8/9/2023
Beaver Dam Raceway
Christians Brings in the Cash, Wins $1,000 Dollars
Beaver Dam, WI (8/9/2023) - Jeremey Christians showed up and showed off as he captured the $1,000-to-win N&S Towing IMCA Stock Car feature.
102 cars came ready to race with 15 EK Machines Unified Street Stocks, 19 Legends.Direct Legends, 18 Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods, 21 N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars for their $1,000-to-win feature, and 29 Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
Heat races went to Jacob Rens and Dustin Ward in the EK Machines Street Stocks; Austin Winkel and Adam Zellmer in the Legends.Direct Legends; Nick Schultz and Tim Sheppard in the Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods; Luke Lemmens, Alex Crapser, and Aaron Stolp in the N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars; and Kelsy Hayes, Mike Wedelstadt, Jeff Schmuhl, and Jeff Steenbergen in the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds. Nick Firari won the B-Main for the modifieds.
The EK Machines Street Stock feature saw TJ Reichenberger and Russ Davison make up the front row. The green flag came out on the first feature and Davison rocketed to the top spot. Jacob Rens made a move into second but not for long. James Fletcher, Jesse Krahn, Dustin Ward, and Phillip Wuesthoff all started to challenge for the top spot with Ward taking it over on lap six. A six car battle for the lead ensued with three and four wide racing in the pack. The 11R of Larry Richards jumped into the mix before a yellow flag came out. Ward led the field back to green as the pressure was there. Richards worked his way up to third and was challenging with Fletcher for the lead before a yellow cut their attempt short. Green came back out and the battle was back on. Ward up high, Richards down low, the bottom line got the run and Richards took the lead. The battle for the final podium spots was between Fletcher, Krahn, and Wuesthoff. Krahn controlled the second spot as he closed on his championship rival in the lead, getting a look inside of Richards but never enough to take the lead. Larry Richards drove through to his second feature win of the season while Krahn came up second with Fletcher third.
Cal Swenson and Matt Gritt started from the front of the Legends.Direct Legends feature. Austin Winkel came from his fourth starting spot to take the lead by the end of lap one. Adam Zellmer was next, moving into second and chasing down Winkel before going around in turn four. The yellow flew for an incident in turn one at the same time, which saw a few cars involved. With the green back out, the focus was on Eric Blumer and Michael Weber, who were on their way through the field and into second and third. A blanket could have been put over the top three, who started to run away from the rest of the field, with Winkel still the leader. Blumer would get a few looks at Winkel but it wasn’t enough, with Winkel driving to his third feature win of the season, with Blumer behind in second and Weber third. The Performance Motorsports Hardest Charger Challenge winner also came in the feature, with Colton Utley pocketing $50 for passing the most cars in the feature.
Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods were up next with Matthew Radtke and Tim Thrun on the front row. Radtke would keep the lead from the drop of the green as eighth starting Nick Schultz started to make moves, getting past a lot of cars to take second by lap seven. Radtke had company from Schultz on the restart, having to fend off the two time feature winner. A battle for third transpired as Tim Sheppard and Colton VanHierden went at it for the final podium spot. Two quick yellows would fly, bunching the pack back up with just six laps left. On the restart, Schultz went high, got the run, and took over the race lead. Picking up his third feature win of the season was Nick Schultz, with Radtke and Sheppard rounding out the podium.
Big money was up next, with $1,000 on the table for whoever won the N&S Towing IMCA Stock Car feature. Jesse Kanas and Jeremy Christians got the draw to start from the front row. Christians go the jump, leading but under pressure from fourth starting Aaron Stolp. Cars battled all around the track as spots swapped like crazy. The focus was on the battle for third as Alex Crapser, Kenny Richards, Brandon Paitrick, and Luke Lemmens all went for the final podium spot. Stolp would have some opportunities to get past Christians, but they closed up as fast as they opened. Christians would make it to the back of the pack before a yellow with five to go made the feature anyone’s for the taking. The green came back out and Christians would get caught out on the top, dropping down the order before a yellow flew, allowing him to re-inherit the lead. Christians wouldn’t repeat his mistake, keeping to lead on the following restarts as he drove away from the field, picking up his second feature win of the season, and $1,000. Kenny Richards came home second with Nick Buckarma third. Kyle Caswell would make an extra $100 for being the hard charger thanks to safety master John Stegner.
The final feature of the night, the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds came out to the track with Mitch Webber and Mike Wedelstadt on the front row. The green flew and so did Mike Wedelstadt, taking the race lead before a yellow flag came out. Wedelstadt led the field back to green, but the focus shifted to eighth starting Jeff Schmuhl, as he raced his way into second and was able to get past Wedelstadt on lap six. Wedelstadt came under pressure from Jeff Steenbergen for second and then Dan Roedl for third. Schmuhl showed his pace in lap traffic, slipping in and out to grow a gap to the rest of the field. Schmuhl would come home with his second clean sweep of the season, doing the same the previous Saturday at another track, and win his third feature win of the Beaver Dam season. Jeff Steenbergen and Dan Roedl came home second and third to round out the podium.
Beaver Dam is off next Tuesday, the 15th, but does have two monster truck shows this weekend, on Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th. Regular racing will be back on August 22nd. All information can be found on wismotorsports.net and the Beaver Dam Raceway Facebook page.
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger