LaCrosse Gets The Good Stuff In NAPA Night Mod Feature Win At The Hill
Saturday, July 10, 2004
By Dan Lewis

(Thunderhill Raceway - Sturgeon Bay, WI)  NE Wisconsin’s weather finally cooperated on Saturday for  perfect weather for a night out at the races at Thunderhill Raceway.  Track personnel were able to put together a completed program for the sixth week in a row.  Patience was the key for most winners as the lineups proved challenging for the feature racers.  In the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, the fast track conditions led to some great racing as Luxemburg’s Benji LaCrosse came away with his third 20-lap feature win of the season.  Former track champion Craig Paque, Algoma, won his first T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car feature of the year.  AmericInn Street Stock Jeremy Wiitala won his third main in the past four weeks and Sport Four Chad Williams came away with the feature victory.  NAPA Auto Parts was the night’s sponsor and provided a great pre-race parade of their local sponsored drivers.

In the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, front row starter Tony Herbst had handling problems on the opening circuit, which started a night of cautions and restarts.  Heat race winner Scott Derenne paced the field through the tough early laps of the main.  Multiple car spins took it’s toll on rookie James Tebon, Doug Maurer, Dean Maurer, Jared Siefert and Jay Matthias.  After surviving several 
cautions, Billy LeMieux took control of the race with second year driver Benji LaCrosse in hot pursuit.  Local veteran George Henkel charged to the front along with Jeremy Jacobs, Dan Ratajczak and Todd Dart.  LeMieux had up to a five-car lead when he smoked a motor, handing LaCrosse the lead with only six laps to go.  LaCrosse held off the battling Henkel, Jacobs and Dart, taking the 20-lap checkers with Dart on his back bumper.  Jacobs finished third with consi winner Sean Jerovetz and Henkel rounding out the top-five.  Heat winners were Scott Derenne, Matthias and Chris Derenne.

T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car Tony Bouche wrestled the early race lead away from Shawn Havel at the start of the 22-car main event.  The persistent Havel looked good, and even snatched the lead away from Bouche on lap six of the 18-lap event. But it was a patient Craig Paque that came up and fought his way to the inside of Havel and took the lead away at mid-race.  Paque, Algoma, was challenged by some heavy hitters in the last half of the race, including last year’s Stock car champ Shawn Kilgore and 2003 Street Stock champ Troy Muench.   Paque took home his first 2004 feature win at the with Kilgore having to settle for the runner-up spot for a second consecutive week.  Muench finished third, his third top-three finish for his rookie season.  Jeff Vlies and Bernie Reinhardt finished fourth and fifth.  Heat winners for the night included Tony Bouche for the fourth straight week, Larry Ingebretsen and Tracy Koontz.

In the May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature event, Roger LaViolette took off from his front row starting spot with Brandon Peterson and Carl Laughlin in tow.  LaViolette looked to be the man to beat while Peterson had his hands full with Marcus Moede for the runnerup spot.  Peterson then took charge, passing LaViolette on the seventh lap.  Peterson also had to hold off a consistent Tom Brumlic for the lead and the win.  At the stripe, it was Sturgeon Bay’s Brandon Peterson winning his first feature event followed by Keith Kickbusch and Ed Anschutz.  Dave DeGrave and Tom Brumlic rounded out the top-five finishers.  Brumlic and Anschutz won earlier heat events.

AmericInn Street Stock Jeremy Wiitala, of Green Bay, celebrated his third feature win of the season on Saturday night.  Wiitala again was able to hook the outside groove and moved his way to the front and catch early race leaders John Sternard and Todd Polster.  Von Eytcheson came up from his sixth-row start to pass Polster and Sternard, taking it three wide in the battle for second.  Eytcheson eventually was able to challenge Wiitala for the win, but could not make the pass before the checkers fell.  Polster was held on to take third with Scott Reinhardt and Kevin Damrow right behind.  Earlier heat winners were Eytcheson, Wiitala, and King.

In the Sport 4 division, Brussels’ Chad Williams won his third feature of the season, passing D.J. Jorgenson and holding off Ken Malcore for the win.  Points leader James VanDenBogart won the heat race.

Budweiser IMCA Modified, T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car, May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock, AmericInn Street Stock divisions along with the Sport-4 class compete weekly on Saturday nights, with competition getting underway at 6 p.m.

Next week’s event is the Coca-Cola /Big Wheel Night at Thunderhill Raceway!

A special night of racing has been slated for Wednesday night, August 11 when the Forest County Potawatomi-sponsored 2nd Annual Dirt Late Model ShootOut opens the Door County Fair.   Thunderhill Raceway is located at John Miles Park, the site of the Door County Fairgrounds, just off Highways 42/57, and west on County Trunk T.   For more information call 920-743-7052 or 920-746-0387, the track phone number.   The track’s website is www.racethunderhill.com. 

RACE SUMMARY
 
 20 lap Budweiser IMCA Modified Feature - Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg; Todd 
Dart, Algoma; Jeremy Jacobs, Algoma; Sean Jerovetz, Suamico; George Henkel, 
Sturgeon Bay; Chris Derenne, Luxemburg; Randy LeMieux Jr., Sturgeon Bay; Tim 
VanDeHei, Green Bay; Kevin Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; Dan Ratajczak, Frog Station.
 12 lap semi-feature - Jerovetz; Randy LeMieux Jr., Jacobs; Dean Maurer, 
Green Bay; David Charles, Oneida.
 10 lap heats 1)Scott Derenne, Luxemburg; Billy LeMieux; 2)Jay Matthias, 
Luxemburg; Kevin Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; 3)Chris Derenne; Tony Herbst, Sturgeon 
Bay.

 18 lap T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car feature - Craig Paque, Algoma; Shawn 
Kilgore, Kewaunee; Troy Muench, Green Bay; Jeff Vlies, Brussels; Bernie 
Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Dave Bouche, Algoma; B.J. Soquet, Green Bay; Tony Bouche, 
Algoma; Ryan LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay; Larry Ingebretsen, Luxemburg.
 10 lap heats - 1)Tony Bouche; Kilgore; 2)Ingebretsen; Havel; 3)Tracy Koontz, 
Brussels; Ryan LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay.

 15 lap May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature - Brandon Peterson, 
Sturgeon Bay; Keith Kickbush, Kewaunee; Ed Anschutz, Algoma; Dave DeGrave, 
Luxemburg; Tom Brumlic, Denmark; Roger LaViolette, Sturgeon Bay; Marcus Moede, Casco; 
Joe Hegnet, Sturgeon Bay; Evan Madden, Algoma; Maynard Hegnet, Sturgeon Bay.
 10 lap heats 1) Brumlic; LaViolette; 2) Anschutz; Maynard Hegnet, Sturgeon 
Bay.

 15 lap AmericInn Street Stock feature - Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay; Von 
Eytcheson, Forestville; Todd Polster, Baileys Harbor; Scott Reinhardt, Sturgeon 
Bay; Kevin Damrow, Manitowoc; Aaron Thornton, Maplewood; James Anderson, Sturgeon 
Bay; Scott Iverson, Sturgeon Bay; John Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; James Iverson, 
Sturgeon Bay.   
 10 lap heats 1)Eytcheson; Scott Iverson; 2)Wiitala; Faron Beilke, Oneida; 
3)Mike King Jr., Little Chute; Thornton.

 10 lap Sport Four feature - Chad Williams, Brussels; Ken Malcore, Algoma; 
D.J. Jorgenson, Oneida; Gene Sternard, New Franken; Tim Jorgenson, Oneida.
 8 lap heat - James VanDenBogart; Green Bay, Malcore.

'04 THUNDERHILL RACEWAY POINTS - 7/10/04
            
Budweiser 
IMCA MODIFIEDS      Point
Rank    Car#    Name    Total
1   90  Jeremy  Jacobs  303
2   54  Benji   LaCrosse    302
3   37  Sean    Jerovetz    284
4   3d  Todd    Dart    282
5   73  Dan Ratajczak   277
6   66  Jared   Siefert 272
7   19  George  Henkel  270
8   18  Randy   LeMieux Jr. 267
9    8m Jay Matthias    256
10  22c Mike    Cole    242
11  21  James   Tebon   240
12   4T Tim VanDeHei    235
13  2   Darrell Massart 234
14  76  Kevin   Sternard    217
15  10  Chris   Derenne 214
16  3L  Bill    LeMieux 206
17  38  Randie  Back    197
18  43  Tony    Herbst  195
19  22L Doug    Maurer  181
20  8J  Rick    Johnson 164
21  98  Scott   Derenne 161
22  34  Jerry   Wenzel  143
23  13  Jeff    Dubois  132
24  O7  Scott   Boyea   128
25  OOL Rick    LeMieux 122
26  84  Dave    Zeitler 106
27  OOrm    R.M.    VanPay  102
28  32  Lucas   Engels  76
29  36  Clyde   Skenadore   72
30  65  Dean    Maurer  54
31  36d Brian   Dancz   52
32  7   Rob Waechter    31
33  79  David   Charles 29
34  11  Mark    Berglund    22
35  34  Chad    Wilcox  16
36  99  Eric    VanIten 16
37  23  Brian   Baenen  13
38  67  Ronnie  Plog Jr.    13
39  11  Eugene  Gregorich   11
40  82  Don Padgett 11

T Simon Jewelers 
IMCA STOCK CARS Point
Rank    Car#    Name    Total
1   52  Troy    Muench  295
2   11  Bernie  Reinhardt   292
3    2p Craig   Paque   290
4   21  Dave    Bouche  287
5   17  Jeff    Vlies   286
6   10J Matt    Junio   279
7   90  Shawn   Kilgore 276
8   54  B.J.    Soquet  275
9   76  Mike    Wietor  268
10  8   Charlie Kroll   265
11   10K    Tracy   Koontz  246
12  29  Corey   Haen    222
13  77  Chris   Hendricks   207
14  73  Don Aregoni 201
15  18L Ryan    LeMieux 194
16  25  Tony    Bouche  194
17  O5  Dave    Davister    188
18  97  Jamie   Suchocki    187
19  12  Larry   Ingebretsen 178
20  6   Rick    Mahlberg    171
21  15g Kraig   Gretz   161
22  20R Gary    Reinhardt   150
23  4T  Shawn   Havel   140
24  71  Mark    Reinhard    101
25  44  Pat Davister    82
26  19  Dave    Hoerning    69
27  2T  Travis  VanStraten  68
28  7d  Mark    Derenne 65
29  55  Shawn   Wagner  54
30  34  Brett   Wenzel  47
31  53  Travis  Annoye  43
32  53  Brandon Mindak  25
33  5f  Mike    Franzke 21
34  53  Craig   Barrett 21

May’s Sports Center
IMCA HOBBYSTOCKS    Point
Rank    Car#    Lame    Total
1   71  Ed  Anschutz    324
2   47  Keith   Kickbush    314
3   55  Wayne   Moore   305
4   9   Marcus  Moede   298
5   40  Tom Brumlic 296
6   2   Evan    Madden  294
7   40d Dave    DeGrave 290
8   10  Brandon Peterson    284
9   49  Roger   LaViolette  264
10  12  Carl    Laughlin    238
11  53  Dwayne  Mertens 230
12  18  Davin   Malvitz 213
13  6   Dave    Lane    209
14  56  Jeff    Lautenbach  194
15  88  Dave    Serrahn 185
16  8   Derek   Moede   174
17  13  Keith   Peterson    165
18  15  Maynard Hegnet  164
19  5   Joe Hegnet  139
20  75  Tony    Schlei  94
21  20  Casey   Groessl 49
22  4   Mike    Mueller 32
23  5   Kevin   Laughlin    31
24  O4  Mark    Mincheski   28
25  31  Jarred  VanLaanen   21

AmericInn STREET STOCKS Point
Rank    Car#    Name    Total
1   11v Von Eytcheson   322
2   51  Jeremy  Wiitala 318
3   95  Aaron   Thornton    314
4   11r Scott   Reinhardt   297
5   12  Kevin   Damrow  283
6   21  Mike    King Jr.    279
7   25  Mike    Pierrard    277
8   73  James   Anderson    265
9   44  Dennis  Weidner 258
10  76  John    Sternard    257
11  90b Faron   Beilke  256
12  50  James   Iverson 241
13  29  Scott   Iverson 238
14  3p  Todd    Polster 237
15  15  Brian   Ambrosius   234
16  27  Darren  Otto    230
17  64  Don Polcen  225
18  23  Todd    Wagner  202
19  75  Thom    Terrien 192
20  99  Kevin   Jandrin 103
21  17s Harley  Simon   94
22  3b  Mark    Brickner    93
23  65  Bill    Kelsey  80
24  14  Jamie   Berg    72
25  38  Andrew  Schnable    67
26  5   Joe Hegnet  52
27  8   Tim Lautenbach  50
28  13  Keith   Peterson    42
29  33  Rick    Sternard    34
30  52v Shawn   VanOoyen    33
31  66  James   Brunette    32
32  98  Dave    Baenen  30
33  4   Mike    Robenhorst  28
34  34  Jeremy  Schultz 27
35  24  Jerry   Denil   26
36  79  Joe Johnson 26
37  79  Aaron   Melchert    25
38  50  Steve   Grenier 24
39  95s Jim Solem   22
40  90f Fred    Davister    21
41  8   Dean    Bader   11
42  19  Chris   Konitzer    11

SPORT 4s            Point
Rank    Car#    Name    Total
1   29J James   VanDenBogart    325
2   2   Ken Malcore 316
3   72  Jon Beilfuss Jr.    304
4   32  Chad    Williams    298
5   9   Charlie Gross   272
6   18j Tim Jorgenson   177
7   11  Adam    Rex 167
8   O1B Butch   Beyers  134
9   1   Don Mahlberg    105
10  6   Ryan    Johnson 104
11  115 D.J.    Jorgenson   102
12  8   Gene    Sternard    101
13  10  Tom Zastrow 72
14  6   Dave    Schlise 70
15  8   Tyler   Smith   70
16  16d Ben Daoust  38
17  10  Mike    Hanson  37
18  15  Todd    Smith   37
19  17  Greg    Banker  35
20  55  Matt    Beyers  33
21  15  Bob Skippon 32
22  10  Alex    Stauber 30