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Schoffen Dominates Mid-American Feature At Lake Geneva Raceway
by Keith Vercauteren
(Lake Geneva, WI) June 17, 2006 -- Sonny Schoffen of Crystal Lake, IL used a
borrowed car and home track experience to win the Lynch GM Superstore 40-lap
Mid-American Stock Car Series feature at Lake Geneva Raceway Saturday
night. Schoffen, a weekly competitor in the limited late model division
and a former super stock champion at the track, drove the Mid-Am machine which
Kenny Joosten claimed the track championship with in 2005.
Several competitors saw their chances for victory eliminated in an opening lap
crash, which brought out a red flag. As the pack headed through turn
two, Danny Powell spun and collected the cars of Josh Higgins, John Fischer,
Jim Thorson, Ken Smart, Scott Null and James Swan. Powell, Higgins,
Fischer and Thorson were unable to continue. Swan, the evening's fastest
qualifier and a pre-race favorite, headed to the pits to make hasty repairs to
his damaged mount. Coming back out just in time for the green flag, Swan
had to start in the back of the pack.
When the race was finally underway, Gary Norton jumped from the inside of the
front row to lead the opening laps with Lyle Nowak following in second.
By lap 2, Schoffen had charged from a sixth place starting spot to dive under
Nowak for second. Schoffen began to challenge Norton on lap 7 and
scooted into the lead on the following circuit.
Schoffen instantly built up a big lead as George Schultz moved into third on
lap 10. 16-year old rookie driver Maxwell Schultz then spun in turn four
on lap 11, bringing out the caution. After the restart
George Schultz, charged into second on lap 13 while Bobby Gutknecht followed
through into the third position.
With Schoffen pulling away from the field again, Gutknecht began to challenge
Schultz for the second spot, but was unable to make the pass stick. On
lap 23, a fire was noticed underneath the hood of a Clifford Adee's car and a
caution flag flew to get the car into the pits safely.
On the restart, Schoffen jumped ahead to a comfortable lead, with Schultz and
Gutknecht still battling for second. Swan, meanwhile had charged
through the pack, moving into sixth on lap 29 and up to fifth on lap 32.
Schoffen held a straightaway lead over Schultz and Gutknecht at the
finish. Jeremy Spoonmore finished fourth, with Swan and Nowak rounding
out the top six.
"It was honor to race with these guys in the Mid-American Series,"
Schoffen said after his win. "I wish I could get my late model to
run like this!"
10-lap heat races were won by Maxwell Schultz, Jim Thorson and Danny
Powell. Dave Obermeyer was the winner of 15-lap qualifying
race. James Swan ran the quickest lap in qualifying, touring the 1/3
mile oval with a time of 17.350 seconds.
Next weekend features a doubleheader for the Mid-American Stock Car Series, as
they head to Madison International Speedway on Friday, June 23rd and then to
141 Speedway on Saturday, June 24th. For more information see the
series website at www.midamericanracing.com
40-Lap Feature: 1. Sonny Schoffen (Island Lake, IL) 2. George Schultz
(Bristol, WI) 3. Bobby Gutknecht (Oak Creek, WI) 4. Jeremy Spoonmore
(Somonauk, IL) 5. James Swan (Lake Geneva, WI) 6. Lyle Nowak (Wausau, WI) 7.
Eric Pierce (Lake in the Hills, IL) 8. Jake Finney (Sycamore, IL) 9. Ken Smart
(Oconomowoc, WI) 10. Ryan Finley (Shabbona, IL) 11. Gary Norton
(Hebron, IL) 12. John Fiorita (Bartlett, IL) 13. Scott Null (Lake Mills, WI)
14. Dave Obermeyer (Allenton, WI) 15. Cliff Adee (Gilberts, IL) 16. Maxwell
Schultz (Reedsville, WI) 17. Jim Thorson (Sugar Grove, IL) 18. Danny Powell
(Polo, IL) 19. John Fischer (Burlington, WI) 20. Josh Higgins
Last Chance: 1. Obermeyer 2. Thorson 3. M. Schultz 4. Foirita 5. Fred
Boal 6. Tony Habeck 7. Hank Tews 8. Greg Marks 9. Jack Clark 10. Andrew Kulka
11. Elliot Marquardt
Heat 1: 1. M. Schultz 2. Obermeyer 3. Marquardt 4. Boal 5. Kulka
6. Tews 7. Marks 8. Clark 9. Habeck
Heat 2: 1. Thorson 2. Higgins 3. Null 4. Finney 5. Finley 6. Nowak 7.
Foirita 8. Norton 9. Fischer
Heat 3: 1. Powell 2. Spoonmore 3. Schoffen 4. Smart 5. Swan 6. Pierce
7. G. Schultz 8. Adee 9. Gutknecht
JUNE 17, 2006 POINT STANDINGS
Pos. Car # Driver
Hometown Total
1. 44 George Schultz, Bristol, WI 499
97 James Swan, Lake Geneva, WI
499
3. 32 Lyle Nowak, Wausau, WI 452
4. 28 Jake Finney ®, Sycamore, IL 412
5. 62 Scott Null, Lake Mills, WI 408
6. 10 Bobby Gutknecht, Oak Creek, WI 397
7. 99 Jim Thorson, Sugar Grove, IL 359
8. O7 Ron Weyer, Richfield, WI 312
9. 22 Jeremy Spoonmore, Somonauk, IL 308
10. 76 Greg Marks, Maribel, WI 302
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