Weather
Swings and Misses at the Speedzone
By Dave Buss
If you're a fan of Friday night racing in Northeast Wisconsin
you are
quite aware of the games Mother Nature has been playing.
Celebrating
our Mid Season Champion the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway was
again challenged by the weather a brief shower right before
the races would leave the track in rough shape. However, with
the dedication of drivers and race staff the track was made
race ready and provided some great action.
The Fastrak Dirt
Late Models would take center stage first with Ron
Paulick bringing the field to the line. Early on it would be
Paulick
running a good line and holding fast to the lead as other
competitors
jostled for position behind him. Behind Paulick, Mid Season
point leader Brett Swedberg and Jeff Curtin were beginning to
make their move. Paulick would slide high in the corner giving
Swedberg and Curtin the opening they needed and they both made
the pass. Swedberg would begin to pull away but Lap traffic
would play a role in this race on lap 15 when Curtin used the
slower cars to his advantage and grabbed the lead. Curtin
would not give that lead up picking up the win with Swedberg,
Scott Lewis, David Fieber and Paul Parker completely the Top
Five.
The Miller Lite Grand Nationals feature took the track next
and when
you see a name like Jerry Kope on the pole you know things
might be tough for the field. Kope would bring them to the
line but Adam Pugh
didn't let him enjoy his spot very long grabbing the lead on
lap 2. Pugh
would hold the lead with Kope running second until lap 9 when
Pugh could not hold the bottom and gave Kope a lane. Kope
seized the opportunity and brought Brian Monday with him. Pugh
unable to get back into the preferred groove lost a few spots
back to 5th. Kope and Monday would set the pace the rest of
the way while behind them Terry Van Roy moved through the pack
to third and Brian Henry moved into 4th. When the checkered
flag waved it would be Kope leading Monday, Van Roy,
Henry, and 5th place finisher Jason Fish past the flagstand.
The Modified Feature would role trackside with Tim Robbins and
Ivar
Malmquist leading the field to the green flag. Things would
get ugly early as Ben Brinkman, Doug Meinen, John Schultz and
Marc Miller all getting tangled up in a four car wreck in
corner one of lap one. When things restarted it would Mike
Mueller grabbing the point and holding it until the half way
point when John Schultz would grab the lead that he would not
give up. Mike Klenz would not make easy on the leader though
as he stayed glued to his back bumper waiting for and
opportunity that would never come. A yellow flag on lap 16
would change things up front as the pack got tangled as the
green flag was thrown. Brian Drexler took advantage and moved
into the second spot. Klenz would fight back to finish third
and Jay Schraufnagel grabbing fourth. Chris Engels and Jamie
Schmidt would finish fifth and sixth respectively after
qualifying through the B Main.
The Total Power Sales Street Stock division would see Frank
Formiller
and Jerry Winkler put on a great battle for the first half of
the race
with Winkler leading after lap 5. As the leaders battled it
out up front
Tim Reichenberger was making waves behind them Reichenberger
would work his way to third on lap 10 and begin closing on the
lead battle. On lap 10 the leaders were noe to tail and things
would only get tighter. On lap 17 Brian Drexler joined the
battle and the op five were all nose to tail. Then with an
impressive move Drexler would grab the lead from everyone and
not give it back. Winkler would finish second with Formiller,
Shawn Haydon and Reichenberger finishing close behind.
The Lynn's Service Center Dirt Devils rounded out feature
action with
another very clean race. Only slowing once for caution the
action was fast and furious throughout. Tim Sheppard would
grab the lead on lap number eleven and then fight to hold that
spot throughout. Steve Seehawer would take the lead briefly on
lap 11 but a great crossover move would give the lead right
back to Sheppard. With five laps remaining Matt Janke moved
into second and would make a couple attempts at the lead in
the remaining laps to no avail. Sheppard was just to strong in
the last few laps. Sheppard picked up the win with Janke,
Seehawer and Tyler Kontos rounding out the top four.
Racing returns to Tuesday nights next week with the new
start time of 6:30 going into effect.
Come
Out and Experience
The Thrills and Spills of OFF-ROAD RACING
July 25th and 26th
