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4-Time Champ Wins At Thunderhill
By Greg Aregoni
Saturday May 21, 2005; Sturgeon Bay, WI - On a night where the weather was
hot; the racing at Forest County Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway was
hotter. Mobile Detail and Wulf Brothers sponsored the racing action
Saturday night. The Dairy Queen Street Stocks had a double payout for
the night. Where ever they finished their pay was doubled. There
were four new winners in this early season and one repeat winner. With
five exciting divisions taking to the track, racing was done at 9:30.
In the Budweiser IMCA Modified feature event "Felix" Todd Dart from
Algoma won the 20 lap race. In the Wulf Brothers IMCA Stockcar A main
event, 4-time IMCA Modified champion Eugene Gregorich from Kewaunee won the 18
lap event. Ed Anschutz out of Algoma won the 15 lap IMCA Hobbystock
feature. Von Eytcheson from Forestville not only won the feature, but
also the double payout for the class. Kenny Malcore won an exciting 4
cylinder feature.
In the Budweiser IMCA Modified feature event, Darrell Massart led the opening
two laps. Randy Lemieux Jr. quickly looked like the car to beat as he
made the pass on Massart on lap 3. Lemieux jumped out ahead of the rest
of the pack and left the race for second. The battle for second was with
Massart, Kevin Sternard, Bill Lemieux, Todd Dart, and Sean Jerovetz.
Dart emerged the victor for the battle for second; he then set his sights on
Lemieux Jr. Dart caught him and made the pass on the outside. At
the halfway point of the race, Dart lead followed by, Lemieux Jr., Jerovetz,
Sternard, Jared Siefert, and Jeremy Jacobs. The one caution fell on lap
11, setting up a 9 lap shootout. Dart kept the lead and powered
away. With four laps to go Jerovetz passed Lemieux Jr on the
outside. Siefert and Jacobs then made their way past Sternard.
Nobody ever challenged Dart, and he went on to win his first Budweiser IMCA
Modified feature win of the season. Following at the checkers was,
Jerovetz, Lemieux Jr, Seifert, and Jeremy Jacobs. Todd Dart had this to
say after the feature, "The track was nice and the car felt good where
ever I put it."
The Wulf Brothers IMCA Stockcar Main Event went green flag to checker flag
with no cautions. Eugene Gregorich out of Kewaunee lead from the drop of
the green flag and never looked back. He held about a 6-7 car length
lead the whole feature race on the rest of the field. The battle for
second was with Mark Derenne, Charlie Kroll, Jeff Vlies, and Dave Bouche.
Going two by two all the way through the field was what helped Gregorich pull
away. At the halfway point of the race Kroll emerged as the strongest
contender to catch Gregorich; with Vlies solidly in third, Bouche, Matt Junio,
and Shawn Kilgore had an impressive 3-way battle for many laps. With
three to go Kilgore managed to get to fourth and challenge Vlies for
third. He made a couple of efforts but to no avail. With Kroll
never tracking down the leader, 4-time IMCA Modified champion Eugene Gregorich
went on to win his first Wulf Brothers IMCA Stockcar feature win of the
year. At the finish line he was followed by, Charlie Kroll, Jeff Vlies,
Shawn Kilgore, and Matt Junio. When I asked what he thought of the race he
responded, "I told my pit crew I just wanted to keep the car in one piece
for the first time this year. I have been in two pretty good accidents
this year and I just wanted to finish this race and drive it up on the
trailer."
Eddie "The Flying Eagle" Anschutz lead from the drop of the green
flag and soared to the big early lead. Anschutz had about a straightaway
length lead over Tom Brumlic, Brandon Peterson, Tony Schlei and Keith
Kickbusch. Brumlic and Schlei then battled alone for second and
third. Tony Schlei hugged the tires finding the fastest way around the
track and made the pass on Brumlic. With 4 laps to go Kickbusch and Dave
DeGrave found their way around Brandon Peterson. With at Straightaway
win, Eddie "The Flying Eagle" Anschutz was followed at the checkers
by Tony Schlei, Tom Brumlic, Keith Kickbusch, and Dave DeGrave. After the
feature, the winner takes the checkered flag for a victory lap. Ed
Anschutz took the flag and went backwards on the track in memory of Nathan
Bouche who died tragically in a farm accident last fall. "I just
want to say that I won that race in memory of Nathan Bouche. He was a
good friend of a lot of the people here at the race track. That was for
you buddy."
The Street Stocks were racing for a double pay night. In a caution filled
Dairy Queen Street Stock event, Troy Wilson was the early leader. Right
behind Wilson was Faron Beilke, Mike Pierrard, Brian Ambrosius and Jeremy
Wiitala. On lap five Mike Pierrard used a 3-wide pass on Beilke and
Wilson to inherit the lead. With Pierrard out front, Troy Wilson lost a
tire in turn two, and a pile up ensued. On the restart, Pierrard was
followed by Wiitala, David Hoerning, Harley Simon, Scott Reinhardt and Von
Eytcheson. Eytcheson made his was through the traffic and challenged
Pierrard for the lead. Eytcheson made his move on Pierrard and took
off. The caution once again flew for a mid-pack accident. After
several more attempts to get green flag racing in; the decision was made to go
green, white, checker. Eytcheson never was challenged and went on to win
his second consecutive Street Stock feature. Eytcheson started 19th in
the 21 car field. Finishing second was Mike Pierrard followed by Jeremy
Wiitala, David Hoerning, and Scott Reinhardt. After Von's victory, he said,
"I just want to thank all of my family, friends, and loving wife."
The 4 cylinder feature had some drama in this 10 lap feature event.
James Vanden Bogart jumped out to the early lead ahead of Tyler Smith, Kenny
Malcore, Todd Smith and Tom Zastrow. Tyler Smith caught Vanden Bogart
with three laps to go, and made his move. As Smith went for the pass
with two laps left, Vanden Bogart gave Smith a punch in the door sending both
cars up towards the wall. This left Kenny Malcore the leader. He
went on to win the race comfortably over Tyler Smith and Todd Smith.
"With two laps to go I didn't think that I had a chance to win until I
saw Vanden Bogart and Tyler Smith hit."
Next weeks sponsor will be Coca-Cola. From 4:30 until 6:00 p.m. with a
purchase of a grandstand wristband, beer will only be $1.00. A West
Coast Chopper Big Wheel will be given away to a child 8 an under. The
child must be present to win. Also next week, children bring your big
wheels; the children can race their big wheels on the front stretch during
intermission. Racing action gets underway at 6 p.m. Forest County
Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway is located at John Miles Fair Park in Sturgeon
Bay. The tracks website is www.racethunderhill.com
RESULTS
20 lap Budweiser IMCA Modified Feature- 1. Todd Dart, Algoma 2. Sean
Jerovetz, Little Suamico 3. Randy Lemieux Jr, Sturgeon Bay 4. Jared Siefert,
Green Bay 5. Jeremy Jacobs, Casco
10 lap heats
Heat 1. 1.Darrell Massart, Brussels 2. James Tebon, Algoma
Heat 2. 1.Dart 2. Billy Lemieux, Sturgeon Bay
Heat 3 1. Lemieux Jr 2. Eric Van Iten, Green Bay
12 lap consy
1. Jay Matthias, Depere
18 lap Wulf Brothers IMCA Stockcar Feature- 1. Eugene Gregorich, Kewaunee
2. Charlie Kroll, Forestville 3. Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee 4. Shawn Kilgore,
Kewaunee 5. Matt Junio, Casco
10 lap heats
Heat 1. 1. Vlies 2. Junio
Heat 2. 1. Gregorich 2. Kroll
Heat 3. 1. Darren Otto, Green Bay 2. Josh Massart, Brussels
12 lap consy
1. Rick Mahlberg, Denmark
15 lap Mays Sport Center IMCA Hobbystock Feature- 1. Ed Anschutz, Algoma
2. Tony Schlei, Zion, IL 3. Tom Brumlic, Denmark 4. Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee
5. Dave De Grave, Luxemburg
10 lap heats
Heat1 1. Brumlic 2. De Grave
Heat2 1. Anschutz 2. Schlei
15 lap Dairy Queen Street Stocks Feature- 1. Von Eytcheson, Forestville
2. Mike Pierrard, Green Bay 3. Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay 4. Dave Hoerning 5.
Scott Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay
10 lap heats
Heat 1.Faron Beilke, Oneida 2. Troy Wilson
Heat 2.Harley Simon, Seymour 2. Scott Iverson, Sturgeon Bay
10 lap Door County Motorsports 4 cylinder Feature- 1. Kenny Malcore,
Milwaukee 2. Tyler Smith 3. Todd Smith, Little Sturgeon
10 lap heat
Heat 1. 1. James Vanden Bogart
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