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Gregorich Takes Feature Win & Points Lead
By: Brian Back
This evening was John Bell Memorial race night. John’s son, Johnny Bell,
brought out his dad’s vintage race car for display and for the National
Anthem parade lap. Several of other vintage cars also attended in honor of
John Bell.
Jason Weinkauf of Merrill set the quickest CarQuest super late model time of
the night. Matt Pyburn took another CarQuest super stock fast time. Jeremiah
Strauss took the 4-cylinder quick time. Travis Paul was the 1-man cruiser
quick timer and Gary Haarklau was fastest in the pure stocks.
The CarQuest super late model feature saw Darek Gress charge into turn one
with a one car length lead over John Froehlich. Dean LaPointe followed suit,
using the inside to pass Froehlich exiting turn four of lap two. Cal Laessig
was next to challenge, diving deep into turn three to pull even with Froelich.
Slightly deeper in the field, point leader Chris Weinkauf sliced through the
middle of Ben Pettis and Don Turner taking the seventh position down the back
stretch on lap four. Contact between the battling cars of Laessig and Froelich
stacked the field in the middle of turn three, bringing out the caution and
sending the pair to the rear of the field. Darek Gress showed experience
beyond his years, jumping to a two car length lead on the restart as the field
entered turn one. Chris Weinkauf and Eugene Gregorich Jr. wasted little time,
passing LaPointe for the second and third positions by lap five. Gregorich
then set his sites to th ehigh side of Chris Weinkauf, with fast qualifier
Jason Weinkauf on his back bumper. Gregorich charged into second off of turn
two on lap six, and dove below Gress three laps later overtaking the top spot.
Jason Weinkauf followed Gregorich’s tire tracks, taking over second on lap
ten. Chris Weinkauf closed in on Gress one lap later, with Jay VanDerGeest in
tow. Gress battled valiantly on the high line for three laps before slipping
to the fifth spot. VanDerGeest was quick to challenge Chris Weinkauf, diving
to his inside and pulling even with nine laps to go. The pair would battle
side by side for many laps, exchanging positions multiple times during the
challenge. Chris Weinkauf’s persistence would payoff as he took control with
two laps to go. Gress would receive one last challenge as Pettis looked to his
inside with two to go. Pettis took the fifth position as they took the white,
as Gress slid up a groove on the final circuit. Gregorich cruised to another
feature win, with brothers Jason and Chris Weinakuf finishing second and
third, VanDerGeest fourth and Pettis rounded out the top five.
The CarQuest super stock feature was led on lap one by Luke Bravener, as he
overtook pole sitter Scott Simons on the high line. Randy Emmerich followed,
over taking the lead from Bravener on lap later. Wes Coon and Brian Weinfurter
wasted little time driving to the front, passing to third and fourth place by
lap three from deep in the field. Two laps later, they overtook Chad Scholl
and set their sites on the leader. Andy Simonis showed his championship
abilities by followeing the duo by Scholl to take over fourth. Weinfurter
maneuvered past Coon on lap seven, then Emmerich on lap nine, inheriting the
lead in the process. Coon and Simonis followed, taking over second and third
from Emmerich. Emmerich retired to the pit area, unable to finish the event.
Yellow flew on lap 15 for debris on the speedway, while Scholl retired to the
pit area with mechanical problems. The race resumed for a short period, only
to return to caution two laps later. Larry Schultz violently rolled down the
backstretch, destroying his car. Schultz retired to the pits and Travis
Zvolena went to the rear. As they retook the green, Coon booked to the inside
of Weinfurter entering turn one. Weinfurter fended off the challenge, powering
to a one car length advantage off of turn two. Simonis attempted to take
second from Coon on the high line before caution flew on the white flag lap.
Jon Ashcraft spun netting Weinfurter the victory, followed by Coon, Simonis,
Randy Meyer, and Marv Flick.
Clinton Metzler led Erin Schlough by one-half car length entering turn one at
the start of the 4-cylinder feature. Ron Sischo looked inside of Metzler
exiting turn two, but wisely backed out. Four wide racing insued as Sischo,
Ricky Brandl, Derk Hauser, and Steve Hauser entered turn three, with Steve
Hauser nearly spinning entering turn four. Steve Stewart capitalized, gaining
many positions as the field sorted out. Stewart moved low of Brandl entering
turn three, taking over fifth on lap three. Derk Hauser made an impressive
three wide move, taking the lead to the inside of Schlough on lap five with
Stewart following him into second place. JJ Flick took advantage of the hole
made by Stewart, passing Steve Hauser and Schlough on the inside, taking over
the third position on lap six. He then drove three wide on the inside of the
battling Derk Hauser and Stewart to take the point on lap seven. Jeremiah
Strauss and Kyle Opelt steadily moved forward, passing inside of Dan McGiveron
on lap six. Laps later, Strauss passed his way to second place as Opelt took
third during a three wide pass of the battling Stewart and Derk Hauser.
Stewart’s car slid sideways during the pass, but he regained his composure
to take over fourth. The caution flew on lap ten for a spun car in turn two.
Flick was immediately challenged on the restart as Strauss charged low
entering turn one. He completed the pass one lap later with Opelt in tow. As
Opelt cleared Flick, he moved high in an effort to take the top spot. Flick
regained his composure, closing on the lead pair and looking to the inside.
Opelt inched up on Strauss, with the pair taking the checkered neck and neck.
Opelt squeeked past for the victory, with Strauss, Flick, Stewart, and Don
Dunow filling the top five.
Kyle Rasmussen set the pace early in the 1-man cruiser/junkyard warrior
feature, stretching a three car length lead on lap one. Second place quickly
became a three wide battle between Ryan VanDerLeest, Wayne Dietz, and Travis
Paul. VanDerLeest held off the challenge, retaining the second spot as they
completed lap one with Dietz to his low side. Dave Knauf closed in on
VanDerLeest and Dietz one lap later, and made a daring three wide pass to the
high side of the pair. Dietz complted his pass of VanDerLeest shortly
thereafter, taking control of third place. Caution flew on lap three as
Paul’s engine expired entering turn three. Knauf continued his march to the
front, as he passed Rasmussen on the high side entering turn one on lap five.
Dietz’s handling then began to fade, allowing Rasmussen to stretch the
distance between them. The field began to separate, with Knauf cruising to the
victory by 20 car lengths. Rasmussen, Dietz, VanDerLeest, and Sam Sudduth
rounded out the top five.
Skylar Domine and Jeff Behrens led the pure stock feature to the green with
Domine taking the top spot on lap one. Gary Haarklau followed Domine by
Behrens, passing for second place on the inside. Kyle Genett wasted no time
passing Coletta Gomes, Chad Simone, and Ron Kundinger by lap two. Haarklau was
also on the move, taking the lead over Domine with an inside pass early. Lap
three saw Tom Podratz suffer an overheating problem, forcing him to the pit
area. Genett began a charge to the front, sliding past Behrens as he entered
turn one on lap three. One lap later, he flew past Domine for second and began
to chase Haarklau. Behrens followed Genett on the high line, passing domine
for third with Simone on his bumper. Simone then raced to the high side of
Behrens entering turn one on lap seven, taking the third spot on lap nine.
Genett desperately tried to catch Haarkalu, but could only close the gap half
way by the finish. Haarklau held on for the victory with Genett, Simone,
Behrens, and Domine rounding out the top five.
The vintage cars exhibition race was won by Darrel Bassuener. Chris Loberg
chased down Bassuener, but ran out of time to take the lead and settled for
second. Mark May finished up in third.
Next Saturday, September 9th is the Quality Roofing Season Championship and
the Pace Car Giveaway. Be here for your chance to drive home the 2006 Red
Dodge Charge Pace Car, you can still enter the night of the drawing. There
will be a winner! Thanks to the sponsors of the 2006 pace car giveaway:
V&H, WDEZ 101.9FM, Abby Gas Service, Subway, CarQuest, Burt Trophy &
Awards, Craft’s Trading Center, and Rainbow Casino.
Racing includes: CarQuest super late models, CarQuest super stocks,
motorcycles, 1-man cruisers, junkyard warriors and pure stocks. Pit gate
opens at 3:30, grandstand gates open at 5:00, Miller Lite time trials at 5:30
and racing starts at 7:00. Rain date Sunday two hours earlier.
Adult grandstand admission 16 yrs and older $10.00, students 10-15 yrs old
$5.00, kids 9 yrs and younger are free. Family ticket $25.00 (includes
two adult tickets and unlimited student tickets).
Marshfield Super Speedway is located 3.5 miles west of Marshfield, WI on
County Hwy H. Home of Saturday night stock car racing since 1977.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, September 16th Wisconsin Challenge Series Championship
Friday, September 22nd Fall Spectacular
Saturday, September 23rd Fall Spectacular
Saturday, September 30th Eve of Destruction
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