RACE REPORTS April 24th, 2009 | May 1st 2009 | May 8th 2009 | May 22nd, 2009 | May 29th 2009 | June 5th 2009 June 12th 2009 | June 19th 2009 | July 3rd 2009 | July 17th, 2009 | July 31st, 2009 | August 7th, 2009 August 14th, 2009 | August 28th, 2009 |
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Bazey nabs win number one, Myers
cashes the big check by
Terry Lehnertz
Overcast skies and muggy conditions greeted racers and
fans to the preamble event for the second annual NATCO
Performance Racing Products Invitational on Friday.
By nights end, sophomore chauffeur Josh Bazey
would celebrate his first ever WISSOTA victory. After
some quickly and crisply run heat races, fifteen
Kopellah Hornets opened up the evening's main events
with their feature race.
Doug Summer and Jacob Christensen paced the field
with Christensen taking the early lead.
Moving up from eighth on the starting grid, newly
crowned track champion Doug Fick took just three laps to
find the point.
Fick's teammate and championship points runner-up
Kevin Bradwell worked his way from fourth to second by
lap five – but he would spend the remaining laps chasing
Fick without success.
Jesse Tripp started sixth and cracked the top
three by the race's midpoint, after which the top spots
remained unchanged.
At the checkers, Fick added to his division best
trophy count by picking up his sixth feature win of the
year ahead of Bradwell and Tripp.
Last week's feature winner Dustin LaBlonde
started the race from the sixth row and made steady
progress throughout to finish in fifth place behind
first heat race winner Justin Rick. In
the Pure Stock division, heat race winners Jordan
Johnson and Darwin Brown led the field of fourteen cars
to the green flag, but within a few laps, neither car
remained in the race.
Johnson left after a caution on lap two, while
Brown headed pitside on lap six.
Eventual winner Dusty Brown made the pass for the
lead on lap five and settled into an even groove to pick
up his fourth Kopellah feature win of the summer.
Track champion Nathan Fisk crossed the stripe in
third place behind George Richards, with Krysta
Swearingen and Nathan Swanson rounding out the top five. With
the Midwest
Modifieds getting top billing for the weekend, the
WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series Street Stocks were
moved up in the running order to directly follow the
Pure Stocks.
Bryce Johnson and Marcus Simonson occupied the front row
with Simonson leading the way for the first two laps.
On the third circuit, two time and reigning track
champion Chanda Fjorden Nord swept past Simonson and
into the top spot.
Behind Fjorden Nord, Simonson, Scott Walker and
Sam Fankhauser battled for runner up honors while
Fjorden Nord stretched to lead to over 100 yards.
A late race caution brought Fankhauser and Walker
up to Fjorden Nord's rear bumper, but once racing
resumed, the champion once again pulled away during the
final two-lap dash for the win.
The victory was the ninth of the season for
Fjorden Nord, with Fankhauser, Walker, Danny Richards
and Dan Bork making up the rest of the top five. In
the evening's finale, Josh Bazey and David Swearingen
sat in the front row for the WISSOTA Midwest Modified
main event.
Bazey established himself at the point going down the
back straightaway, with Swearingen tucking in behind for
second.
Quickly moving up from his outside row three starting
position was the #29 of Ronnie Rihn, who led Bazey by
inches at the completion of lap four.
Bazey charged right back to reclaim the point on
the very next trip past the start/finish line.
The lead duo would battle tooth and nail for the
remainder of the twenty lap affair, with Bazey working
in the middle of the track and Rihn making repeated
charges on the low side.
The best opportunity for Rihn may have been a
late race slide by Bazey in turn two as Bazey had his
#55 almost completely sideways.
Unfortunately for Rihn, the margin was so small
that no space existed for either high or low evasive
maneuvers – his only option was to avoid collision by
stomping hard on the brakes.
As the leaders both brought their mounts back up
to full song, the battle raged on throughout the rest of
the race, but nothing Rihn tried was good enough to best
Bazey who went on to collect the first WISSOTA feature
win of his young career.
Behind Rihn, Corey Fogleson ran a strong race to
finish third ahead of Swearingen and Tony Schill. Night
number two of the NATCO Performance Racing Products
Invitational got under way an hour earlier, at 6:00 p.m.
with the same four divisions in competition – but this
time with the big $750 payday awaiting the winner of the
20-lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified main event. Once
again the Hornets kicked the show off with their fifteen
lap feature race. The winner from the September 4 season
championship night, Dustin LaBlonde and championship
runner-up Kevin Bradwell paced the eight car field to
the green flag.
LaBlonde quickly squirted out front and Bradwell
held on to the second spot.
Track champion Doug Fick overtook Bradwell on lap
three, and Bradwell eventually lost power and left the
track on lap seven.
With LaBlonde showing the way, the best race was
between Jason Christianson and Fick.
Christianson got the jump on Fick on the restart
for Bradwell's caution, taking over second place.
But on a lap 10 caution for Todd Christianson,
Fick returned the favor and reclaimed second on the
restart.
LaBlonde went on to win comfortably, ahead of Fick,
Christianson, and ice racing transplant Jon Wigchers. In
the Pure Stock division, post race technical issues
became the deciding factor.
Friday night's winner, Dusty Brown started on the
pole and held the lead throughout the vast majority of
the race, through numerous cautions and restarts.
But after the final caution set up a
green-white-checkered finish, Tyler English made a bold
outside move to blast into the lead.
The youngster drove smooth and fast the final two
circuits and held off the #5R of George Richards to pick
up his first career feature victory.
But elation soon turned to devastation for
English as a post race inspection revealed and illegal
intake – handing the win to Richards.
In the official rundown, Brown was credited with
second place, Nathan Swanson third with David Leaf and
Brandon Hilliard rounding out the top five. The
WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series Street Stocks were
given a near impossible task for their main event,
beating a double titleist on her home turf.
Two time and reigning track champion, Chanda
Fjorden Nord redrew the pole for the season finale – and
the Luck, The
NATCO Transmissions WISSOTA Midwest Modified
Invitational grand finale started with Jason Hall and
Thomas Balluff leading the field to the night's final
green flag.
Hall quickly jumped out front but the huge move was made
by Curt Myers.
Myers, the former WISSOTA national champion in
the Street Stock division, started seventh and charged
up to second in the space of a quarter mile.
After a caution for Corey Fogleson on lap five,
Myers shot around the outside of Hall on the restart and
staked his claim to the $750 winner's share of the
purse.
Friday night's winner, Josh Bazey also slipped by Hall
on the restart, but the youngster didn't have the set up
necessary on the dry slick race surface to chase down
the veteran Myers.
Several mid-race cautions did nothing to dampen
Myers resolve, and he pulled away from the field
whenever the race was green.
Hall did manage to get back by Bazey late in the
race, but none of the competitors had a solution for
Myers, who won in convincing fashion.
Hall took home second place prize money with
Bazey, David Swearingen and Tony Schill making up the
rest of the top five. The
2009 Kopellah race season comes to an official end on
Saturday,
October 17, at the St. Croix Hotel and Casino in Turtle
Lake, Wisconsin.
Kopellah Speedway will honor it's champions and
all it's drivers with a dinner and awards banquet set to
begin at 6:00 p.m.
For more information on the banquet, please visit
the track's website at
www.kopellahspeedway.net, or by calling the track
phone, 715-566-0647.
Race
Summary
(September 11)
Hornets, Feature – Doug Fick, Kevin Bradwell, Jesse
Tripp, Justin Rick, Dustin LaBlonde, Jamison Johnson,
Steve Sutton, Jason Christianson, Jon Wigchers, Brandon
Davis, Daemieon Hart, Rick Nelson, Todd Christianson,
Jacob Christensen, Doug Summer Pure
Stocks, Feature – Dusty Brown, George Richards, Nathan
Fisk, Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Swanson, Rick Weir,
Tyler English, Mike Olson, Skip Lutgen, David Leaf,
Brandon Hilliard, Kendall Grover, Darwin Brown, Jordan
Johnson
WISSOTA Street Stocks, Feature – Chanda Fjorden Nord,
Sam Fankhauser, Scott Walker, Danny Richards, Dan Bork,
Adam Delfosse, Christina Wollak, Bryce Johnson, Maria
Wollak, Marcus Simonson
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature – Josh Bazey, Ronnie
Rihn, Corey Fogleson, Davis Swearingen, Rob Caho Jr.,
Tim Swanson, Ben Johnson, Myles McEvers, Mike Mueller
(September 12)
Hornets, Feature – Dustin LaBlonde, Doug Fick, Jason
Christianson, Jon Wigchers, Todd Christianson, Jesse
Tripp, Kevin Bradwell, Pamela Lutgen Pure
Stocks, Feature – George Richards, Dusty Brown, Nathan
Swanson, David Leaf, Brandon Hilliard, Skip Lutgen,
Sonja Ellingson, Chris Wert, Danny Richards, Allen
Amborn, Nathan Fisk, Rick Weir, Tyler English
WISSOTA Street Stocks, Feature – Chanda Fjorden Nord,
Danny Richards, Sam Fankhauser, Bryce Johnson, Mark
Blood, Rob Lowe, Ryan Asp, Marcus Simonson, Dan Bork,
Scott Walker, Adam Delfosse
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature – Curt Myers, Jason
Hall, Josh Bazey, David Swearingen, Tony Schill, Rick
Friendt, Thomas Balluff, Ben Johnson, Tim Swanson,
Robbie Franklin, George Swiezek, Mike Gibson, Corey
Fogleson
Thrice TWICE! By Terry Lehnertz and Justin Zoch St. Croix Falls, WI (August 28, 2009) For the second time in three weeks, the UMSS Sprint cars joined the fun at Kopellah Speedway on Friday night, their final appearance at the track in their inaugural season. In addition to the sprint cars, the program also included make-up features in the WISSOTA Super Stock and Modified classes from the rain shortened August 7 show, so the evening was jammed packed full of racing. A hearty crowd was on hand, despite a biting north wind that blew throughout the event and the mercury plummeting south of the 60 degree mark by night's end. The first order of business was the completion of the August 7 WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series Super Stock feature race. Rookie Jeff Heintz and Andy Grymala paced the field to the night's first green flag and Heintz quickly established himself as the car to beat. Third starting Jimmy Gullikson provided the early pressure on Heintz, while he was simultaneously feeling the heat of older brother Dan Gullikson. While Heintz showed the fast way around, Dan Gullikson finally slipped under Jimmy Gullikson on lap ten and into second place. A lap eleven restart provided the opening Dan Gullikson needed to charge past Heintz and into the lead, denying Heintz the opportunity to claim his first victory in the division since moving up from the Street Stock ranks earlier this summer. Gullikson cruised the final laps to complete the clean sweep he had started nearly one month ago. Heintz came home second ahead of Jimmy Gullikson, reigning track champion John Remington was fourth and recent feature winner Joe Nelson finished fifth. Up next were the mighty WISSOTA Modifieds, set to wrap up what remained of their contest from August 7. A pair of 2009 feature winners, Tim VanMeter and Steve Lavassuer brought the group of throttle stompers to the green flag. After an early misstep and quick restart, Rick Kobs blasted low from the second row in the three-wide bid for the point through the opening set of turns. Once out front, not even defending national champion Kevin “Buzzy” Adams could chase him down as Kobs stretched his lead to well over a straightaway by the time the checkers flew. Adams had to settle for a distant second ahead of VanMeter, Lavassuer and Kevin Marlett. With racing events from earlier on the calendar completed, the Midwest Modifieds kicked off the regularly scheduled WISSOTA mains with their 15 lap feature. Josh Bazey shot from his outside row one post to claim the early advantage over pole starter Corey Fogelson. Fourth starting Mike Mueller followed Bazey's lead and was right on his tail for the opening three circuits. First heat race winner Curt Myers was another fast mover, jumping up to third by the second lap. Second heat race winner and track points leader Jason VandeKamp, starting outside of Myers in row three, was right on Myers tail early on. Lap four provided the opening Mueller would need to sneak by Bazey for the lead. Bazey would hold the runner-up spot until both Myers and VandeKamp powered by after a lap eight restart. The last half of the race saw both Myers and VandeKamp try myriad lines and strategies to make a pass, but Mueller would not be denied – holding off a former WISSOTA national champion and the probable track champion for his first ever feature victory. Myers, VandeKamp, Bazey and Matt Leer were the rest of the top five finishers. Hours after his victory, well past midnight, Mueller was still flying high as he exclaimed, “first one ever, in any car! This car had been sitting in the weeds for two years. We got it and started working on it over the winter, slowly. We weren't ready for the opener, but we took our time and did things right.” If its the WISSOTA Street Stock division, and its at Kopellah Speedway, it can only mean one thing – an insanely tight battle for the championship. Every year in recent memory, the title has been decided by single digits, or less, as the track crowned co-champions in the division in 2008. Again in 2009, the battle has been tight all summer. “The Winning-est Woman in WISSOTA”, Chanda Fjorden Nord, and Scott Walker are the primary combatants this summer, with Fjorden Nord holding a slim four point advantage coming into the penultimate points race. With both Walker and Fjorden Nord winning their respective heat races, the margin was unchanged at the commencement of the main event. At the drop of the green, recent double feature winner Sam Fankhauser quickly shot from fourth to first on the opening lap, with third starting Fjorden Nord in tow. Then, on lap three, disaster struck for Walker as he was caught in a tangle on the back stretch. Walker's crew made repairs and he rejoined the field, but the damage was too extensive and Walker pulled his #G60 into the infield one lap later, his night over. Taking maximum advantage of her closest competitor's misfortune, Fjorden Nord passed Fankhauser on lap six and went on to claim her division best seventh trophy of the season with a clean sweep. Fankhauser came home second while eleventh starting Kris Peterson charged to third ahead of Wade Blumke and Kris Mako. Kim Korstad, who's mother passed away August 18, was also on hand with her #911 Street Stock. Korstad has dedicated her race season to the memory of her mother while simultaneously racing to raise awareness for Amyloidosis, the disease that claimed her mother's life. Each night, at least half the the Korstad racing team's winnings are donated to two different Minnesota cancer research centers. More information on Korstad's Race for Amyloidosis Awareness can be found on Korstad's “Kimmers Korner Racing” website, http://www.kimmerskornerracing.com When the WISSOTA Super Stocks took the track for their second feature event, outside row one starter Andy Grymala had his sights set on a second trophy to match the one he claimed back in early June. Things were looking up for Grymala until lap nine. That's when second heat race winner Dan Gullikson, who spent the first eight laps passing six cars to get into the runner-up position, made his winning move. While Grymala wouldn't lose sight of Gullikson, he never could regain enough ground to mount a serious challenge the rest of the way. By virtue of winning his heat race for the rain-shortened August 7 race, Gullikson was able to pull of the rare feat of completing two clean sweeps in one night – and in the process putting a virtual hammer-lock on his bid for the 2009 Super Stock track title. Grymala had to settle for second with Jimmy Gullikson, Dale Gangl and Joe Nelson rounding out the top five. The final race of the evening belonged to the WISSOTA Modifieds and to Rick Kobs. Kobs, like Gullikson in the race before, proved fast in the night's preliminaries and was poised to garner three race wins in the span of a few hours. Kobs' high point average relegated him to the fourth row at the start, but his yellow #63 needed just four laps to get around the likes of of previous feature winners Tim VanMeter, Steve Lavassuer, Jason Schill and Buzzy Adams. Once Kobs got into the lead, history repeated itself and Kopellah Speedway had its second three race winner of the night. Adams, Lavassuer, Schill and Bryce Johnson completed the top five. As is the case in the WISSOTA Street Stocks, the Kopellah Hornets championship battle is coming down to the wire. “The Rocketman” Kevin Bradwell came into the night with a four point advantage over his teammate Doug Fick. But unlike the Street Stocks, the runner-up would become king of the hill by night's end. Bradwell started the feature fifth, three spots ahead of Fick, but his Lightning McQueen look-alike #95 was the scored the first DNF of the race. On the other end of the spectrum, Fick shot from third to first on lap five and went on to win – and assume the top spot in the championship standings. Positions two through five went to Jason Christianson, Ben Kaphing, Brandon Fischer and Brent Voeltz respectively. Voeltz was the unofficial hard-charger, starting thirteenth on the grid. The Kopellah Pure Stock championship battle saw a dramatic change as well. Unfortunately, fate, and not on-track competition, was the determinant. Current points runner up, Steve Baker, will be unable to complete his racing season – doctor's orders. Baker is at home, recovering from a recent heart attack. A subdued Nathan Fisk extended his points lead in the division while his friend and competitor was absent during his recovery. The win was Fisk's second of the season, having won the season opener on April 24. Behind Fisk, the top five consisted of Chad Ogilvie, Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Swanson and David Leaf. The
Upper Midwest Sprint Series visited Kopellah
Speedway for the final time during the 2009 season
and, appropriately enough, Jerry Richert Jr. drove
his number 62 to victory lane. Richert has been
dominant in series action this year, particularly at
Kopellah Speedway where he had won four of the eight
races contested at the speedway. On Friday night,
Richert started fifth and worked his way by Brad
Barickman early in the race to take second place.
Meanwhile, rookie driver Cody Hahn was having a
great night as he led from his pole position. Richert pursued Hahn and the
veteran snookered the youngster when they approached
a lapped car to take the lead. Shortly after,
Barickman also moved by Hahn and attempted to reel
in Richert. On the final lap, Jimmy Kouba flipped in
turn one which set up a green-white-checkered
finish. Barickman gave Richert a run but the Forest
Lake, Minnesota, driver was too strong and held on
for his sixth win of the season. Barickman, Hahn,
Sye Anderson and tenth-starting Scotty Thiel
followed him across the line. Hahn, Leigh Thomas and Richert won Ultimate Sprint Races and Thomas doubled up with a win in the Bryant Heating and Cooling Systems Challenge Race while Barickman bested Richert to score the Haley Comfort Systems Challenge Race. The next race for the UMSS sprint cars will be the two-day Mighty Axe Nationals next Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minnesota. . For more information on the UMSS sprint car series, please visit www.umsprints.com or pick up a copy of The UMSS Report provided free at each UMSS race event. Next up for Kopellah Speedway is season championship night, Friday, September 4. All six regular classes will be in action, WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Midwest Modifieds and Kopellah Pure Stocks and Hornets. Additional information on the speedway can be found at the track's website, www.kopellahspeedway.net. As always, racing action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Race Summary Hornets, Feature – Doug Fick, Jason Christianson, Ben Kaphing, Brandon Fischer, Brent Voeltz, Dan Wilson, Brandon Davis, Michael Sederstrom, Todd Christianson, Thomas Rusk, Eric Schultz, Steve Sutton, Jesse Tripp, Jon Wigchers, Justin Rick, Pamela Lutgen, Kevin Bradwell, Dan Strobach Pure Stocks, Feature – Nathan Fisk, Chad Ogilvie, Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Swanson, David Leaf, Skip Lutgen, Tyler English, Sonja Ellingson, Kendall Grover, Heidi Karshbaum, Mike Olson, Nick Wojcik, Doug Wojcik, Fabian Jackson WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature – Mike Mueller, Curt Myers, Jason VandeKamp, Josh Bazey, Matt Leer, Tim Swanson, Corey Fogelson, Ben Johnson, Michael Truscott, Michael Haseltine, Kyle Matuska, Greg Arnt, Myles McEvers, John Remington, Sampson Haseltine, Travis Swanson WISSOTA Street Stocks, Feature – Chanda Fjorden Nord, Sam Fankhauser, Kris Peterson, Wade Blumke, Kris Macko, Allen Amborn, Marcus Simonson, James Vought, Kim Korstad, Gary Jones, Scott Walker, Behn Mensen, Adam Delfosse WISSOTA Super Stocks, Feature – (August 7 make up feature) Dan Gullikson, Jeff Heintz, Jimmy Gullikson, John Remington, Joe Nelson, Andy Grymala, Michael Dyrdahl, Shane Kisling, Todd Gillitzer, Bradley Johnson, Marcus Berget (August 28 feature) Dan Gullikson, Andy Grymala, Jimmy Gullikson, Dale Gangl, Joe Nelson, Todd Nelson, John Remington, Michael Dyrdahl, Jason Quarders, Jeff Heintz WISSOTA Modifieds, Feature – (August 7 make up feature) Rick Kobs, Kevin Adams, Tim VanMeter, Steve Lavassuer, Kevin Marlett, Marc Johnson, Larry Prochnow (August 28 feature) Rick Kobs, Kevin Adams, Steve Lavassuer, Jason Schill, Bryce Johnson, Marc Johnson, Erik Bjorklund, Jon Harer, Tim VanMeter, Kevin Marlett, Jim Schulz UMSS Sprints, Feature (20-laps) –
1. Jerry Richert Jr., 2. Brad Barickman, 3. Cody
Hahn, 4. Sye Anderson, 5. Scotty Thiel, 6. Greg
Gunderson, 7. Leigh Thomas, 8. Jeff Wilke, 9. Eric
Schultz, 10. Jack Zweber, 11. Kevin Nickel (DNF),
12. Jimmy Kouba (DNF), 13. Lynn Franklin (DNF), 14.
Joseph Kouba (DNF), 15. Joe Kouba (DNS)
Twice
is Nice...for a First! With
make-up races scheduled in two of the seven divisions
competing on Friday night, fans were treated to a
program jam packed with races and a field jammed packed
with talent at Kopellah Speedway.
“First ever” was a recurring theme throughout the
night as the UMSS Sprint cars were on hand for the
seventh time in their inaugural touring season series.
Three different drivers, Sam Frankhauser in the
WISSOTA Street Stocks, Tim VanMeter in the WISSOTA
Modifieds, and Steve Baker in the Pure Stocks all score
career first visits to victory lane.
Frankhauser even one-upped himself by winning a
second trophy only a few hours after collecting his
first!
Frankhauser began his magical night as he and Behn
Mensen led the WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series to the
green flag in the evening's second make-up event from
the rained out august 7 race program.
Frankhauser got the jump on Mensen through the
opening set of turns and was scored the leader after lap
one. After
pulling up lame in her heat race one week earlier,
current track points leader and defending division
champion Chanda Fjorden Nord was relegated to the tenth
starting spot in the feature but quickly charged through
the field and was racing Scott Walker – just a single
point behind
Fjorden Nord in the championship chase entering the
night – for second place in just three laps.
On lap five, Fjorden Nord pulled ahead of Walker
into second, but the duo continued to battle fiercely
for second place.
At the halfway mark, the two title contenders
slid high allowing the z20 of Anthony Zvorak to slip
into second while Fjorden Nord dropped all the way to
fifth behind Adam Delfosse.
Delfosse then got by With
the advantage of his his outside row one starting
position in the regularly scheduled feature, Frankhauser
once again jumped out to an early lead.
Once again Delfosse was giving chase and once
again Fjorden Nord and Walker were also battling for
position.
After winning her heat race, Fjorden Nord appeared
strongest as she marched from her sixth starting
position to the rear bumper of Frankhauser just prior to
the race's midpoint.
But Frankhauser was equal to the task and handled
the pressure of being chased down by “the winning-est
woman in WISSOTA” with aplomb.
The young The
evening's program kicked of the the make up feature for
the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds with Sampson Haseltine and
Josh Bazey leading a field of fifteen cars to the
night's first green flag.
Bazey held down the point early but by lap three,
sixth starting Jason VandeKamp shot into the lead.
While VandeKamp stretched his lead, current
national points leader Brandon Davis surgically sliced
his way from eighth up to second by lap six.
By the time In
the regularly scheduled Midwest Modified feature, Travis
Swanson and second heat race winner Vince Corbin led a
strong field of 22 cars to the green flag.
Corbin nabbed the top spot early and Swanson slid
in behind for second.
Ninth starting
WISSOTA Super Stock driver Dale Gangl was last a regular
competitor at Kopellah Speedway back in 2002 – the year
of his last win at the track.
After a seven year hiatus, 2009 has seen the
return of Gangl for a handful of events for the The
final WISSOTA feature was for the Modifieds.
Tim VanMeter and Jim Cimfl paced the ten car
field, and for the fourth time on the night, the early
leader came from the outside of row one.
Third starting Scott Miller found himself in
second on the initial lap, followed by most recent
winner Rick Kobs and Steve Lavasseur.
Defending national champion Kevin Adams got by
Lavasseur on lap three and he bested Kobs for third on
the next circuit.
Repeated attempts by After
collecting his first Hornet feature win just four weeks
ago, Jesse Tripp took advantage of a lap five restart to
get around leader Kevin “The Rocketman” Bradwell.
Bradwell, the current points leader, would charge
back but could solve Tripp's #04 hot rod.
As the checkers waved for Tripp, Pamela Lutgen
car had rolled and was facing shiny-side-down in the
center of turns one and two.
While her car received significant damage, the
medical crew later gave a clean bill of health.
Behind Tripp, the top five runners were Bradwell,
Justin Rick, last week's feature winner Kris Kaphing and
Josh Bruckridge.
Although it wasn't his official first win, Pure Stock
chauffeur took just three laps to shoot from fourth
place and around pole starter Chad Ogilvie and into the
lead. Once
at the point, Baker expertly held Ogilvie at bay to pick
up his second career trophy.
Although it was his second, Baker's first win was
the result of a post race disqualification – so this
time around a far less subdued celebration occurred not
after the car had already been loaded onto the trailer,
but in front of a full grandstand in Victory Lane.
The grin gracing Baker's face was a clear
indicator of his preference for his more recent mode of
winning.
Baker, a track regular for a number of years, and within
striking distance of the 2009 track championship,
clearly enjoyed the moment.
Behind Baker, Ogilvie claimed second best ahead
of Tyler English, Krista Swearingen and Mike Olson. In
all four of the UMSS qualifiers, two Ultimate Sprint
races and the two Haley Comfort Systems/Bryant Challenge
Races, winners emerged from the front row.
Omaha, Nebraska transplant Brad Barickman scored
the win in Ultimate Sprint race number one from the
pole, while race number two went to series championship
leader Jerry Richert Jr. from the outside of row one.
After the inverts for the Challenge races, it
took Richert until the final lap to muscle past
Barickman for second, while Lynn Franklin led from flag
to flag in race number one starting on the pole.
In Challenge race number two, Jimmy Kouba nabbed
the point from outside of the front row and left fourth
starting Leigh Thomas chasing him the entire distance. With
qualifying races completed, top point earner Jerry
Richert Jr. was tasked with inversion pill draw – and he
pulled the #4.
With the top four inverted, that put Franklin and
Barickman on the front row
for the main event, with Kouba and Richert tucked
in behind.
As was the case several times in other events throughout
the evening, the outside pole starter, Barickman in this
case, rocketed to lead.
Franklin slid in behind Barickman for the first
lap before Richert blasted underneath him in turn one on
lap two. But
from that point on, nothing in Richert's extensive bag
of tricks would supply him with a solution to the
Barickman puzzle, and at event's end Barickman proudly
posed with his sparkling #34 in victory lane.
The win was Barickman's second of the season at
Kopellah Speedway, and also his second series Main Event
trophy for the inaugural run of the Upper Midwest
Sprintcar Series. All
six regular classes are back in action on Friday, August
21, with the make-up features also scheduled for the
rained out WISSOTA Super Stocks and Modifieds from
August 7.
Just two more regular season events remain prior to the
season championships scheduled for September 4.
Additional information on the speedway can be
found at the track's website,
www.kopellahspeedway.net.
As always, racing action is set to begin at 7:00
p.m. Race
Summary
Hornets, Feature – Jesse Tripp, Kevin Bradwell, Justin
Rick, Kris Kaphing, Josh Bruckridge, Doug Fick, James
Miller, Ben Kaphing, Michael Sederstrom, Jon Wigchers,
Thomas Rusk, Daemieon Hart, Pamela Lutgen, Jason
Christianson, Brandon Davis Pure
Stocks, Feature – Steve Baker, Chad Ogilvie, Tyler
English, Krysta Swearingen, Mike Olson, Skip Lutgen,
Nathan Swanson, Sonja Ellingson, Fabian Jackson, Nathan
Fisk
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature – (Aug. 14 event)
Vince Corbin, Travis Swanson, Brandon Davis, John
Remington, Ryan Viltz, Mike Mueller, Jason VandeKamp,
Josh Bazey, Jimmy Latvala, Sampson Haseltine, Ryan
Johnson, Curt Myers, Tim Swanson, Ben Johnson, Michael
Haseltine, Corey Fogleson, Kyle Matuska, Dan Larson,
Myles McEvers, Greg Arnt, Ronnie Rihn, AJ Roschen (Aug.
7 make-up feature) Jason VandeKamp, Brandon Davis, Curt
Myers, Mike Mueller, Josh Bazey, Tim Swanson, Sampson
Haseltine, John Remington, Ryan Johnson, Kyle Matuska,
Greg Arnt, Ben Johnson, Ronnie Rihn, Travis Swanson,
Corey Fogelson, Robbie Johnson
WISSOTA Street Stocks, Feature – (Aug. 14 event) Sam
Frankhauser, Chanda Fjorden Nord, Anthony Zvorak, Scott
Walker, Adam Delfosse, Behn Mensen, Kim Korstad, Ryan
Asp, Marcus Simonson, Eric Berg, Kyle Howland (Aug.
7 make-up feature) Sam Frankhauser, Adam Delfosse, Scott
Walker, Chanda Fjorden Nord, Anthony Zvorak, Ryan
Asp,.Behn Mensen, Marcus Simonson, Kim Korstad, Kyle
Howland, Tyler Peterson, Simon Wahlstrom, Kelly Knutson,
Gary Jones
WISSOTA Super Stocks, Feature – Dale Gangl, Jeff Heintz,
Jimmy Gullikson, Andy Grymala, Dan Gullikson, Joe
Nelson, Doug Fisk, John Remington, Michael Dyrdahl,
Marcus Berget
WISSOTA Modifieds, Feature – Tim VanMeter, Scott Miller,
Kevin Adams, Steve Lavassuer, Rick Kobs, Marc Johnson,
Jim Cimfl, Jake Miller, Jim Schultz, Kevin Marlett UMSS
Ultimate Sprint Race #1 – Brad Barickman, Jimmy Kouba,
Joseph Kouba, Cody Hahn, Kevin Nickel UMSS
Ultimate Sprint Race #2 – Jerry Richert Jr., Greg
Gunderson, Lynn Franklin, Leigh Thomas UMSS
Challenge Race #1 – Lynn Franklin, Jerry Richert Jr.,
Brad Barickman, Joseph Kouba, Kevin Nickel UMSS
Challenge Race #2 – Jimmy Kouba, Leigh Thomas, Greg
Gunderson, Cody Hahn UMSS
Main Event – Brad Barickman, Jerry Richert Jr., Lynn
Franklin, Jimmy Kouba, Joseph Kouba, Leigh Thomas, Cody
Hahn, Kevin Nickel, Greg Gunderson
Mother Nature Wins WISSOTA Features St. Croix Falls, WI (August 7, 2009) One week after holding off on the thunder until after the race program was completed, Mother Nature proved less patient this week as she teased all afternoon and finally slammed the door shut on racing action at Kopellah Speedway just prior to the night's main events. After all the heat racing action was crisply and quickly run, only the Kopellah Hornets and Pure Stocks were able to squeeze in their feature races before the rains increased enough in intensity to postpone the final four contests of the night. Hornet heat race victories went to Ben Kaphing and Doug Fick, while division points leader Nathan Fisk picked up the win in the lone Pure Stock heat. WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series heat races were won by national points leader Brandon Davis and track points leader Jason VandeKamp in the Midwest Modified division, with Marcus Simonson and Scott Walker picking up wins in the Street Stock preliminaries. Defending track champion Dan Gullikson and Superior, Wisconsin's Andy Grymala won their respective Super Stock qualifiers and Rick Kobs was first to the checkers in the only WISSOTA Modified heat race. With track officials pressing the competitors on through a very light mist that began falling as the heat races drew to a close, the Hornets quickly lined up for their main event. Jacob Christianson and Justin Rick led the Hornet field to the green flag for their main event and current track points leader Kevin Bradwell quickly darted from fourth to first on the opening circuit. By lap three, fifth starting Kris Kaphing had worked his way up to Bradwell's rear bumper. Just past the half-way point, Kaphing made what proved to be the winning pass as Bradwell began to fade. After falling back as far as fourth, pole starter Christianson climbed his way back into contention by securing the runner-up spot with two laps remaining. Christianson, however, couldn't find enough speed to overcome Kaphing and the elated pilot of the #16x Hornet celebrated his first feature victory. Christianson crossed the line second ahead of Rick, Jon Wigchers, and Jesse Tripp. With the light mist still falling, the Kopellah Pure Stocks came track side for their main event with Rodney Jacobson and Tyler English leading the way. After an opening lap caution, English nabbed the top spot on the restart and held the point for the first five laps. Fourth starting Krysta Swearingen and fifth starting Nathan Fisk began working the field from the drop of the green and the pair were up to second and third, respectively, just shy of the race's midpoint. On lap six, Swearingen abandoned her early race strategy – leaving the low groove and looking to the outside of English. Then, just past the flag stand Swearingen made the bold move into the lead going to the high side of English as she entered turn one. Fisk followed suit and dropped English back to third while Swearingen now ran at the point. As the laps clicked off, Swearingen held steady and went on to pick up her second career feature victory in the span of just four weeks. Fisk came home second with English in third, Jacobson and Mike Olson rounded out the top five. As the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds took the track for their feature event, the mist became slightly heavier. After several parade laps attempting to roll in the extra moisture, a consensus of drivers deemed the track surface unsuitable for racing and track officials decided to postpone the remainder of the night's events. Double features are tentatively scheduled for next Friday, August 14, for the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks, and the WISSOTA Super Stocks and Modifieds will double-up the following week, August 21. In addition to the Midwest Modifieds and Street Stock double features next Friday, the UMSS Sprint cars make their seventh visit of the summer to the quarter mile bull ring. Jerry Richert Jr. sports a series best five feature victories and holds a commanding lead in the UMSS point standings as he'll try to claim a fourth trophy from Kopellah Speedway. More information about the UMSS can be found on line at www.umsprints.com. Updates for Kopellah Speedway are also on line at www.kopellahspeedway.net. As always, racing action is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Race Summary Hornets, Feature – Kris Kaphing, Jason Christianson, Justin Rick, Jon Wigchers, Jesse Tripp, George Simonson, Ben Kaphing, Kevin Bradwell, Scott Longley, Doug Fick, James Miller. Pure Stocks, Feature – Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Fisk, Tyler English, Rodney Jacobson, Mike Olson, Nathan Swanson, Steve Baker, Skip Lutgen WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, Feature – postponed. WISSOTA Street Stocks, Feature – postponed. WISSOTA Super Stocks, Feature – postponed. WISSOTA Modifieds, Feature – postponed. (Ancient?) History Repeating Itself
Moderate conditions welcomed fans
and racers on Friday to the twelfth scheduled event of
Kopellah Speedway's 2009 race calendar.
The pleasant weather
quickly turned sour later in the evening, but thankfully
not until the program had been completed and the
majority of teams had their mounts loaded up for the
trip home.
Chad Ogilvie and
WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track Series
action kicked off with Josh Amans and Sampson Haseltine
leading the way to the green flag.
Amans got the jump on the
field, holding veteran racer Tim Swanson at bay for the
first two laps.
Once Swanson got to the
point, he held off all challengers – even through
numerous caution periods that marred the race.
With just over a lap
remaining, Josh Bazey took a bite out of the turn four
wall to bring out the final caution and set up a
green-white-checkered two lap dash to decide thing.
Unfortunately for Swanson,
the final caution proved to be his undoing as heat race
winners Jason VandeKamp and Curt Myers both managed to
slip by.
VandeKamp went on for his
track best eighth feature win of the season ahead of
Myers, who sliced through the field after being charged
with a mid race caution.
Swanson came home in the
third spot ahead of “The Rev” Mike Haseltine.
Mike Mueller made his 2009
debut at the speedway with a top five finish.
Attrition was the name of the game
in the WISSOTA Street Stock division as just barely half
the field managed to finish in what was already a
sparsely populated line-up.
Behn Mensen and James
Vought paced the field for lap one with Vought holding
top honors for the first handful of laps.
While Vought was up front
holding off the advances of fourth starting Scott
Walker, ninth starting Sam Frankhauser was quietly
working his way through the field.
By the halfway point,
The attrition theme continued for
the WISSOTA Super Stocks, as only four cars were still
under power at the finish.
Pole starter Doug Fisk
managed to hold off defending track champion Dan
Gullikson for the first circuit, but by lap two, the
seemingly inevitable happened.
Once out front, Gullikson
stretched his lead throughout and further tightened his
stranglehold on the 2009 points battle with his fourth
trophy of the season.
Jimmy Gullikson started
seventh on the grid and came home in the runner-up spot
ahead of Fisk with Marcus Berget the final runner at the
checkers.
WISSOTA racing action wrapped up
with the ground-pounding Modifieds and a field full of
throttle stompers.
Keith Tourville and Steve
Lavassuer were at the head of the field for the start,
but Rick Kobs quickly shot from the inside of the second
row and into the lead.
Tourville managed to hold
off the reigning national champion Kevin Adams for two
laps before
The
Kopellah Hornets got feature racing of the rolling
start, literally.
Just past halfway, Justin
Rick rolled his #63 onto the hood of Jason
Christianson's car.
Both drivers were uninjured
and Christianson was even able to continue racing
afterwards.
Pole starter James Miller
led most of the event but a late race bid for the lead
by Jesse Tripp led to contact between the top two
drivers.
The tangle between Tripp
and Miller opened up the bottom half of the track for
seventh starting Doug Fick
to jump into the top spot.
Tripp emerged from the
tussle with a cut right front shoe on his hot rod a
subsequent drive to the pits while Miller recovered to
hold onto second.
Fick and Miller went on to
finish first and second, respectively, ahead of second
heat race winner Ben
Kaphing, Kevin “Rocketman”
Bradwell and Josh
Bruckridge.
Racing action resumes on Friday,
August 7, at 7:00 p.m. with the seventh scheduled
appearance of the
wild winged monsters of the
Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series tour (UMSS).
Along with the Sprint car
special, there will be racing in all six regular classes
– WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and
Midwest Modifieds, along with Kopellah Pure Stocks and
Hornets.
Sprint car fans should note
that the UMSS event was not officially added to the
calendar until July 17, so it may not appear on many
schedules.
More information on the
UMSS can be found
www.umsprint.com.
For more information about
Kopellah Speedway, please visit the track's website at
www.kopellahspeedway.net. Summary:
Hornets,
Feature:
Doug
Fick, James Miller, Ben
Kaphing, Kevin
Bradwell, Josh
Bruckridge, Jon
Wigchers, Brandon Davis, Steve
Sutton, Jason Christianson, Thomas Rusk,
Daemieon Hart, Jesse Tripp, Justin
Rick, Brandon Fischer, Rex
Lutgen.
Pure
Stocks,
Feature:
Skip Lutgen, Krysta
Swearingen, Nathan Fisk, Nathan Swanson, Mike Olson,
Steven Johnson, Steve Baker, Dusty Brown, Julia Stordahl,
Chad Olgilvie, Tyler English, Zach Manley, Josh Back
(DNS).
WISSOTA
WISSOTA
Super Stocks,
Feature: Dan Gullikson, Jimmy Gullikson, Doug Fisk,
Marcus Berget, Lyle Archambeau, Doug Merrill, Mike
Dyrdahl, Jeff Heintz, Andy Grymala.
WISSOTA
Modifieds,
Feature: Rick Kobs, Kevin Adams, Keith Tourville, Tim
VanMeter, Steve Lavassuer, Bruce Tourville, Scott Kobs,
Kevin Marlett. Historic Aussie “shocker"
(July 17, 2009,
On a night where season-opener
like temperatures greeted racers and fans to Kopellah
Speedway, eighty seven race teams provided scorching hot
action for the fans to combat the plummeting mercury.
For the second consecutive
Friday, history of sorts was made – this time courtesy
of a racer born half a world away.
The inaugural campaign of the
Upper Midwest Sprintcar Series made its sixth visit to
the quarter-mile bullring just west of
On the restart, Tatnell again
tried the high line as he, Greg Gunderson and Lynn
Franklin shot down the back stretch three abreast.
Carrying the most speed
through turns three and four, Tatnell hit the line as
the lap one leader.
Behind Tatnell, a mid-race
bobble by second place running Franklin was all the
opening Tatnell's brother in-law, Jerry Richert Jr.,
needed to stake claim to the runner-up position.
The final caution appeared
after lap fifteen of twenty, and with only three laps
remaining, Tatnell's mount began to visibly slow –
courtesy of broken shock mount suffered during an
earlier caution period.
Richert, the winner of
three of the last four UMSS main events at Kopellah,
began reeling in the previously dominant Tatnell.
With the white flag waving,
Richert was glued to Tatnell's fuel cell and the duo
were running wheel-to-wheel through the final set of
turns.
But as he had done all race
long, Tatnell used the momentum of the high groove and
drag-raced the final 400 feet to win by less than the
length of crocodile's tail – making him, unofficially,
the first Australian to ever win a feature event at
Kopellah Speedway.
After Richert, the rest of
the top five consisted of Sye Anderson, Gunderson and
Cody Hahn.
The WISSOTA Amsoil Dirt Track
Series main events got under way courtesy of the Midwest
Modifieds.
Rookie Ben Johnson and
Vince Corbin paced the field a sixteen racers to the
green flag with Corbin quickly establishing himself atop
the heap and fourth starting Mike Haseltine tucked in
behind.
The big mover, however, was
current track points leader Jason VandeKamp.
VandeKamp, with a track
best sticker collection already numbering six, used
crafty moves and three early cautions to inch closer to
the front.
At the start of the first
extended streak of green flag racing, VandeKamp rested
the top spot away from Corbin on lap five.
The other big movers were
Bryce Johnson and John Remington.
Remington suffered a flat
right rear during a caution that was charged to Johnson,
and the pair restarted at the tail.
While VandeKamp steadily
stretched his advantage, Remington and Johnson were
doing the heavy lifting, slicing their way through the
pack.
The final caution appeared
on lap fourteen, and by that time, Johnson had clawed
his way back into the top five.
After the restart, it took
just two more laps for Johnson to get his #01 into the
runner-up spot, and two laps after that, Remington
emerged in third.
All of that hard work,
however, left the ultimate prize unclaimed – as neither
driver had the answer to solve the VandeKamp puzzle who
pushed his dominating season win total to seven.
Johnson
was able to outrun Remington to secure second, and early
leader Corbin had to settle for fourth.
With ever increasing
frequency, Luck, Wisconsin's Josh Bazey once again found
himself in the top five.
Kim Korstad was scheduled to start
the WISSOTA Street Stock feature on the pole, but
elected to tag onto the tail of the field.
That move allowed Behn
Mensen to start on the pole just ahead of defending
track co-champion Chanda Fjorden Nord.
At the drop of the green,
Fjorden Nord made a quick strike for the leader's spot
and was in charge after lap one.
Predictably, once the Luck,
WI, native got out front, she did what she is so
accustomed to doing at the speedway, she stayed there.
Sixth starting Scott Walker
charged his #G60 hot rod from sixth up to second, but
could make no further progress.
With a dearth of cautions
to bunch things up, Fjorden Nord went on to win in
dominating fashion, picking up her sixth Kopellah trophy
of the season ahead of Walker, Marcus Simonson, Ryan Asp
and Kyle Howland.
Marcus Berget and Brian Lick paced
the WISSOTA Super Stock competitors to the green flag
for their main event.
Making just his second
visit to the speedway this season, third starting Joe
Nelson sat out front after a lap one caution was charged
to Berget.
Eighth starting and
dominating points leader in the division, Dan Gullikson
passed the likes of Curt Myers, Jason Schill, Andy
Grymala and John Remington to earn the right to work on
Nelson for the lead.
After following Nelson for
a few circuits, Gullikson made his move on lap ten and
dove to the inside coming out of turn two.
Gullikson had nearly
cleared Nelson when contact between the leaders sent
Gullikson into the back stretch retaining wall.
After Gullikson took his
damaged #00x pitside, Nelson spent the rest of the race
fending off the advances of Grymala to pick up his first
victory of the season.
Behind Grymala, Schill,
Remington and twelfth starting Doug Merrill rounded out
the top five.
The final WISSOTA feature of the
night belonged to Keith Tourville and his #111.
Starting outside of Jason
Schill, Tourville quickly nabbed the point and never
relinquished it.
Rock Kobs rested the second
spot away from Schill one lap in, and not much changed
after that.
That's not to say the races
was boring, however, as Kevin Adams and Schill had a
spirited battle for most of the race while contesting
the third spot.
Up front, Kobs was never
able to mount a serious challenge and the final rundown
was Tourville, Kobs, Schill, Adams and Scott Miller
placing first through fifth.
Feature racing got off to a flying
start with eighteen Hornets clashing for top honors in
their main event.
Justin Rick and Jon
Wigchers paced the field but the #04 of Jesse Tripp
wasted no time in scooting from fifth to first on the
opening lap.
Tripp sparred with Rick,
Kris Kaphing and Steve Sutton at different points
throughout the race, but when all was said and done, it
was Tripp who was posing in Victory Lane for his first
Kopellah feature victory.
Kaphing, Jeremy Johnson,
Doug Fick and Dan Strobach finished second through
fifth, respectively.
Zach Manley already was crowding
four Kopellah Speedway trophies onto his mantle coming
into the night, and that prior success relegated him to
a row four starting spot for the Pure Stock feature.
Pole starter Austin
Galloway held off the field for the first two laps but
hard charging Manley quickly rocketed to the point in
the space of three laps.
A mid-race, mid-pack
challenge was keeping fans on the edge of their seats as
last week's winner Krista Swearingen, Josh Bach and
Steve Baker were in a line swapping, slicing and dicing
donnybrook in the battle for fourth.
Back up front, the fifteen
lap event ended with Manley collecting his fifth win of
the summer ahead of Galloway and Nathan Swanson.
After falling back early,
former track champion Nate Fisk charged through the
field for a fourth place finish ahead of Baker.
Racing action resumes on Friday,
July 24, at 7:00 p.m. With racing in all six regular
classes, WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks
and Midwest Modifieds, along with Kopellah Pure Stocks
and Hornets.
Also, UMSS and Kopellah
officials announced and additional sprint car show, to
be added to the schedule on Friday, August 7.
For more information please
visit the track's website at
www.kopellahspeedway.net. Summary:
Hornets,
Feature:
Jesse Tripp, Kris Kaphing,
Jeremy Johnson, Doug Fick, Dan Strobach, Justin Rick,
Ben Kaphing, Matthew Skipper, Josh Bruckridge, Brandon
Davis, Jon Wigchers, George Simonson, Steve Sutton,
Brandon Fischer, Doug Summer, Jason Christianson, Jason
Greene, Kevin Bradwell
Pure
Stocks,
Feature:
Zach Manley, Austin
Galloway, Nathan Swanson, Nathan Fisk, Steve Baker,
Dusty Brown, Kyle Hunter, Mike Olson, Sonja Ellingson,
Krysta Swearingen, Tyler English, Josh Bach
WISSOTA
Midwest Modifieds,
Feature:
Jason VandeKamp, Bryce
Johnson, John Remington, Vince Corbin, Josh Bazey, Kyle
Matuska, Mark Turner, Tim Swanson, Sampson Haseltine,
Ben Johnson, Corey Fogleson, Ryan, Johnson, Michael
Haseltine, Myles McEvers, Greg Arnt, Josh Amans
WISSOTA
Street Stocks,
Feature: Chanda FjordenNord, Scott Walker, Marcus
Simonson, Ryan Asp, Kyle Howland, Behn Mensen, Kim
Korstad, Jim Maki, Adam Delfosse
WISSOTA
Super Stocks,
Feature: Joe Nelson, Andy Grymala, Jason Schill, John
Remington, Doug Merrill, Jeff Heintz, Doug Fisk, Michael
Dyrdahl, Curt Myers, Brian Lick, Dan Gullikson, Marcus
Berget
WISSOTA
Modifieds,
Feature: Keith Tourville, Rick Kobs, Jason Schill, Kevin
Adams, Scott Miller, Marc Johnson, Steve Lavassuer, Tim
VanMeter, Kevin Marlett UMSS Sprints, Feature: Brooke Tatnell, Jerry Richert Jr, Sye Anderson, Greg Gunderson, Cody Hahn, Jimmy Kouba, Leigh Thomas, Jack Zweber, Lynn Franklin, Joe Kouba, Brad Barickman Fjorden-Nord, Johnson, Manley, Sutton
and Barickman Top Kopellah Speedway Features
St.
Croix Falls, WI
by Greg
Parent (7-3-09)
Racing in front of the largest crowd
of the season, Chanda Fjorden-Nord defeated Scott Walker
in the WISSOTA Street Stock division when she raced to
her fourth victory of the season on Friday night July 3
at the Kopellah Speedway.
Bryce Johnson earned his second WISSOTA Midwest
Modified win when he slid past Josh Bazey on a restart
of the caution-filled feature race.
The Kopellah Pure Stocks ran nonstop in their
feature, as Zach Manley led all the way for his fourth
win. Steve
Sutton led the entire distance enroute to his second
victory in the Kopellah Hornets. The UMSS sprint cars
were making their sixth appearance of the season, and
Brad Barickman was able to end Jerry Richert, Jr's
four race Kopellah winning streak.
Barickman passed race leader Sye Anderson with
three laps to go to win his first feature race. Chanda Fjorden-Nord and Scott Walker
came in to the night tied atop the WISSOTA Street Stock
track point standings with each driver looking to get
the upper hand at the end of the evening.
Skip Lutgen and Kyle Howland brought the field to
the green for their 20 lap feature.
Howland raced to an early lead from his outside
front row starting spot.
On lap seven, fourth starter Scott Walker got by
Howland for the lead with Fjorden-Nord a very close
third. At
the halfway mark, Fjorden-Nord made a strong move coming
from third to first on lap ten.
Fjorden-Nord led the remainder of the distance,
as she defeated Walker, Sam Fankhauser, Howland and
fellow female driver Kim Korstad. The WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature
had some problems getting underway.
When Cory Fogelson dropped out of the race on the
very first caution, Josh Bazey moved up to the pole
starting position and wasted no time in taking the early
lead. Bazey
had to survive several yellow flags in the early going.
Each time the race would restart, Bryce Johnson
would apply the pressure.
On what was already the fifth restart of the
race, Johnson put a slide job on Bazey entering turn one
and slid up in front of him to grab the lead.
Johnson would continue to hold the lead for the
remainder of the 20 lap race.
Bazey and Travis Swanson swapped the second spot
for a couple of laps near the halfway mark before
Swanson settled in for good.
Bazey finished third ahead of John Remington and
Robbie Franklin. Zach Manley picked up his fourth win
of the season in Kopellah Pure Stock feature race
action, coming from his fourth starting position to the
lead by the end of the opening lap.
Fifteen nonstop laps later, it was Manley
crossing the finish line ahead of Nathan Swanson.
Dusty Brown came from ninth to finish third.
Josh Bach and Tyler Wahlstrom completed the top
five finishers.
In the Kopellah Hornet feature, Steve Sutton also
came from the fourth starting position to grab the lead
by the end of lap one.
Justin Rick held the second spot until near the
midway mark when he dropped out of the race.
Doug Fick took over the runnerup position behind
Sutton, but he only held it for one lap until Kevin
Bradwell slipped by.
After only a couple of cautions in the first half
of the race, the second half stayed green to the finish
with the top five positions remaining the same.
Following Sutton, Bradwell and Fick across the
finish line was Jesse Tripp and Ben Kaphing to complete
the top five finishers in the 15 lap hornet feature. Sye Anderson and Joseph Kouba brought
the UMSS sprint car field to the green flag for their 15
lap feature event.
The race was under caution almost immediately, as
rookie Cody Hahn and Leigh Thomas made contact in turn
one resulting in a complete restart.
Both cars were able to continue.
On the second attempt to start the race, Sye
Anderson bolted into the lead with Barickman in second
ahead of Joseph Kouba and Richert.
With two laps in, the pace was slowed once again
when Lyn Franklin slowed on the backstretch.
Anderson continued to show the way up front for
another lap when the third and final caution blinked on
for a spin by Kevin Nickel in turn one.
This set the stage for twelve nonstop laps of
intense racing for the top spot.
Anderson held a narrow lead over Barickman, as
Richert got by Kouba for third on lap four.
Barickman followed Anderson for several laps,
looking for the right opportunity to overtake the
leader. Just
past the halfway mark, the leaders began to encounter
some lapped traffic with the laps quickly clicking off
under green.
Lap 13 proved to be fortunate for Barickman, as he
ducked underneath Anderson for the lead.
With the white flag flying, Richert also got past
Anderson the next lap.
As Barickman ran up on a couple of cars near the
tail end of the lead lap, Richert began to close in a
bit but did not have enough laps remaining to mount a
serious bid for the lead.
Brad Barickman had successfully broke Jerry
Richert's four race Kopellah Speedway winning streak.
Anderson held off Kouba for third with Greg
Gunderson completing the top five.
Rounding out the top ten finishers were Cody
Hahn, Jimmy Kouba, Leigh Thomas, Lyn Franklin and Kevin
Nickel. Following the regularly scheduled
race action, a mechanics race was held.
"Dyno" Don Swearingen drove his daughter Krysta's
pure stock to victory in a six lap race that saw
fourteen cars take the green flag.
The field was comprised of pure stocks and
hornets. At
the conclusion of the race program, Kopellah Speedway
presented a fireworks display to help kick off the
holiday weekend.
Racing action continues next Friday night July 10
with a full program of WISSOTA Modified, Super Stock,
Midwest Modified and Street Stocks along with the
Kopellah Pure Stocks and Hornets.
The vintage cars will also be on hand with a
field of around 20-25 cars consisting of super modifieds
and stock cars.
The UMSS sprint cars return to the Kopellah
Speedway the following Friday July 17 for their seventh
appearance of the season. June 19th Race Summary: WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds Feature: Bryce Johnson, Travis
Swanson, Josh Bazey, John Remington, Robbie Franklin,
Tim Swanson, Kyle Matuska, Chad Manor, Michael Haseltine,
Ben Johnson, Casey Manor, Vince Corbin, Jason Fall,
Sampson Haseltine, Cory Fogleson. WISSOTA Street Stocks Feature: Chanda Fjorden-Nord, Scott
Walker, Sam Fankhauser, Kyle Howland, Kim Korstad, Skip
Lutgen, Jeff Antczak, James Vought, Mensen, Marcus
Simonson. Kopellah Pure Stocks Feature: Zach Manley, Nathan Swanson,
Dusty Brown, Josh Bach, Tyler Wahlstrom, Nathan Fisk,
Steve Baker, Krysta Swearingen, David Leaf, Kyle Hunter,
Tyler English, Sonja Ellingson, Lowe, Jesse Lutgen,
Rodney Jacobson, Adam Delfosse, Dyrdahl, Chad Ogilvie,
Mike Olson. Kopellah Hornets Feature: Steve Sutton, Kevin Bradwell,
Doug Fick, Jesse Tripp, Ben Kaphing, Matthew Skipper,
Buckridge, Pamela Lutgen, Jacob Christensen, Jon
Wigchers, Grummons, Daemieon Hart, Doug Summer, James
Miller, Brandon Fisher, Kris Kaphing, Marc Hunter,
Justin Rick, Davis, Jason Christianson. UMSS Sprints Feature: Brad Barickman, Jerry
Richert Jr, Sye Anderson, Joseph Kouba, Greg Gunderson,
Cody Hahn, Jimmy Kouba, Leigh Thomas, Lyn Franklin,
Kevin Nickel, Mike Luks. Lavasseur Leads From Start To
Finish For First Mod Main Win! The action packed Kopellah Speedway returned to action under warm but stormy skies on Friday, June 19th for Meet the Drivers Night and the return of action by the Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets. Tonight produced one of the most spirited Hornet features of the season with Kevin Bradwell, Marc Hunter, Steve Sutton, Doug Fick, Matt Skipper and newcomer Jesse Tripp all taking turns battleing for the lead at one point throughout the event. Great three and four wide racing took place throughout the race with Hunter emerging as the leader at the midpoint of the event and driving off to a sizeable lead over the field. Fick appeared in second with just 5 laps to go and tried furiously to chase down Hunter, but as the duo raced off of turn four to the checkered flag, Fick came up just a few feet short of his third consecutive feature win as Hunter was able to hold him off at the line in a thrilling finish. Zach Manley took the point at the drop of the green in the Pure Stock feature and quickly drove away from the field as Adam Delfosse was picking his way through traffic into second. Steve Baker and Krysta Swearingen were also in the mix early as 8th starting Dusty Brown was on the move as well. Manley was running all alone out front until he lost the handle and spun his #44x and brought out a caution, putting him to the tail and handing the lead to Delfosse. Delfosse didn’t stay out front long though as mechanical troubles sent him pit side just before the restart. For the remainder of the event Brown held the point and raced to his third win of the season here with Baker second and a charging Manley from the tail coming home in third. The Midwest Modifieds continue to put on wildly entertaining events night after night and tonight was no exception. The flawlessly prepared Kopellah Speedway saw great three and four wide racing action tonight as front row starter Josh Bazey took the lead at the start and jumped out to a 5 car length lead over Bryce Johnson, Tim Swanson and 8th starting Jason VandeKamp. Bazey looked good out front, while Johnson was trying to track him down and Swanson was trying to hold off VandeKamp for third. A caution flew early as Bazey suffered mechanical troubles and ended his great run early, while Johnson suffered a flat tire at the same time, sending him to the work area and handing the lead to Swanson. On the restart, Swanson held the point, but VandeKamp jumped to the cushion and rocketed to the lead off turn two. Once Vandy took the lead he drove off a bit, while Travis Swanson and Vince Corbin were trying to pressure Tim Swanson for second. VandeKamp raced away from the field to his remarkable sixth feature win in eight starts at Kopellah with Tim Swanson holding Travis Swanson at bay for third. Jeff Heintz and Chanda Fjorden Nord
quickly got to the front of the feature field in the
Street Stock division and ran away from a good battle
between Scott Walker and Sam Fankhauser for third.
Heintz lead every lap en route to his third feature win
of the season, but not without pressure from Fjorden
Nord. Chanda tried multiple times to steal the lead from
Heintz, but on this night the #57 proved to be stronger
and raced to the win by a car length. Fjorden Nord
finished second with Dale Gangl jumped to the lead at the start of the WISSOTA Super Stock feature and drove off from the field with Dan Gullikson close behind. Gangl basted around the cushion lap after lap with Gullikson in tow, while Andy Grymala and Doug Fisk were in a great side by side battle for third for much of the event. What appeared to be a sure feature win for Gangl ended abruptly when he suffered mechanical troubles mid-race, handing the lead to Gullikson. Gullikson then drove off quickly from the field to nab his second consecutive feature win with Grymala edging by Fisk at the line for second. Marc Johnson and Scott Kobs lead
the field to WISSOTA Modifieds to the green, but third
starting Steve Levasseur quickly bolted to the lead on
the bottom and took off with 4th starting Kevin Adams in
tow. Levasseur was smooth and fast around the cushion
with Kopellah Speedway kicks back into action on Friday, June 26th with the return of the UMSS Sprint Cars in addition to WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets. The first green flag is set to fly at 7:00pm. For more information, please log on to www.kopellahspeedway.net. WISSOTA ModifiedsFeature: Steve
Levasseur, Kevin Adams, Scott Kobs, Scott Splittstoesser,
Marc Hunter, Tim VanMeter WISSOTA Super Stocks Feature:
Dan Gullikson, Andy Grymala, Doug Fisk, Brian Lick,
Marcus Berget, Don Talmage Jr., Jason Quarders, Mike
Drydahl, Dale Gangl WISSOTA
Kopellah Pure Stocks Feature:
Dusty Brown, Steve Baker, Zach Manley, Nathan Fisk,
David Leaf, Josh Bach, Steven Johnson, Mike Olson,
Krysta Swearingen, Tyler English, Nathan Swanson, Chad
Ogilvie, Adam Delfosse, Jesse Lutgen Kopellah Hornets
Feature: Marc Hunter, Doug Fick, Steve Sutton, Jesse
Tripp, Justin Rick, Ben Kaphing, Matt Skipper, Kevin
Bradwell, Jon Wigchers, Emmett Trudeau, Jacob
Christensen, Daemioen Hart, James Miller, Doug Summer,
Brandon Fischer, Jason Christianson, Jeff Pedersen 14 Year Old Delfosse
Dominates Pure Stock Feature Event The Kopellah Speedway returned to action until warm but cloudy skies on Friday, June 12th for the return of the UMSS Sprint Cars plus action in the Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets. Kris Kaphing and Jerry Kaufman paced the field to the green in the Hornet feature event but quickly Fick jumped to the initial lead over the field. Fick debuted a new car last Friday and he had it firing on all cylinders as he immediately disappeared from the field out front once again tonight. Ben Kaphing, his brother Kris Kaphing and Jacob Christensen were in a good battle for second, but Fick has his new car to his liking as he dominated the event for the second straight night in a row. Ben Kaphing suffered a mechanical breakdown while running in the top five near the end of the event, handing second to Kris Kaphing, with Justin Rick, who debuted a new car number night, third at the line. Krysta Swearingen and David Leaf lead the Pure Stock field to the green tonight but 6th starting Zach Manley quickly took the point and began to drive away from the field. Adam Delfosse moved in on Swearingen to battle for second and stole the spot early in the event, while Manley was continuing to walk away from the field. Manley built up a comfortable lead and looked as if he was going to run away with his third win of the season until his right rear tire blew and ended his solid run, handing the lead to Delfosse, who never looked back racing to his first career Kopellah feature win over Leaf and Swearingen. Tonight’s Midwest Modified feature was a great battle from start to finish. Tim Swanson and last week’s winner Bryce Johnson sat on the front row and immediately began to do battle for the top spot on the opening circuit. Swanson muscled the lead away from Johnson and took off out front while 9th starting Jason VandeKamp picked his way through traffic quickly and began to pressure Johnson for second on lap 4. While VandeKamp was trying to work over Johnson for second, Swanson had opened up a huge lead in his #m200 and was continuing to pull away. VandeKamp would catch a break on lap 5 as a caution would fly putting him on the rear bumper of Swanson for the restart. On the restart, VandeKamp drove to the outside of Swanson, stole the lead and quickly disappeared away from the field, while Swanson ran solidly in second. As the leaders began to drive away, 17th staring Josh Bazey and 18th starting Travis Swanson were storming through the field and appeared in third and fourth respectively with just a few laps to go, but no one had anything for VandeKamp tonight as he raced to his 5th Kopellah feature win of the season. Swanson ran a solid second with Bazey and Swanson completing great runs from the tail to finish third and fourth respectively and Kyle Matuska finished out the top five. Chanda Fjorden Nord raced to her second consecutive Street Stock feature win tonight, but definitely had to work for it from her 8th starting position. Kyle Howland and Sam Fankhauser assumed a spirited battle for the lead on the opening circuit, while Fjorden Nord, Jeff Heintz, AJ Foat, Marcus Simonson and Scott Walker ran three and four wide for position in a thrilling battle just behind the leaders. Fankhauser stole the lead from Howland and began to drive off from the field, while Fjorden Nord was trying to stay within striking distance. Chanda slowly but surely reeled in Sammy and dove to the inside of Fankhauser’s #11 and raced by to the lead with just a few laps remaining in the event, bringing Walker with her into second. Fankhauser held third at the line with Heintz outrunning Simonson for fourth as well. Fourth starting Dan Gullikson shot under his brother Jim into the lead as the Super Stock feature flew into turn one on the opening lap. The elder Gullikson jumped to the cushion and began to try to drive away while the younger Gullikson was glued to his rear bumper. The Gulliksons drove off from the field tonight as last week’s winner Andy Grymala was feeling heavy pressure from Jason Schill for third. Grymala and Schill were in a great battle for the third spot as the Gullikson brothers were long gone at the front of the field. John Remington moved in to make the battle for third a three car race, but Dan Gullikson was not to be denied his second Kopellah win of the season as he held off Jim for the win. Grymala ran a solid third at the line, holding off Schill and Remington for the remaining laps of the main event. Kevin Adams, Rick Kobs and Marc
Johnson raced three wide into turn number one on the
opening lap of the Modified feature tonight and put on a
wild show for the fans with Kobs emerging with the lead
as the pack raced into turn three for the first time.
Kobs would take the lead with Steve Levasseur sliding
into second as the field completed the opening circuit.
Adams fired back and stole second from Levasseur, but
Kobs had opened up a sizeable advantage that Jerry Richert Jr continued his
winning ways, as the Rookie Mike Luks and Leigh Thomas paced the field for the start of the 20 lap UMSS feature event on the 1/4 mile oval. Thomas immediately blasted into the lead at the onset while Luks made an amazing recovery after getting sideways on the backstretch on the opening lap. Eric Lutz quickly moved into second while Richert followed in third. Thomas was strong up front in the opening laps. The first caution flew with four laps in when Troy Manteufel spun the Wuiff #1 sprinter in turn 2. On the restart Lutz was able to get by Thomas in turn 4, but the yellow blinked on again when Luks spun in turn 3 and Bill Johnson glanced off him into the wall. Johnson rode the hook to the pits while Luks restarted at the tail. With Thomas back in the lead on the restart, Jason Tostenson got into turn 1 a bit hot and looped his #34TW sprinter in turn 2. Once again, Thomas brought the field around for the restart. A couple of quick laps later, rookie Cody Hahn got crossed up in turn 2 and collected Manteufel. Manteufel's car was towed to the pits while Hahn continued. The ensuing restart saw Jack Zweber, Mike Sargent and Joseph Kouba tangle in turn four. Zweber and Sargent were out while Kouba was able to continue. After the green replaced the yellow, Richert got by Lutz for second and went to work on the leader. Thomas was running well up on the cushion, but on lap 9 he jumped the berm entering turn one and Richert dove underneath him for the lead. The race continued under green for several more laps, as Tostenson was on the move forward. With just two laps to go, Cody Hahn spun in turn 2 to bring the race under yellow. This set the stage for a two lap dash to the checkers. The two lap run would have to wait for one final try, as Mike Luks spun in turn two on the restart. Finally, the race finished out the final two laps with Richert taking his fourth straight UMSS victory at Kopellah Speedway. Thomas, Lutz, Tostenson and Sye Anderson completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten was Kouba, Greg Gunderson, Kevin Nickel, Luks and Hahn. Kopellah Speedway kicks back into action on Friday, June 19th with Meet The Drivers Night in addition to WISSOTA Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets. The first green flag is set to fly at 7:30pm. For more information, please log on to www.kopellahspeedway.net. WISSOTA Modifieds Feature: Rick Kobs, Kevin Adams, Scott Kobs, Marc Johnson, Steve Lavasseur, Tim VanMeter Heat 1: R. Kobs,
WISSOTA Super Stocks Feature: Dan Gullikson, Jim Gullikson,
Andy Grymala, Jason Schill, John Remington, Doug Fisk,
Kevin Ayotte, Mike Dyrdahl, Don Talmage Jr., Jason
Quarders, Marcus Berget, Todd Nelson, Ed Markel
WISSOTA Feature: Jason VandeKamp, Tim
Swanson, Josh Bazey, Travis Swanson, Kyle Matuska, John
Remington, Corey Fogleson, Sampson Haseltine, Michael
Haseltine, Ryan Johnson (22r), Ben Johnson, Josh Amans,
David Swearingen, Ryan Johnson (96), Greg Arnt, Bryce
Johnson, Dan Larson, Jason Bottolfson, Robbie Franklin
Feature: Chanda Fjorden Nord, Scott
Walker, Sam Fankhauser, Jeff Heintz, Marcus Simonson, AJ
Foat, Kyle Howland, Ryan Asp, Kyle King, Ed Puariea, Kim
Korstad, Jim Miller
Kopellah Pure Stocks Feature: Adam Delfosse, David Leaf,
Krysta Swearingen, Steve Johnson, Nathan Fisk, Steve
Baker, Mike Olson, Skip Lutgen, Chad Ogilvie, Jesse
Lutgen, Nathan Swanson, Cindy Stordahl, Tyler English,
Josh Bach, Zach Manley Kopellah Hornets Feature: Doug Fick, Kris Kaphing,
Justin Rick, Jerry Kaufman, Jacob Christensen, Matt
Skipper, Jon Wigchers, Brandon Fischer, Daemieon Hart,
Steve Sutton, Jason Christianson, James Miller, Doug
Summer, Ben Kaphing, Marc Hunter, Kevin Bradwell Feature: Jerry Richert Jr, Leigh
Thomas, Eric Lutz, Jason Tostenson, Sye Anderson, Joseph
Kouba, Greg Gunderson, Kevin Nickel, Mike Luks, Cody
Hahn, Mike Sargent, Jack Zweber, Ultimate Sprint Race #1: Hahn, Richert, Sargent, Kouba, Manteufel, Johnson. Ultimate Sprint Race #2: Nelson, Tostenson, Thomas, Anderson, Gunderson. Ultimate Sprint Race #3: Lutz, Barickamn, Luks, Zweber, Nickel. Challenge Race #1: Lutz, Luks,
Tostenson, Challenge Race #2: Thomas, Richert, Zweber, Barickman, Manteufel, Kouba, Gunderson, Nelson.
Grymala Grabs First Career Checkered Flag In Super Feature The Kopellah Speedway kicked off the
month of May under sunny but a bit chilly skies on
Friday, June 5th for the return of the UMSS Sprint Cars
plus action in the Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest
Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets. Justin Rick and Doug Fick paced the
field to the green in the Hornet feature event and
quickly Fick jumped to the initial lead over the field.
Fick debuted a new car tonight and he had it firing on
all cylinders as he immediately disappeared from the
field out front, while a tremendous battle for second
was on between Marc Hunter and Ben Kaphing. The duo
swapped slide job after slide job for the runner up
spot, while Fick was long gone out front. All the while
the battle for second was going on, 16th starting Steve
Stutton was charging through the field and appeared in
the top five and began to battle with Hunter as the laps
wound down. Fick raced comfortably to the win with
Sutton stealing second from Hunter late in the going to
cap off a great back to front run while Matt Skipper
crossed the line in third. Tonight’s Pure Stock feature was a
survival of the fittest as multiple crashers and
cautions filled the event, but 7th starting Dusty Brown
proved that he was able to survive the multiple restarts
and raced to his second Kopellah feature win of the
season tonight. Brown got the lead early after a mad
5-wide scramble up front on the opening laps and held
off a charging Adam Delfosse for the win. Delfosse had a
great run to come home in second while the rest of the
field was spread out as the checkered flew in the time
limit shortened affair. Kyle Matuska and Greg Arnt sat on the
front row for what turned out to be a wildly
entertaining Midwest Modified feature. Matuska jumped
from the pole the lead in turn one, only to have Bryce
Johnson, Dan Wheeler, Jason VandeKamp and Matt Leer race
to his inside and outside making it an amazing five wide
scramble for the top spot on the opening laps. Johnson
came out of the scramble with the lead, while VandeKamp,
Wheeler and Travis Swanson were now locked in battle for
second. Several caution flags bunched up the field on
occasion, one of those cautions for Matt Leer, who spun
and restarted 18th early in the event. As the laps
continued VandeKamp disposed of Wheeler and set his
sights on Johnson, who continued to lead up front. Vandy
and Johnson ran door to door for the lead for many laps,
while Travis Swanson, Wheeler and Tim Swanson were in
the mix behind the lead duo. As the leaders continued to
run wheel to wheel, VandeKamp was able to complete the
pass for the lead, but suddenly had a tire go down,
bringing out the caution and handing the lead back to
Johnson. On the restart with just a handful of laps
remaining, Johnson drove off to the win over Leer, who
charged from 18th to second in a very impressive run.
First time visitor Travis Swanson held off John
Remington at the line for third with Tim Swanson fifth
in the wild 20-lap event. Chanda Fjorden Nord jumped to the
lead from the outside of the front row in the Street
Stock feature and quickly opened up a 5 car length lead
over a great battle for second between Scott Walker and
Jeff Heintz. Walker and Heintz were in a very spirited
battle for second while Fjorden Nord held the point. Sam
Fankhauser and Marcus Simonson were also locked in
battle behind the leaders, but the night belonged to
Fjorden Nord as she withstood pressure from Walker and
Heintz to win her second feature of the season. Third starting Andy Grymala shot into
the lead as the Super Stock feature flew into turn one
on the opening lap with track point leader Dan Gullikson
in tow. Grymala jumped to the cushion and began to try
to drive away while Gullikson was glued to his rear
bumper. Gullikson tried low several times, but Grymala
was up to the challenge and fended off the #00x with
each attempt. Behind the leaders, Dale Gangl and Mike
Bruggeman were engaged in a great battle for third as
well, but the race up front was the one to watch as
Gullikson continually tried to rattle Grymala, but Andy
was not going to let his first career feature win slip
away and held off the pesky Gullikson to the checkered
for the crowd-pleasing win. The win was Grymala’s first
ever feature win in a Super Stock, with Gullikson and
Gangl rouding out the top three finishers. Kevin Adams has been the man to beat
at Kopellah in 2009 but tonight 4th starting Rick Kobs
had something to say about that. Kobs blasted from the
second and stole the lead from Jeff Lien and Tim
VanMeter who were battling hard for the top spot early
in the event. Once Kobs slid under VanMeter off of turn
four for the race lead, he quickly disappeared into the
night, while 5th starting Kevin Adams was working his
way toward the front as well. Adams appeared in second
just before the mid-point of the event and began to cut
into Kobs’ lead, but Rick had his #63 up to full power
and held off the charging Kopellah Speedway kicks back into
action on Friday, June 12th with the return of the UMSS
Sprint Cars in addition to Modifieds, Super Stocks,
Street Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, Pure Stocks and
Hornets. The first green flag is set to fly at 7pm. For
more information, please log on to
www.kopellahspeedway.net. WISSOTA Modifieds WISSOTA Super Stocks WISSOTA
Kopellah Pure Stocks Kopellah Hornets Walker And
The
Kopellah Speedway finished out the month of May under
what has become typically dreary skies on Friday, May 29th
for the track’s first Kid’s Night of the season plus
action in the Modifieds, Super Stocks, Midwest
Modifieds, Street Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets and
the addition of powder puff races at the conclusion of
the program. After suffering through several off and on
rain showers, several first time winners graced
Kopellah’s victory lane, while it was business as usual
for several others throughout the evening.
Justin
Rick and Ben Kaphing paced the field to the green in the
Hornet feature event and quickly Rick jumped to the
initial lead over the field. Kaphing held second while
Marc Hunter, Steve Sutton and Matt Skipper were trying
to make their way through the field toward the front. 7th
starting Hunter raced through traffic and stole the top
spot, while Sutton dogged him the entire way. Rick
slowed and retired with a flat tire and turned the
battle into second into a battle for the lead, which
Sutton was able to wrestle away from Hunter and hold to
the checkered for his first ever feature win in the
Hornet division. Hunter ran second with Skipper third at
the line.
7th
starting Zach Manley was in search of his third
consecutive feature win here at Kopellah tonight and
wasted no time at all blasting through the field on his
way to the top spot. Manley shot for 7th to
second on the opening circuit and wrestled the lead away
from Chad Ogilvie a lap later. Once out front, Manley
drove off from the field for a while until 6th
starting Adam Delfosse began to run him down toward the
end of the event. Manley was up to the challenge however
and held off the charging Delfosse for his third
straight win in the Pure Stock division. Delfosse ran a
solid second with Steve Baker coming home third at the
line.
Three
time feature winner and track point leader Jason
VandeKamp was looking for his fourth feature win in five
nights at Kopellah in ’09, but front row starter Josh
Bazey had other intentions. Bazey lead the feature for
quite some time last Friday night until he suffered
transmission issues, ending his night early, but tonight
he jumped ot the race lead at the drop of the green and
drove off from the battle behind him. VandeKamp started
8th but quickly bolted to third and began to
pressure second running Mike Gibson. Gibson was running
well on his first night to the track in ’09, but
suddenly suffered mechanical troubles and retired from
the event, putting VandeKamp into second and on the rear
bumper of Bazey for the restart. Once the green flew,
VandeKamp squeezed his #16 between Bazey and the outside
wall and stole the lead, which he held for the remainder
of the caution-filled event for his fourth win in five
starts at the quarter mile this season. 13th
starting Ryan Johnson charged through traffic and snuck
by Bazey late in the event to pick up a career-best
runner up finishing position in his #96 and Bazey ran a
solid third at the finish.
Scott
Walker jumped into command at the start of the Street
Stock feature and basically never looked back throughout
the event for his first win of 2009. As
Cory
Davis wasted no time taking control at the front of the
field in the Super Stock feature event.
Kevin
Adams remains the man to beat at Kopellah in 2009 as he
blasted from the second row to the lead on the opening
circuit and completely dominated the Modified feature
event for his fourth win of the season. Rick Kobs and
Jason Miller waged a very intense battle for second
throughout the second half of the race, with Kobs
nipping Miller at the line for the runner up spot, but
no one had anything for
Deb
Christianson and Amy Berg raced to the wins in their
respective divisions in Kopellah’s first powder puff
events of 2009 tonight as well.
Kopellah
Speedway kicks back into action on Friday, June 5th
with the return of the UMSS Sprint Cars in addition to
Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks, Midwest
Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets. The first green flag
is set to fly at 7pm. For more information, please log
on to
www.kopellahspeedway.net.
WISSOTA
Modifieds
Feature:
Kevin Adams, Rick Kobs, Jason Miller, Mike Kelley Jr.,
Steve Lavassuer, Marc Johnson, Jim Cimfl, Jeremy Gross,
Tim VanMeter
WISSOTA
Super Stocks
Feature:
Cory Davis, Jason Schill, Dan Gullikson, John Remington,
Andy Grymala, Don Talmage JR., Jason Quarders, Mike
Dyrdahl, Marcus Berget
WISSOTA
Feature:
Jason VandeKamp, Ryan Johnson, Josh Bazey, Michael
Haseltine, John Remington, Bryce Johnson, Sampson
Haseltine, Dan Larson, Jason Bottolfson, Tony Schill,
Ben Johnson, Tim Swanson, David Swearingen, Corey
Fogleson, Mike Gibson, Vince Corbin, Greg Arnt, Myles
McEvers
Heat 2:
Gibson, Remington, Bazey, Bryce Johnson, M. Haseltine,
Swanson, R. Johnson, Fogleson, Bottolfson
Feature:
Scott Walker, Sam Fankhauser, Chanda Fjorden Nord, Jeff
Heintz, Marcus Simonson, Kyle Howland, Skip Lutgen, Ed
Puariea, Kim Korstad
Kopellah
Pure Stocks
Feature:
Zach Manley, Adam Delfosse, Steve Baker, Chad Ogilvie,
David Leaf, Josh Bach, Mike Olson, Tyler English, Nathan
Swanson, Jesse Lutgen, Krysta Swearingen, Fabian
Jackson, Nathan Fisk, Lance Halverson, Ryan Finnigan
Heat 2:
Manley, Ogilvie, Swearingen, Swanson, Leaf, English,
Jackson
Kopellah
Hornets
Feature:
Steve Sutton, Marc Hunter, Matt Skipper, Jeff Pedersen,
Kevin Bradwell, Pamela Lutgen, Ben Kaphing, Jason
Christianson, Brandon Fischer, Daemieon Hart, Justin
Rick, Jacob Christensen, Kris Kaphing, Doug Fick
Heat 2:
Rick, Sutton, Skipper, Pedersen, K. Kaphing, Fischer,
Lutgen
Powder
Puff
Race 2:
Amy Gross, Dolly Fjorden, Bea Good, Bonnie Simonson,
Molly Lutgen
Fjorden Nord Prepared By
Chris Stepan A picture perfect night was upon fans
and drivers alike at the Kopellah Speedway on Friday,
May 22nd for the first time in 2009 and a large crowd
was on hand to witness the hotly contested racing action
all night long. Jason VandeKamp raced to his third
Kopellah feature win of the season in the Midwest
Modified division as Kevin Bradwell did the same in the
Hornet class. Zach Manley raced to his second straight
Pure Stock feature win, while John Remington and Chanda
Fjorden Nord captured their first wins of the season in
the Super Stock and Street Stock classes respectively
and Jerry Richert Jr picked up his first UMSS Sprint Car
feature win of 2009 in the night’s finale. After all of the preliminary action
was in the books, the Hornets were the first feature to
roll out onto the track once again this week. Defending
track champion Kevin Bradwell was sitting in Doug Fick’s
#02 car tonight, but that didn’t slow the 2 time winner
one bit. Bradwell went on to dominate the 15-lap event
from his 7th starting position. Rookie Justin Rick took
off into the initial lead from the pole position and
looked to be driving away with the event until a flat
tire took him from competition and allowed the charging
Bradwell to overtake the top spot, which he never
relinquished. As Bradwell drove off to his third feature
win, Steve Sutton and Jacob Christiansen ran side by
side for second over the last few laps of the event,
with Christiansen coming out with the position.
Zach Manley wasted little time from
his 8th starting position to get out front and hold off
furious challenges to win the Pure Stock feature
tonight. Manley picked his way through traffic and once
he got to second he and leader Nathan Fisk put on a
thrilling show for the crowd at the front of the field.
Fisk lead most of the event with Manley glued to his
rear bumper. Manley looked to the inside of Fisk on
multiple occasions, but Nathan was able to hold off
Manley for 14 of the 15 laps, until Manley dove to the
inside of Fisk in the final set of turns and emerged
with a last corner pass for the win. First time visitor
Steven Johnson ran a solid race to come home third at
the line. Josh Bazey jumped to the race lead at
the drop of the green in the Midwest Modified feature
event and bolted away from the field quickly with Tim
Swanson, Bryce Johnson and Taylor Leuthner racing three
deep for second. Bazey was very strong early tonight as
he drove off to a sizeable lead, while 9th starting
Jason VandeKamp and 7th starting Vince Corbin were
picking their way through traffic on their way to the
front. VandeKamp cleared traffic and slid into second
and began to try to chase down Bazey, but Josh looked to
have things in control until he suddenly slowed on the
backstretch and pulled into the pit area with mechanical
troubles, handing the lead to VandeKamp. After several
cautions, Corbin and John Remington were glued to
VandeKamp’s rear bumper once again, but the #16 ride was
once again up to the challenge and raced to his third
win in four starts at Kopellah. Remington raced from 8th
to second and Corbin, who debuted a new car tonight, ran
third at the line.
Jeff Antczak and Marcus Simonson
paced the field to the green in the WISSOTA Street Stock
feature event, but 3rd starting Chanda Fjorden Nord took
advantage of a great start and stole the lead early as
Jeff Heintz and Scott Walker tried to chase her down
early. Fjorden Nord ran away out front, while Simonson,
Walker, Heintz and AJ Foat were locked in a thrilling
battle behind her. Simonson did a masterful job holding
off the charging Heintz for second as Fjorden Nord
cruised to her first feature win of the season. John Remington stole the lead at the
start of the Super Stock feature as 12th starting Dan
Gullikson was quickly flying through the field on his
way to the front. Remington got out front and tried to
drive away, but Cory Davis, Mike Loomis, Dave Flynn and
Scott Lawrence were trying to stay with him. Remington
was solid out front as Gullikson continued to pick his
way through the field and appeared in second at the
mid-point of the event. Gullikson then tried to overtake
Remington, but John held the preferred line and was able
to hold off the #00x for his first feature win of the
season. Gullikson completed his back to front run with a
second place finish and Kevin
Adams shot through traffic from his 7th starting spot
and took the lead early in the Modified feature and
never looked back. Jerry Richert Jr made a daring move
on the opening lap of the UMSS Sprint Car feature race
and shot from 4th to 1st as the raced his #62 Sprint Car
through the first set of turns. Richert Jr then drove
off and looked to dominate the event, while Brad
Barickman, Jason Tostensen and Kenny Melanson duked it
out behind him. After a mid-race restart, Barickman
surprised Richert Jr and stole the lead at the green,
only to have the yellow wave for the second time for a
spun car in turn four. This time on the restart, Richert
Jr was on the gas and drove back out to the lead, which
he held on to through lapped traffic for his second
straight UMSS feature win. Barickman beat Tostensen to
the line for second. SUMMARY: WISSOTA Modifieds Feature: Kevin Adams, Mike Kelley Jr., Tim VanMeter, Steve Lavassuer, Jason Schill, Marc Johnson, Mike Raboin, Scott Kobs Heat 1: Adams, Lavassuer, VanMeter, Kelley Jr., Johnson WISSOTA Super Stocks Feature: John Remington, Dan Gullikson, Cory Davis, Mike Loomis, Dave Flynn, Scott Lawrence, Jason Schill, Andy Grymala, Don Talmage, Eric Gadach, Marcus Berget, Mike Dyrdahl Heat 1: Remington, Loomis, Berget,
Schill, Gullikson WISSOTA Feature: Jascon VandeKamp, John Remington, Vince Corbin, Tim Swanson, Ryan Johnson (96), Lucas Milz, Greg Arnt, Sampson Haseltine, Ryan Johnson (22r), Doug Merril, Corey Fogleson, Kyle Matuska, Bryce Johnson, Myles McEvers, Josh Bazey, Josh Amans, Dan Larson, Ben Johnson, Taylor Luethner, Michael Haseltine Heat 1: Luethner, Swanson, Bazey, M. Haseltine, Arnt Heat 2: Corbin, Matuska, Milz, Ben
Johnson, R. Johnson (22r) Feature: Chanda Fjorden Nord, Marcus Simonson, Jeff Heintz, AJ Foat, Scott Walker, Ryan Asp, Ed Puariea, Jeff Antczak, Kyle Howland, Skip Lutgen, Kim Korstad Heat 1: Fjorden Nord, Walker,
Simonson, Howland, Korstad Kopellah Pure Stocks Feature: Zach Manley, Nathan Fisk, Steven Johnson, Steve Baker, Josh Bach, Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Swanson, Jesse Lutgen, David Leaf, Mike Olson, Tyler English, Chad Ogilvie, Adam Delfosse, Lance Halverson, Damon Stuesek, Rodney Jacobson Heat 1: Baker, Swearingen, Fisk, Bach, Lutgen Heat 2: Johnson, Delfosse, Ogilvie, Manley, Swanson Kopellah Hornets Feature: Kevin Bradwell, Jacob Christianson, Steve Sutton, Marc Hunter, Jeff Pedersen, Kris Kaphing, Damieon Hart, Matt Skipper, Justin Rick, Ben Kaphing Heat 1: Skipper, Rick, Sutton, Pedersen, Hart Heat 2: Bradwell, Christiansen, Hunter, B. Kaphing, K. Kaphing UMSS Sprint Cars Feature: Jerry Richert Jr., Brad Barickman, Jason Tostenson, Kenny Melanson, Sye Anderson, Gene Kelly, Joseph Kouba, Mike Luks, Rick Sandberg, Cody Hahn, Leigh Thomas, Kevin Nichol, Johnny Parsons III Ultimate Heat 1: Tostenson, Kelly, Melanson, Thomas, Kouba Ultimate Heat 2: Hahn, Richert Jr.,
Sandberg, Barickman,
Prepared By Chris Stepan The
second event of the month of May took place at the Kopellah
Speedway on Friday, May 8th with rain storms in the
immediate area of the After all of the preliminary action was in the books, the Hornets were the first feature to roll out onto the track for the second week in a row. Defending track champion Kevin Bradwell was trying to make it three for three in feature wins to open the season, but Marc Hunter and front row starter James Miller had other ideas in the 15-lap event. Hunter and Jake Christianson battled hard with each other to try to claim the lead, while James Miller and Bradwell were working on the lead duo to try to get in on the action as well. 12th starting Doug Fick was making his way through traffic as Bradwell’s #95 began to smoke and slow, dropping him from any shot to win his third in a row, while up front Miller just dominated the second half of the event for the apparent win. However in post race tech, it was determined that Miller’s #99 did not fit into Kopellah’s track rules and he was disqualified from the event, elevating Hunter to the win. Zach Manley bolted from the 7th starting position to get out front and hold off furious challenges to win the Pure Stock feature tonight. Manley picked his way through traffic and once he got out front, he had to work hard to keep the lead as Adam Delfosse and Dusty Brown were all over him trying to slip by. The event was an entertaining one for the fans as the battle for the lead remained highly contested until the checkered, which Manley picked up over Delfosse and Brown. Jason
VandeKamp was in search of his third consecutive Kopellah
Speedway feature win in the Midwest Modified division but
the 8th starting Brandon Davis spoiled that thought as he
bolted to the front in a wild first several laps to steal
the top spot and hold off a furious charge from 19th
starting Dan Wheeler to win his firs Kopellah feature of
2009. Rob Caho Jr. and AJ Roschen battled early for the race
lead, while Davis, VandeKamp, Ryan Viltz and Ronnie Rihn
were locked in an amazing 4 car battle for third as Wheeler
was storming through the field from 19th. Once Davis
wrestled the lead away he was on a mission and never looked
back as Wheeler and VandeKamp were locked in battle for
second throughout much of the second half of the 20-lapper. Jeff Heintz’ #57 Street Stock was the class of the field tonight as he recorded a clean sweep in easy fashion. Heintz won the lone Streeter heat race from the outside of the second row and then held Scott Walker and Kyle Howland at bay to win his second consecutive Street Stock feature tonight. Marcus Simonson and Chanda Fjorden Nord rounded out the top five finishers at the line. Super Stock new-comer Jason Schill has found the division to his liking early in the season as he outran Dan Gullikson tonight for his second consecutive Kopellah feature win of the early season. Schill started 3rd and quickly took off into the lead with Gullikson in tow. The duo ran away from the field early, while John Remington and Andy Grymala were waging a duel for third throughout the event. Schill held Gullikson at bay for the entire event to win the Super Stock feature tonight for his second straight win in the division.
Kevin Adams quickly
shook off last week’s misfortune and raced from the third
row to dominate the Modified feature without looking back.
The event was slowed by 4 caution flags, but on each
restart, Jerry
Richert Jr stole the lead from Joseph Kouba on a lap 7
restart en route to winning the UMSS Sprint Car main event
tonight. Richert looked very strong all night long and after
starting 6th due to the invert, he methodically picked his
way through traffic to win the main over early leader Kouba,
Jason Tostenson, Brad Barickman and John Nelson at the line. SUMMARY: WISSOTA
Modifieds Feature:
Kevin Adams, Rick Kobs, Andy Miskowic, Keith Tourville,
Steve Levassuer, Tim VanMeter, Scott Kobs, Marc Johnson,
Cory Sersha, Ryan Viltz, Mike Kelley Jr., Jeff Lien Heat 1:
R. Kobs, Kelley Jr., Lien, Miskowic, Viltz Heat 2:
Adams, Levassuer, Tourville, S. Kobs, VanMeter WISSOTA
Super Stocks Feature:
Jason Schill, Dan Gullikson, John Remington, Andy Grymala,
Brad Johnson, Tom Cornelison, Tim Baxter, Shane Kisling,
Marcus Berget, Eric Gadach Heat 1:
Remington, Gullikson, Johnson, Grymala, Gadach WISSOTA Feature:
Brandon Davis, Dan Wheeler, Jascon VandeKamp, Ryan Viltz,
Ronnie Rihn, John Remington, AJ Roschen, Michael Haseltine,
Ryan Johnson, Andrew Inman, Ben Johnson, Myles McEvers,
Bryce Johnson, Josh Bazey, Rob Caho Jr., Kyle Matuska, Corey
Fogleson, Tim Swanson, David Swearingen, Dan Larson, Vince
Corbin Heat 1:
Caho Jr., Swanson, Bazey, Swearingen, B. Johnson Heat 2:
Davis, VandeKamp, Rihn, R. Johnson, Fogleson Feature:
Jeff Heintz, Scott Walker, Kyle Howland, Marcus Simonson,
Chanda Fjorden Nord, Skip Lutgen Heat 1:
Heintz, Walker, Howland, Simonson, Fjorden Nord Kopellah
Pure Stocks Feature:
Zach Manley, Adam Delfosse, Dusty Brown, Tyler Wahlstrom,
Krysta Swearingen, Nathan Swanson, Josh Bach, Nathan Fisk,
Mike Olson, Jesse Lutgen, Billy Brouse, Chad Ogilvie, Lance
Halverson, Steve Baker, David Leaf Heat 1:
Baker, Manley, Fisk, Olson, Bach Heat 2:
Delfosse, Swearingen, Wahlstrom, Halverson, Bown Kopellah
Hornets Feature:
Marc Hunter, Doug Fick, Jacob Christianson, Matthew Skipper,
Ben Kaphing, Kevin Bradwell, Kris Kaphing, Justin Rick,
Pamela Lutgen, Steve Sutton, James Miller, Clint Miller Heat 1:
Bradwell, Sutton, Lutgen, J. Miller, B. Kaphing Heat 2:
Christianson, C. Miller, Hunter, Rick, K. Kaphing UMSS
Sprint Cars Feature:
Jerry Rivhert Jr., Joseph Kouba, Jason Tostenson, Brad
Barickman, John Nelson, Gene Kelley, Cody Hahn, Leigh
Thomas, David Becker, Kenny Melanson, Mike Luks, Sye
Anderson, Kevin Nichols, Rick Sandburg Heat 1:
Richert Jr., Kouba, Hahn, Kelley, Anderson Heat 2:
Barickman, Nelson, Melanson, Tostenson, Sandburg
VandeKamp
Storms To Second Straight Kopellah Win
Prepared By Chris Stepan
(May
1st 2009 –
The first event of the month of May
took place at the Kopellah Speedway on Friday, May 1st
with the second windy and cold night at the
After all of the preliminary action
was in the books, the Hornets were the first feature to roll
out onto the track for the second week in a row. Defending
track champion Kevin Bradwell was trying to make it back to
back feature wins to open the season, but polesitter Marc
Hunter and outside front row starter Brad Schramel had other
ideas in the 15-lap event. Hunter and Schramel battled hard
with each other to try to claim the lead, while 4th
starting James Miller and Bradwell were working on the lead
duo to try to get in on the action as well. Schramel and
third place running Doug Fick both encountered mechanical
troubles late in the race, allowing Miller, 13th
starting Steve Sutton and 10th
starting Ben Kaphing to get into the mix. As the laps wound
down, Breadwell’s #95 began to smoke a bit and Miller,
Kaphing and Sutton were all three able to hold off the
defending track champion to finish in the top three
positions. However, after scaling, none of the top three
drivers went to the tech area and were subsequently
disqualified, elevating Bradwell to the event win.
Dusty Brown made his first appearance
at the Kopellah Speedway a memorable one as he lead every
lap to win the Pure Stock feature tonight. Brown took off
from the front row, but was under extremely heavy pressure
throughout the 15-lap affair from Krysta Swearingen, Nathan
Fisk and Zach Manley. Fisk suffered a breakdown midway
through the event while both Swearingen and Manley applied
pressure high and low to Brown, but Dusty was up to the
challenge and was able to hold off each advance to keep the
top spot and win the main event.
Jason VandeKamp was in search of his
second consecutive Kopellah Speedway feature win in the
Midwest Modified division and achieved that goal after
storming from the 8th
starting position to get by early leader Vince Corbin and
then drive off into the night for his 3rd
feature win of 2009. Corbin took the lead at the drop of the
green from Tim Swanson and drove off a bit, while VandeKamp
and 9th
staring Bryce Johnson were making their way through traffic.
VandeKamp wasted little time charging by car after car and
took control on lap 6. Behind the leader Johnson and Corbin
waged a very spirited battle for the runner up spot
throughout the entire event, while John Remington picked his
way through traffic into the top five. VandeKamp cruised the
rest of the way to the win as Corbin fought off Johnson for
second at the line.
After last week’s terrible outing,
Jeff Heintz’ #57 was back in top form tonight as he raced
off the pole to lead every lap en route to winning the
Street Stock feature at Kopellah tonight. Heintz may have
lead every lap, but he had to work for the win as last
week’s winner Jimmy Randall charged from 7th
to 2nd
at the mid-point of the event and began to put some heavy
pressure on Heintz out front. Scott Walker, Chanda Fjorden
Nord, Kris Peterson and Adam Soltis were in a great battle
for third for the entire event as well with the group
running three and sometimes four wide for position. Back up
front, Heintz and Randall continued to wage a battle for the
top spot and just as it looked as if Heintz was going to win
easily, Randall threw a slide job at Heintz in the final set
of corners and stole the lead going into turn number three,
but Heintz was able to turn back under Randall as the pair
drag raced out of turn four to the line. Heintz would win
the thriller by a few feet over Randall.
Super Stock new-comer Jason Schill has
found the division to his liking early in the season as he
outran Dan Gullikson tonight for his second win of the early
season. Schill started 3rd
and quickly took off into the lead with Gullikson in tow.
The duo ran away from the field early, while John Remington
and Tim Baxter were waging a side by side duel for third
throughout the event. Schill held Gullikson at bay for the
entire event to win the Super Stock feature tonight.
Gullikson ran second with Baxter taking third from Remington
at the line.
Kevin Adams was looking to remain
unbeaten in 2009 as he entered the Modified feature, but
that dream quickly evaporated as he was involved in an early
race altercation and ended his night on the first lap. Jeff
Lien would jump into the top spot at the drop of the green
and proceed to blister his #24L around the top side of the
speedway out front while 7th
starting Rick Kobs was charging toward the front. As Lien
drove all alone out front and Kobs began to work his way
forward, Steve Levassuer and Andy Miskowic were involved in
a great battle for third and Keith Tourville was storming
from 11th
toward the front as well. Kobs caught Lien in turn three and
pulled off a slide job to take the lead away as they raced
out of turn four. Once Kobs had the lead he put a few car
lengths between himself and Lien as Tourville moved in on
Lien to battle for second. Tourville’s #111jr was fast
around the middle of the speedway and he overtook Lien and
Kobs both to complete the dramatic charge from the tail to
the lead, only to see his run end early as he lost control
and spun in front of the leaders, collecting Lien and ending
both of their good runs. Kobs re-inherited the lead and was
able to hold off a charging Lavassuer for the win. Ryan
Viltz snuck by Miskowic for third at the line as well.
SUMMARY:
WISSOTA
Modifieds Feature: Rick Kobs, Steve Lavassuer, Ryan
Viltz, Andy Miskowic, Mike Kelley Jr., Marc Johnson, Jeff
Lien, Keith Tourville, Ken Hansen, Tim VanMeter, Kevin Adams Heat 1: Adams, VanMeter, Viltz, Johnson,
Hansen Heat 2: Lavassuer, Kobs, Miskowic, Lien,
Kelley Jr
WISSOTA
Super Stocks Feature: Jason Schill, Dan Gullikson, Tim
Baxter, John Remington, Andy Grymala, Donnie Lofdahl, Doug
Merrill, Mike Dyrdahl, Eric Gadach, Kevin Eder Heat 1: Gullikson, Baxter, Merrill,
Dyrdahl,
WISSOTA Feature: Jason VandeKamp, Vince Corbin,
Bryce Johnson, John Remington, Tim Swanson, Ryan Johnson,
Josh Bazey, Corey Fogleson, Doug Merrill, Greg Arnt, Ben
Johnson, David Swearingen, Kyle Matuska, Rob Caho Jr., Dan
Larson Heat 1: VandeKamp, Corbin, Merrill,
Swanson, B. Johnson Heat 2: Remington, Swearingen, Matuska,
Fogleson, R. Johnson Feature: Jeff Heintz, Jimmy Randall,
Scott Walker, Chanda Fjorden Nord, Adam Soltis, Kris
Peterson, Ed Puariea, Marcus Simonson, Jeff Antczak, Skip
Lugen, Kyle Howland, Jeff Klopstein Heat 1: Soltis, Fjorden Nord, Walker,
Antczak, Lutgen Heat 2: Randall, Heintz, Peterson,
Simsonson, Puariea
Kopellah
Pure Stocks Feature: Dusty Brown, Krysta Swearingen,
Zach Manley, Josh Bach, Steve Baker, Mike Olson, Lance
Halverson, Fabian Jackson, Nathan Swanson, Nathan Fisk,
Dustin Scheuer, Chad Ogilvie, Jesse Lutgen Heat 1: Fisk, Swearingen, Manley, Brown,
Jackson Heat 2: Scheuer, Baker, Ogilvie, Bach,
Olson
Kopellah
Hornets Feature: Kevin Bradwell, Matt Skipper,
Clint Miller, Pamela Lutgen, Jake Christianson, Doug Fick,
Brad Schramel, Marc Hunter, Jerry Kaufman, James Miller, Ben
Kaphing, Steve Sutton, Thomas Anderson Heat 1: Hunter, Bradwell, Fick, Kaufman,
Christianson Heat 2: Schramel, J. Miller, Skipper, C.
Miller, Kaphing
Randall Rocks Kopellah Opener In Last To First Win
Prepared By Chris Stepan & Greg Parent
(April 24th 2009 – St. Croix Falls, WI)
The new look Kopellah Speedway kicked off the 2009 season on
Friday, April 24th with a beautiful 80* day turning into a
wickedly windy and very cold night as a cold front swept
through the area just as the racing action was about to get
underway. The night featured the first ever UMSS Sprint Car
Series event along with a jam packed program in the six
regular divisions.
After an hour and a half rain delay to start the festivities
and all of the preliminary action in the books, the Hornets
were the first feature to roll out onto the track. Defending
track champion Kevin Bradwell raced from the outside of the
third row to overhaul early race leader Doug Fick midway
through the 15-lap event to claim the lead, which he
stretched throughout the remainder of the race to claim his
first feature win of 2009 in defense of his track
championship from a year ago. Fick ran a solid second with
Ben Kaphing a close third at the line.
Nathan Fisk used the pole position to jump out to an early
race lead in the Pure Stock feature event, but had to work
hard for his first feature win of the ’09 season as Dustin
Schreuer and 12th starting Krysta Swearingen
gave Fisk all he could handle throughout the mid and
late stages of the 15-lapper. Swearingen made a slide job
move on Fisk to try to overhaul him for the top spot, but
got crossed up in front of the field, collected Schreuer and
was sent tailback under the caution, giving Fisk the lead
back and allowing him to race to the win. Steve Baker tried
to run him down, but was forced to settle for second.
Jason VandeKamp out jumped fellow front row started Bryce
Johnson at the drop of the green in the Midwest Modified
feature event and bolted to a sizeable advantage over the
field early on. 7th starting Dan Wheeler quickly made his
way through traffic and appeared in second after just a hand
full of laps, but Vandy was up to the challenge and was able
to hold off the charging red1 throughout the second half of
the 20-lap event. VandeKamp raced to an 8 car length win,
which is his second win of the early 2009 season already.
Wheeler ran a solid second with Doug Merrill third at the
line.
Adam Soltis bolted off the front row in the Street Stock
feature event at the drop of the green, while Kristina
Wollak, Chanda Fjorden Nord and Tim Johnson immediately
began to race three wide for second. Johnson got through
traffic first and set his sights on Soltis, while Jeff
Heintz and Jimmy Randall, who both had mechanical troubles
in their heat races, were charging from 14th and 15th
respectively toward the front. The race up front continued
to be great as Johnson was working over Soltis, while Scott
Walker put his #g60 in the mix as well. Johnson stole the
top spot as Randall appeared in 5th with about 8 laps to go.
Randall’s #15 car continued its march forward as Johnson
contined to hold off Walker in a spirited battle for the
lead. Several late race cautions eliminated Fjorden Nord,
Heintz and Walker from competition, but allowed Randall to
move in on Johnson for the lead. The duo swapped the lead
several times before contact was made, sending Johnson’s
machine over the cushion and to a stop in turn four. Randall
was awarded the lead on the restart and raced to the
improbable last to first thrilling feature win. Soltis and
Kyle Howland were able to hold onto second and third over a
hard charging Johnson from the tail.
Dan Gullikson wasted little time driving off into the night
in the Super Stock feature event. Gullikson raced
uncontested out front throughout the entire event for his
first win of ’09 at Kopellah. Jason Schill, sitting a Jimmy
Mueller owned #21b, ran down Gullikson in the late stages of
the event, but came home a solid second over Tim Borgeson,
who survived a last lap scuffle with Tim Baxter as the duo
raced to the stripe.
Kevin Adams and Rick
Kobs exchanged slide jobs over the first three laps of the
Modified feature which left the fans in awe of the driving
ability of the lead two competitors. Once Adams wrestled the
lead away from Kobs for good, Buzzy drove off into the lead
and showed that last year’s National Championship season was
not a fluke and that his potent #40 will again be tough to
beat in 2009. Kobs ran a very solid second throughout the
entire event, but was pressured heavily by Don Eischens late
in the race. Kobs would withstand the pressure and hang on
for the runner up spot at the checkered.
The UMSS run a double round of qualifying events prior to
their feature race. Drivers earn points based on their
finishes in these preliminary races. Earning Ultimate Sprint
Race victories were Tony Norem, Kenny Melanson, and Jason
Tostenson. In the second round, Ultimate Challenge Races
were won by John Nelson and Brad Barickman. Joseph Kouba and
Rik Sanberg got upside down in the Ultimate Challenges
races. Sandberg was done for the night while Kouba
would borrow a top wing and tag the tail of the
feature. When the points had been tallied, it was Jason
Tostenson as the high point driver. Tostenson pulled the #4
pill for the feature invert. This put Tony Norem and John
Nelson on the front row of the scheduled 20 lap main event.
At the drop of the green, Tony Norem blasted into the lead
over John Nelson. The race was just two laps old when the
first caution flew for a spin by rookie sprint car driver
Jack Zweber in turn four. On the restart, it was again Norem
battling with Nelson and Jason Tostenson for the top spot.
As Norem began to stretch his lead just a bit, the red light
blinked on for a hard crash in turn one by Dave Becker.
Becker rolled his sprinter a couple of times, sustaining
significant damage to the rear of the car. Becker was not
hurt. One lap after the race returned to green, Zweber
looped his car again in turn four and was done for the
night. The restart proved to be the end of Alan Gilbertson's
night as well as his sprint car. Gilbertson's sprinter shot
head-on at full speed into the large tractor tire protecting
the concrete wall at the exit to the pits in turn one. The
impact was fierce, tipping his car on its side and bringing
out the second red of the event. Gilbertson was uninjured.
With Norem in the lead, the race resumed with Nelson and
Tostenson mixing it up for second. The final caution flew 13
laps into the race for a spin in turn 4 by Sioux Falls, SD
youngster Robby Wolfgang. This set the stage for a two lap
dash to the checkers, as the time limit for the race had
been reached. Norem once again shot into the lead and never
looked back enroute to the win in the first UMSS feature
event held for the upstart series. Tostenson, Nelson, Jerry
Richert Jr, and Brad Barickman completed the top five.
Rounding out the top ten were 15th starter Joseph Kouba,
Leigh Thomas, rookie Cody Hahn, Kenny Melanson, and Robby
Wolfgang. Hahn and Melanson made contact at the finish line
with Melanson going for a long slide into turn one.
Fortunately both cars were okay. Norem earned $1,000 for his
efforts with some sponsorship help from GRP Motorsports in
helping to boost the first place pay.
The next scheduled race for the UMSS sprint cars is slated
for Saturday night April 25 at the Cedar Lake Speedway. CLS
will be hosting the 7th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial. The
sprint car feature winner will earn $1,000 which includes
sponsorship money from GRP Motorsports. Former Billy
Anderson Memorial champions include Tony Norem, Bill Boles,
Jerry Richert Jr, Loren Langerud, Jake Peters, and Chuck
Swenson. Racing action is scheduled to get underway at 6:30
PM for what will be the second race of the 2009 UMSS initial
season.
SUMMARY:
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature: Kevin Adams, Rick Kobs, Don Eischens, Keith
Tourville, Steve Lavasseur, Mike Kelley Jr., Ryan Viltz, Tim
Van Meter, Jeff Lien, Andy Miskowic, Marc Johnson
Heat 1: Kobs, Kelley Jr., Tourville, Miskowic, Van Meter,
Johnson
Heat 2: Adams, Eischens, Lavasseur, Viltz, Lien
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature: Dan Gullikson, Jason Schill, Tim Borgeson, Tim
Baxter, KC Hawkinson, Andy Grymala, Don Eischens, Jim
Gullikson, Mike Drydahl
Heat 1: D. Gullikson, J. Gullikson, Baxter, Eischens,
Borgeson, Schill, Hawkinson, Grymala, Dyrdahl
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature: Jason VandeKamp, Dan Wheeler, Doug Merrill, Dave
Siercks, Tim Swanson, Bryce Johnson, Josh Bazey, Ryan
Johnson, Kyle Matuska, Vince Corbin, AJ Roschen, Rob Caho
Jr., Corey Fogelson
Heat 1: Wheeler, Siercks, VandeKamp, Caho Jr., Roschen,
Matuska, R. Johnson
Heat 2: Corbin, Merrill, Bazey, B. Johnson, Swanson,
Fogelson
WISSOTA Street Stocks
Feature: Jim Randall, Adam Soltis, Kyle Howland, Tim
Johnson, Kris Peterson, Jeff Klopstein, Maria Wollak, Ed
Pauriea, Scott Walker, Marcus Simonson, Skip Lutgen, Jeff
Antzak, Kristina Wollak, Jeff Heintz, Chanda Fjorden Nord
Heat 1: Fjorden Nord, Walker, Antzak, Soltis, Klopstein,
Lutgen, M. Wollak
Heat 2: Johnson, Peterson, Howland, K. Wollak, Pauriea,
Simonson, Heintz, Randall
Kopellah Pure Stocks
Feature: Nathan Fisk, Steve Baker, Nathan Swanson, Mike
Olson, Krystal Swearingen, Fabian Jackson, Damon Steusek,
Dustin Schreuer, Lance Halverson, Jesse Lutgen, Josh Bach,
Tyler English, Chad Ogilvie
Heat 1: Schreuer, Olson, Ogilvie, Swanson, English
Heat 2: Fisk, Lutgen, Halverson, Baker, Jackson, Bach,
Swearingen, Steusek
Kopellah Hornets
Feature: Kevin Bradwell, Doug Fick, Ben Kaphing, Steve
Sutton, Jake Christianson, Matt Skipper, Kris Kaphing, Brad
Schramel, Mark Henele, Greg Johnson
Heat 1: Schramel, Skipper, B. Kaphing, Sutton, K. Kaphing
Heat 2: Henele, Fick, Bradwell, Christianson, Johnson UMSS Sprint Cars
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