sands and Dells
speedways, plus three cars from the Friday last chance events. The
Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, 4-Cylinders, Mini-Cups, IMCA Oldtimers and
2-Man Cruisers made up the rest of Saturday night's program.
Charlie Menard was fast timer of the Super Lates Saturday night and rolled a
five with the dice, determining that there would be a 15-car invert for the
start of the 7th Annual 100 lap Race of Champions. Terry Baldry started
on the pole with Erik Darnell outside. Darnell quickly took the lead
with Baldry running second. Kirby Kurth, Dean LaPointe and Todd
Stapleman rounded out the top five for several laps. Steve Holzhausen,
starting from sixth, began passing cars and was in fourth by lap five.
Darnell, having some mechanical troubles with his car, was forced to give up
the lead and pit on lap six. Darnell never returned. Baldry then
assumed the lead with Holzhausen right behind in second. LaPointe was
racing third, Chris Weinkauf fourth and Kurth fifth. The first caution
flew on lap nine when contact between Joe Krzykowski and Travis Sauter caused
a spin. Neither driver returned to the race. Baldry continued to
lead, but Kurth lost the fifth spot to Todd Stapleman when the race
resumed. Holzhausen passed Baldry for the lead on lap 15, and began to
stretch out the lead. Stapleman had passed Weinkauf for fourth and then
LaPointe for third on lap 19. Rory Melbinger also making a move on lap
19, to take fifth from Weinkauf. Lap 26, defending champion, Mark Eswein
passed Melbinger for fifth. Lap 27 contact between Eswein and LaPointe
caused a spin on the backstretch, both drivers' made awesome recoveries and
the caution didn't come out. LaPointe did lose several spots on the
track, placing him in seventh. Lap 39, Baldry began having car problems
which would force him to pit on lap 48. With Baldry's car slowing,
Stapleman took second, Eswein third, Baldry held fourth for a few laps until
Melbinger and Weinkauf went by him. The next caution came out on lap 45
for the spun car of Keith Bohmsach. When the race restarted, Holzhausen
led, Stapleman second, Eswein third, Melbinger fourth, Weinkauf fifth.
Charlie Menard had worked his way to the front and into fifth for lap
51. The caution flew again for the spun car of Dean LaPointe on lap
56. The decision was then made to allow the cars to refuel on pit road
under caution. All drivers retained their running position on the
track. Weinkauf refueled, but was forced to pit for mechanical problems
and had to restart in the rear. 2003 Marshfield Super Speedway Track
Champion Judd Brandl passed Menard for the fifth spot on the restart.
Lap 64, Menard came back to take fifth from Brandl and then proceeded to take
fourth from Melbinger. Brandl also moved up behind Menard forcing
Melbinger to sixth. Menard passed Eswein for third on lap 77, and then
passed Stapleman for second on lap 79. Eswein passed Stapleman for third
the next lap. Melbinger with some troubles had dropped back and retired
from the race on lap 83. The final caution flew with only seven laps
remaining when LaPointe and Mackesy had contact causing a spin. With
Holzhausen losing the lead he had stretched out after each caution, Menard was
right there to challenge him for the top spot.
As the two raced door-to-door around the 1/2 mile, Menard edged out front for
the lead with only three to go. Menard was able to stay in the front
spot for the win, Holzhausen second, Eswein third, Stapleman fourth and Brandl
fifth.
Friday night, Steve Holzhausen set fast time, qualifying him for Saturday's
Race of Champions. Todd Stapleman won the first Last Chance race and
Keith Bohmsach won the second, qualifying both of them for Saturday.
The 40 lap Super Late Model feature was led by Cale Laessig for the first four
laps, until Frank Nitzke passed him for the lead. Greg Weinfurter
quickly raced to the front from his seventh place start for second.
Laessig raced third until lap nine when Mark Kraus overtook him. Laessig
fell to fourth with Eugene Gregorich Jr. fifth who started last since he
missed qualifying. Gregorich's run seemed strong until lap 11 when he
was forced to pit and didn't return. Jay VanDerGeest then moved up to
fifth. Brian Back was right behind VanDerGeest and both of them passed
Laessig on lap 14. Lap 15, Weinfurter also seeming to have a strong run
was forced to pit. Kraus moved up to second behind Nitzke, Back moved up
to third, VanDerGeest fourth and Rick Grunden fifth. Grunden passed
VanDerGeest for fourth on lap 20. Lap 37, Kraus lost the second spot to
Back. A spin on the white flag lap ended the race with Nitzke winning,
Back second, Kraus third, Grunden fourth and VanDerGeest fifth.
The 25 lap Limited Late Model feature had three caution flags before a lap was
ever completed. Officials were forced to start the race single file just
to get it started. Rocky Carlson led the first two laps. The
yellow was out again on lap two for the spun car of Brandon Feit. When
the race resumed, Paul Block took over the lead. Block, Blake Horstman,
and Derek Dombeck all passed Carlson pushing him back to fourth. Lap
four, Mark Sherfinski took fourth from Carlson. The next lap Sherfinski
passed Dombeck for third. Horstman passed Block for the lead on lap
seven. The caution flew again on lap eight for the spun car of Bo
Bennish. Officials then shortened the race by five laps. Neil
Knoblock, who was scheduled to start 12th as he was the fast timer, was forced
to pit during one of the early caution flags and had to start in the back, was
running strong and into fourth on lap nine. Knoblock passed Sherfinski
and Block for second on lap 12, but was unable to obtain the lead from
Horstman. Horstman won, Knoblock second, Justin Woller also having to
restart from the back third, Block fourth and Sherfinski fifth.
The Merle Weinfurter Memorial 24 lap Super Stock feature was led by Scott
Havlicek for the first three laps. Contact between Kyle Davis and
Brendan Klueckman brought out the first caution on lap two sending both of
them to rear. Andy Simonis took the lead on lap four from Havlicek, but
contact between those two brought out the second yellow. Josh Oleson led
lap five until Cale Laessig took the lead for four laps. Oleson raced
second, Keith Bohmsach third, Tim Plowman fourth and Larry Schultz
fifth. Bohmsach passed Oleson for second and then took the lead from
Laessig. Plowman moved up to the third spot as Brian Weinfurter raced
into the fifth spot. Weinfurter and Schultz battle over the fifth spot,
with Schultz taking it and then fourth from Oleson. Larry Devito's car
blew the engine in turns three and four dropping oil onto the track and
causing a major pile up. Schultz's car and Tim Hintz's car were both
done for the night. Weinfurter passed Oleson for fourth and Jason
Kirsling took fifth from Oleson the next lap. Jim Cormack worked his way
through the field and into fourth, passing Weinfurter and Kirsling.
Weinfurter was able to gain a position back at the finish. Bohmsach won,
Laessig second, Plowman third, Weinfurter fourth and Cormack fifth.
Elliott Weiler grabbed the lead of the Legends feature, and looked for the
win. Dan McGiveron came from the back to the front in quick hurry and
was second on lap two. The first caution flew on lap two for the spun
car of Eric Lokemoen. Lap four the yellow was out again this time for
contact between Phil Bickley and John Burgess. On the restart Weiler
continued to lead, McGiveron second, Curt Gnatzig third, Josh Schoenick fourth
and Russ Weiler fifth. Schoenick and Russ Weiler both passed Gnatzig for
third and fourth. McGiveron began challenging Elliott Weiler for the
lead and took it from him with only two laps to go. McGiveron held on
for his first feature win, Elliott Weiler second, Lokemoen third, Russ Weiler
fourth and Schoenick fifth.
One lap of the 4-Cylinder feature was completed before the first caution flew
for contact between Barry LeBlanc and Erin Schlough. Kevin Teske led for
three laps until Donald Dunow took the lead. Car troubles on lap nine
forced Dunow to relinquish the lead and pit leaving Derek Bettenhausen as the
leader. 2002 and 2003 Marshfield Track Champion Keith Wirtz was running
second and took the lead from Bettenhausen on lap ten. Jason Bell was
running third, Chad Dietsche fourth and Dale Louze fifth. Dietsche
passed Bell for third for one lap with Bell coming back to reclaim the
spot. A couple of cautions flew on lap 15, but Wirtz kept the
lead. Louze and Kevin Eckes moved up into the fourth and fifth
positions. As the cars came around to get the checkered, Bettenhausen
tried too hard to get the lead from Wirtz and spun himself coming out of turn
four. Wirtz won, Bell second, Eckes third, Louze fourth and Dietsche
fifth.
The Mini-Cup feature lap one was led by Chris Hoen. Kyle Kluetz led the
rest of the 15 lap contest. Trevor Raski took second, Nick Krueger
third, Mark Krueger fourth and Randy Braun fifth.
CJ Hedges led the first four laps of the caution free Street Stock
feature. Brendan Klueckman then took the lead until lap15 when Doug
Herbst took over for the win. Klueckman took second, Brian Bartelt
third, Duane Myszka fourth and Joe Monti fifth.
The IMCA Oldtimers were here to race both nights. Friday night's heat
winners were Jerry Sullivan and Gary Stein. George Shields won the open
wheeled feature and Chris Loberg won the full bodied feature. Saturday's
heat winners were Lou Fegers, Mark Peine and Gary Stein. Jerry Sullivan
won the first feature, Skip Pollack won the second, and Bob Barfknecht won the
third.
The 1-Man Cruiser feature was won by Mike Dodson, Rodney Feltz second, Travis
Zvolena third, Sam Sudduth fourth and Matt Curnoyer fifth. Rodney Feltz
won the three race championship, Mike Dodson second and Travis Zvolena third.
The team of Boyer and Clark won the 2-Man Cruiser feature, Hasenohrl and Bauer
second, Sankey and Pionek third. The three race championship was won by
Hasenohrl and Bauer. Second went to Boyer and Clark and third was Sankey
and Pionek.
The 4-Cylinder semi-feature advanced the top four to the feature. Kevin
Eckes won, Rob Barthen second, Adam Krzykowski third and Keith Kemnetz fourth.
The Super Stock semi-feature transferred four cars to the feature. Kevin
Charles was the winner, Mark Brunner second, Harry Myer third, Larry Devito
fourth.
The winners of the Wal-Mart bicycles were Marshall Mueller of Marshfield on
Friday and Heather Doring of Marshfield on Saturday.
Thanks to all the drivers, pit crews, fans and sponsors for all their support
during the 2003 season. Join us next season for more Saturday night
racing. Marshfield Super Speedway is located 3.5 miles West of
Marshfield on County Trunk H.
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