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Piecko Wins Thunder Roadster Feature At The Mile, Piecko Sr. That Is
By John Wiedemann – www.racingwisconsin.com
Milwaukee – July 12, 2006 – With a hiatus on the Summer Shootout horizon,
the action was fast and furious at the Milwaukee Mile on Wednesday
night. There were more spins, cautions and racing incidents than usual
but the fans loved the action on the track. While two winning streaks
continued, the longest one of the series was broken.
The Thunder Roadster series only had two cars racing this week.
Normally, the thought of two cars in a race doesn’t generate a lot of
excitement but, Mike Piecko, Jr. and Sr. race hard every time they hit the
track, including practice. Mike Sr. took the lead in the feature with
Mike Jr. glued to his rear bumper. The father and son racers were never
separated by more than a car length for the entire race. Mike Jr. tried
in vain to make a move on his father but could not pull off the pass.
The streak of eleven feature wins in a row that Mike Jr. had going was broken
as Mike Sr. crossed the finish line first.
“I gotta give it to my kid,” exclaimed a jubilant Piecko, Sr. “he
did a helluva job. But, the old man finally did it.”
Piecko, Jr. wasn’t too upset about the ending of his streak. “Losing was
never so much fun. I had a huge smile on my face when I pulled into the
pits. That was a blast,” he said.
Dave Townsend started on the outside of the front row in the Allison Legacy
feature but was not content to run there for very long. Townsend worked
on a number of lines trying to pass newcomer Scott McGinnis. Near the
midpoint of the race the opportunity for the lead presented itself when
McGinnis pushed wide coming out of the fourth turn. Townsend dropped low
and pulled off the pass. From there, Townsend stretched his lead leaving
Townsend to battle Nick Beinlich for the second spot. The win started
off what would be a good night for the Townsend family. McGinnis held on
to the second spot followed by Beinlich and Dwight Dunlap.
The Bandolero division had a number of possible story lines leading up to the
feature race. Would Alex Arelano continue his hot streak? Would
Kyle Jusits return to victory lane? How about strong running Blake
Brown, or could this be a huge birthday present for Jesse Bernhagen? All
four drivers had a shot at the win but, the odds would belong to Arelano after
two strong wins in the heat races.
Starting on the pole position may have been the key to the feature race for
Arelano. At the drop of the flag Arelano held the lead with the rest of
the field fighting for position. Jusits moved into the second spot on
the first lap when Brown fell back a number of positions coming out of the
second turn. Brown worked his way up to the fouth spot, following
Bernhagen but, the battle was at the front of the pack as Jusits chased down
Arelano.
With the white flag in the air, Jusits had made his way to Arelano’s rear
bumper. Then coming out of the fourth turn, Jusits made his move under
Arelano. But the tires wouldn’t hold traction and Jusits found himself
running off the track while trying not to spin the car. As Arelano
crossed the finish line, Jusits muscled his car back on the track and managed
to maintain the second position. Bernhagen finished in the third spot
followed by Brown and Adam Rawski.
Michael Bilderback started on the pole of the Legends feature but, the action
took place behind him on the track. A battle for the second position
that started with the drop of the green flag between Curt Gnatzig and Ryan
Miles ended a few laps later when the two got together racing through turn
one. The accident left Gnatzig with suspension damage and forced him out
of the race. Miles dropped to the back of the pack but, “Flying
Ryan” would not stay there long.
On the restart, Zane Townsend found himself in the third position and quickly
worked his way past Eric Barth to take over second place. In the
meantime, Miles was passing a car per lap and with two laps to go, passed
Townsend to take the second spot for himself. By then, Bilderback had a
huge lead and cruised his way to the finish. Miles held on to second and
Townsend scored his best finish of the series in third. Dirt racers,
Eric Barth and Herman Greinig, rounded out the top five.
Summer Shootout racing returns to the Milwaukee Mile on Wednesday, August
16th, with the Allison Legacy, Thunder Roadster, Bandolero and Legend
cars. Practice starts at 5:00pm with racing starting at 6:00pm.
Admission into the grandstands for the 2006 Summer Shootout series is free for
all spectators.
RESULTS
ALLISON LEGACY
Heat: Scott McGinnis, Dave Townsend, Dwight Dunlap, Nick Beinlich
Feature: Dave Townsend, Scott McGinnis, Nick Beinlich, Dwight Dunlap
BANDOLEROS
Heat 1: Alex Arelano, Kyle Jusits, Blake Brown, Adam Rawski, Aaron Moyer,
Jesse Bernhagen, Kyle Piecko, Caylie Duncanson, Brandon Heisler, Cristy
Cootware, Cory Cootware
Heat 2: Alex Arelano, Aaron Moyer, Blake Brown, Jesse Bernhagen, Kyle Piecko,
Kyle Jusits, Caylie Duncanson, Adam Rawski, Cory Cootware, Cristy Cootware,
Brandon Heisler
Feature: Alex Arelano, Kyle Jusits, Jesse Bernhagen, Blake Brown, Adam Rawski,
Kyle Piecko, Caylie Duncanson, Brandon Heisler, Aaron Moyer, Cory Cootware,
Cristy Cootware
THUNDER ROADSTERS
Heat: Mike Piecko, Jr., Mike Piecko, Sr.
Feature: Mike Piecko, Sr., Mike Piecko, Jr.
LEGENDS
Heat 1: Michael Bilderback, Curt Gnatzig, Ryan Miles, Zane Townsend, Eric
Barth, Herman Greinig, Cody Townsend, Lyle Kuklinski, Ric Mattie
Heat 2: Michael Bilderback, Ryan Miles, Curt Gnatzig, Zane Townsend, Eric
Barth, Cody Townsend, Herman Greinig, Lyle Kuklinski (dns), Ric Mattie (dns)
Feature: Michael Bilderback, Ryan Miles, Zane Townsend, Eric Barth, Herman
Greinig, Cody Townsend, Ric Mattie, Curt Gnatzig, Lyle Kuklinski (dns)
For full coverage of the Summer Shootout Series, visit www.racingwisconsin.com/summershootout
For ticket information and details on the all the exciting events at The
Milwaukee Mile, visit www.milwaukeemile.com.
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