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Carlson Battles To Checkers At Powercom Speedzone
By: Cresta Buss
June 17, 2003
The 4th week of racing at Powercom Speedzone in Oshkosh, WI couldn’t keep
anybody away for the first Late Model Special of the season. The weather
was perfect, the food was cooking, prizes were given away and the stands were
packed tight with race fans for a night of excellent racing.
UMP WISSOTA Late Models were the special of the night and the fans turned out
to see their favorite Late Model driver take the checkered flag. Chris
Carlson of Greenfield, WI proved that he was there to do business as he took
the checkered flag but not as easy as he hoped it would be. As the green
flag dropped, Carlson was leading with “Mr. Excitement” himself, Terry
Casey chasing right behind. On lap 3, Randy Markwardt almost lost it
coming out of turn 4 down the front stretch but held on only to lose it in
turn 2 causing the first caution of the race. After he turned himself
into the correct position and racing resumed, Carlson and Casey battled it out
again with Casey being the victor this time by just a hair. Pete Parker,
out of Kaukauna, WI, decided that he wanted a piece of the action and put up a
challenge with Carlson and Casey on lap 5. Carlson wasn’t about to
relinquish his first place position though and Parker settled for second
during that battle. On lap 6, Casey lost his line and went high into the
loose dirt and fell to third. The middle of the race proved to be the
most exciting when Terry Casey and Pete Parker stole the show and decided to
duke it out through the race with Carlson watching behind in third.
After another caution for debris on the track, it was once again the Parker
and Casey show until Carlson got restless and decided to make his move.
Lap 16 proved to be the lap that Carlson needed to take his first place
position back as Casey and Parker continued to battle it out with Casey
falling to fourth with another lost line. As the race was coming to a
close, Parker and Carlson put on a show with Parker trying to squeeze out the
young driver but couldn’t quite hang on as the two crossed the line almost
side by side. It was an exciting battle as most cars in the back watched
“The Veteran” (Parker), “Mr. Excitement” and “The Young Gun”
(Carlson) drive as if it was the last race of the season. The top five
cars taking the checkered were Chris Carlson, Pete Parker, Brett Sievert, M.J.
Hintz, and Terry Casey rounding out fifth.
The Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson/Buell Modifieds A-Main proved to be just
as eventful and those watching got some extra special excitement. On the
first lap of the race, John Schultz spun going into turn 2 causing Jared
Seifert and Mark Pownell to get tangled. Both would leave the race and
would not return. After the caution, Dan Ratajczak took the lead but
didn’t get to keep his lead very long as Tim Lemirande spun and backed into
the wall causing another caution. As the race resumed once again,
Ratajczak and Andy Voigt battled for first with Brad Roloff watching and
wanting a piece of the action. The race didn’t get to run long as a
tangle in the back caused Brian Drexler to see much more of the dirt than he
ever expected in the drivers seat of a race car as he landed on his
roof. Drexler was ok but would not return to the race and either would
Ryan Besaw who was also involved in the tangled mess. After everyone got
situated and the race started once again, Jay Schraufnagel was on the move and
decided that he too would like to be in the front and lead the race so he
battled it out with Ratajczak and Voigt for the first position on lap 6.
As Schraufnagel took the lead on lap 8, he started to pull away from the pack
and would maintain his lead throughout the rest of the race. As
Schraufnagel cruised on, Voigt and Ratajczak continued to hammer each other
and take second and third, respectively on lap 15. Travis Spaulding and
Mike Hansel also proved they were ready to race as they chased down Brad
Rohloff. It was a close finish as the race ended with Jay Schraufnagel
taking the checkered flag for the third time this season at the Powercom
Speedzone. Andy Voigt placed second, Dan Ratajczak ended third,
and Travis Spaulding and Mike Hansel took the fourth and fifth place
positions.
In the American Auto Stocks division, Richard Amundson Jr. led things off by
taking the lead with Shawn Haydon and Doug Brabant falling into second and
third. There was some superb driving being displayed during the evening
when Dan Wirl spun on the front stretch and nearly lost the front of his car,
when the back of the pack was roaring towards him. He was missed by
inches and the race continued without a caution being thrown. As the
race continued, Haydon continued to pressure Amundson for the lead and
didn’t let up and succeeded on the backstretch during lap 10. As more
heated battles continued behind the leaders, Shawn Frelich and Trevor Schmidt
had there own battle going and decided to make a move for the lead. There was
a lot of excitement in the middle of the race with much side by side racing
taking place. Schmidt and Averkamp raced together for second and third
while just behind, Frelich and Amundson were side by side for fourth and
fifth. Schmidt, however, decided that it was time to take the lead and
on lap 15 but couldn’t quite hold on to it as Dale Averkamp started to drive
to victory. As Dale Averkamp widened his lead, Schmidt and Haydon put on
the heat but couldn’t catch up and placed second and third
respectively. Rounding out the field was Frelich in fourth and Dave
Averkamp in fifth.
The final A-Main of the evening was the Golf Central/Wingers/Jurassic Valley
Dirt Devils. Jasper Drengler found himself in familiar territory as he
took the lead to start the race. Chris Cottrell decided that he should
be there so he and Drengler battled it out for first after just a couple of
laps into the race. The battle for first continued between Drengler and
Cottrell as the rest of the field fell into place for much of the race and
found themselves driving around the track without much of a contest. As
the final laps drew near, Mike Mueller stepped on the gas and took over third
position after Aaron Stolp and Jon Schultz banged on each other. In the
final lap of the race, Chris Cottrell drove to victory with Jasper Drengler
finding the outside loose dirt and finishing second. Mike Mueller
maintained his third place position with Dustin Schwandt taking fourth and
William Angermeyer rounding out the field in the fifth position.
As more and more fans continue to pack the stands at the Powercom Speedzone,
many just can’t get enough of the action packed excitement. Some of
the specials coming the Powercom Speedzone in Oshkosh, WI might just help
satisfy the craving that those fans have for racing. On Saturday, July
5th, 2003, there will be a special featuring INEX Legends. There will
also be Modifieds, Stocks, Grand Nationals and Dirt Devils along with a
spectacular show of Fireworks to round out the Fourth of July Weekend.
Also, on July 9th, 2003, the World of Outlaws will be putting on a show at the
Raceway@Powercom Park in Beaver Dam, WI. For more information on these
upcoming specials, please logon to www.wismotorsports.com/home.shtml or stop
by the Powercom Speedzone in Oshkosh, WI or the Raceway@Powercom Park in
Beaver Dam, WI during any regular night of racing.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS:
UMP WISSOTA Late Models
A-Main (1-12) – Chris Carlson, Pete Parker, Brett Sievert, M.J. Hintz, Terry
Casey, Luke Roffers, Jeremy Hedrick, Greg Dhein, James Letizia, Turk Letizia,
Randy Markwardt, Lonnie Hoeft
Heat 1 – Chris Carlson, Heat 2 – Pete Parker
Suburban Motors Harley-Davidson/Buell Modifieds
A-Main (1-10) – Jay Schraufnagel, Andy Voigt, Dan Ratajczak, Travis
Spaulding, Mike Hansel, Brad Rohloff, Scott Lewis, Victor Duket, Chris Engels,
Benjamin Brinkman
B-Main 1 – Steve Kloehn B-Main 2 –
Larry Walter Jr.
Heat 1 – Brian Drexler, Heat 2 – John Schultz, Heat 3 – Brad Rohloff,
Heat 4 – Jay Schraufnagel
American Auto Sales Stocks
A-Main (1-10) – Dale Averkamp, Trevor Schmidt, Shawn Haydon, Shawn Frelich,
Dave Averkamp, Frank Foremiller, Jerry Kope, Rich Garb, Jeff Jahnke, Richard
Amundson Jr.
B-Main 1 – Pat Tanner
Heat 1 – Trevor Schmidt, Heat 2 – Dale Averkamp, Heat 3 – Frank
Foremiller
Golf Central/Wingers/Jurassic Valley Dirt Devils
A-Main (1- 10) – Chris Cottrell, Jasper Drengler, Mike Mueller, Dustin
Schwandt, William Angermeyer, Aaron Stolp, Jon Schultz, Amanda Rangeloff,
Loren Rangeloff, Kurt Hoge
Heat 1 – Jasper Drengler
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