Beaver Dam, WI – August 16, 2008.
The Interstate Racing Association sprint car series
made their final appearance at Charter Raceway Park Saturday night.
They, along with the regular divisions put on a fantastic show in
front of a crowd of diehard race fans. The first feature of the
night was with the Gibbsville Cheese Legend cars. From the start, it
looked like it might be three in a row for Joel Wyttenbach. He went
immediately to the outside of the speedway at the drop of the green
while the rest of the field looked to stay down on the bottom. By
lap four, Wyttenbach was in the lead over Brian Peterson and Jeff
Steenbergen, second and third respectively. Defending track
champion, Eric Barth was also on the move and took over the second
position on lap seven. Debris on the speedway on lap eight bunched
the field back up but on the restart, Wyttenbach pulled away again
and picked up the win. He was followed to the line by Barth, Mike
Mueller and Robert Lever.
The Napa Street Stock feature was never in doubt as Jesse Kanas went
right to the front and led all 20 laps. Behind him, the battle for
second on back was hotly contested between Jon Schultz, Andrew Araco
and Aaron Streblow. Schultz got by Steblow on lap 11 and Araco on
lap 17 to finish second with Araco third and Streblow fourth. With
Jeremy Schwoch finishing 13th, Streblow and Schwoch will go into the
final two weeks of the season tied for the points race.
The Johnsonville Brats Supply Grand National feature provided the
most drama of the night. Roger Lee had cut Don Sorce’s points lead
in half last week and was looking to close the gap even more. Going
into the feature event, they had both won their heats so they were
dead even for the night. Sorce got the better start in the feature
and, with an aggressive approach to the race, moved up to the lead
on lap eight. Lee was stuck back in traffic with a car that just
couldn’t seem to get the job done. The drama really started at lap
12. Going into turn two, Lee got just a little bit sideways but
looked like he might correct it. However, Will Sorce got into Lee
and turned him the rest of the way around with the front end of
Lee’s car getting hit as he came to a halt in the corner. As the
cars came around Lee let Sorce know he was unhappy with what had
happened. Both cars were put to the back. With Don Sorce at the
front and Lee at the back, it looked like Lee’s chances of repeating
as track champion were dashed. However, just four laps later, Don
Sorce’s car slowed and went to the infield giving the lead to a
lucky Will Schumacher. Schumacher paced the final four laps for the
win with Aaron Streblow coming in second. Lee finished eight and
Sorce 13th so Sorce’s lead was cut some more with just two more
weeks of points to go.
One of the most exciting races of the evening came in the Weld
Specialty Corp Modified A-Main. Dylan Koltz got credit for leading
the first lap but would quickly fade. Joe McGrath was able to get
past Koltz on lap two and looked like a strong contender. However,
the defending track champion, Tim Lemirande, was on the move and
coming fast along with Mitch McGrath. The two cars moved into the
second and third place positions on lap four. In his first
appearance at Charter in 2008, B G Wood quickly figured out the
racing surface and had taken the fourth spot by the end of the
fourth circuit. Lemirande and Joe McGrath put on a great show over
the next five or six laps with the lead changing hands several
times. Lemirande liked the outside and McGrath kept his car to the
inside. The first yellow of the event came out on lap 11 for Kolt.
On the restart, Lemirande held the top spot in front of Joe McGrath.
Mitch McGrath got by Joe just two laps later just as the yellow came
out for Chris Piquette. “Flyin” Ryan Marshall’s night ended the
following lap as the field came out of turn four. Marshall got
tangled up with Jeremy Christians and Eddie LeMay with Marshall’s
car getting about 3 feet off the ground but landing on all four
tires. Once the race got restarted, Lemirande had to contend with
Mitch McGrath as the two swapped the top two positions a couple of
times over the next five laps. The battle between Mitch McGrath and
Lemirande allowed Jay Schraufnagel to close on the pair and make it
a three car battle for the win. Schraufnagel got past both McGrath
and Lemirande as they completed lap 18 but a caution for Koltz reset
the field with Lemirande at the point, McGrath second and
Schraufnagel third. The two lap shootout ended with Lemirande
picking up the win, Mitch McGrath second and Schraufnagel finishing
third.
Brooke Tatnell took the lead on lap five of the IRA A-Main event and
never looked back. Mike Kertscher worked hard to keep pace but was
unable to reel him in close enough to make a serious challenge for
the lead. The event had a hard time getting started with four
cautions in the first three laps involving eight different drivers.
Coming across fourth on the first lap, Tatnell kept his car on the
high side to get around Donny Goeden and Brian Kristan and Kris
Spitz and took the lead on lap five. Another five laps later,
Tatnell was still in the lead with a comfortable lead over Kertscher
and Goeden. However, Rusty Egan brought out the flag erasing the
lead of Tatnell. Tatnell pulled away on the restart. The battle for
fourth was heating up between Kristan and Scotty Neitzel and the two
went back and forth for several laps before the yellow came out on
lap 22. The final eight laps were run under green with Tatnell
getting the win followed by Kertscher and Goeden.
Next week, Charter Raceway Park will have all 5 regular divisions
competing. Pits open at 3:30 and the main gates open at 4:30. Racing
is scheduled to start promptly at 6:30. Contact the track office for
more information at 920-382-7858.
MODIFIEDS
HEATS Jim Zdroik, Craig Priewe, Tim Lemirande, Mitch McGrath, Ryan
Horst
B MAIN 1 Eddie LeMay, Steve Mueller, Joey Jaeger, Dan Tafelski, Rob
Schmid
B MAIN 2 Brian Crapser, Aaron Rake, Dennis Krause, Nick Firari, Dave
Schoenberger
A MAIN Tim Lemirande, Mitch McGrath, Jay Schraufnagel, Joe McGrath,
Don Scheffler, Aaron Rake, Steve Mueller, Joel Crowbridge, Dennis
Krause, Eddie LeMay
LEGENDS
HEATS Brad Weber, Eric Barth, Joel Wyttenbach
A MAIN Joel Wyttenbach, Eric Barth, Mike Mueller, Robert Lever,
Kevin Brill, Greg Hartlaub, Joe Johnson, Grant Greenfield, Aaron
Muhle, Brian Peterson
STREET STOCKS
HEATS Jesse Kanas, Andrew Araco
A MAIN Jesse Kanas, Jon Schultz, Andrew Araco, Aaron Streblow, Roger
Frank, Brent Lepple, Brandon Paitrick, Gordon Schultz, Matt Bedker,
Joe Brenner
GRAND NATIONALS
HEATS Don Sorce, Roger Lee
A MAIN Will Schumacher, Brian Gerber, Tommy Moore, Nick Schumacher,
Craig Boettcher, Todd Ascherien, Don Schumacher, Roger Lee, Will
Sorce, Curt Beek
Interstate Racing Association Sprint Cars
A Main Brooke Tatnell, Mike Kertscher, Donny Goeden, Scotty Neitzel,
Steve Meyer, Brian Kristan, Scott Biertzer, Billy Balog
