5/17/2024
Beaver Dam Raceway
Lewis Picks Up National Qualifier; Many More Pick Up Beaver Dam Wins
Beaver Dam, WI (May 17th, 2024) - The best weekly racing continued during the third night of weekly racing at Beaver Dam Raceway. A big night for all divisions was capped off by an even bigger night for the Legends.Direct Legends. A National Qualifier event for the class brought in many from the area with just one goal, national points. Many Beaver Dam Raceway alumni were also on hand, with vintage race cars on display for the fans to get close to and see. Mackinley Rechek and Grayson Van Hierden were the two lucky kids of the night, winning bikes from Skyler Woods and the Milwaukee Stock Car Association.
A pit area packed full of 108 cars started the night off well, with 14 EK Machine Unified Street Stocks, 29 Legends.Direct Legends, 14 N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars, 28 Rich’s Truck & Auto Repair IMCA Sport Modifieds, and 23 Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
Heat races and B-mains started the on track action, with 17 races setting up five great features. James Fletcher and TJ Reichenberger picked up the EK Machine Unified Street Stock heat races; Adam Zellmer, Jackson Lewis, Kim Clover, and Glenn Mitchell found themselves up top for the Legend.Direct Legend heats while Cal Swenson won the B-main; the N&S Towing IMCA Stock Car heat races were won by Brandon Paitrick and Matt Rechek; Rich’s Truck & Auto Repair IMCA Sport Modified heat races went to Geoff Zdroik, Cole Slezewski, Matthew Roehl, and Vince Jung with Jared Apel on top of the B-main; Brandon Schmitt, Justin Pearson, and Mike Schmuhl took home the top spot in the final heats for the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
Nathan Persha and TJ Reichenberger led the first feature of the night to green in the EK Machine Unified Street Stocks. After charging through the field from his seventh starting spot, James Fletcher emerged victorious, continuing a strong start to his season and picking up another feature win, as well as another hard-charger run. Dale Kreuziger finished second, with Jon Schultz rounding out the podium. Phillip Wuesthoff and Jerry Winkler finished fourth and fifth on the night.
A 20-lap National Qualifier feature was up next for the Legends.Direct Legends, with Lilly Fassbender starting from the pole, and Mark Wellman alongside her. The favorite to win the night was without a doubt Jackson Lewis, who was vying to maintain his undefeated streak at the track this season. After starting eleventh, Lewis flew through the field before coming under pressure from the 2021 Track Champion Jordan Miklas. The pair battled for numerous laps, but it was Lewis who would continue his winning ways and pick up another feature win. Miklas came home second with Glenn Mitchell bringing home third. A career best fourth for Charlie Spoonmore made his night, with Kim Clover coming home fifth. Brady Ascherien and Nate Werner shared the hard-charger spot, both up 13 spots.
The N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars pulled onto the track next, with Nick Kufalk and Russ Davison starting the race from the front row. Eyes turned to Brandon Schmitt, the 2023 Modified Track Champion, who joined the division this season and has gotten off to a good start with one win in two races already. Schmitt started eighth and quickly made his way to the front, picking up his second feature win, while the other driver who has picked up a win this season, Jeremy Christians, came home second. Both drivers shared the hard-charger spot as well, up seven positions. Dustin Ward came home third, with Timothy Ward fourth after almost rolling, and Nick Kufalk fifth.
The Rich’s Truck & Auto Repair IMCA Sport Modified feature was next on the card, and it was Cole Slezewski who started from the pole while Matthew Roehl started alongside in second. The 2023 Sportmod Champion Elijah Koenig pushed through the field and picked up the win, his second of the season. Geoff Zdroik brought second back to Rubicon, Wisconsin, with Colton See third. Cole Slezewski finished fourth with Mitchell Fairbank fifth. Fairbank and Hunter Larson both moved up eleven spots to be the joint hard-chargers.
Cole Czarneski and Justin Pearson found themselves starting on the front row of the final feature of the night, the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modified feature. Czarneski would spend the race upfront, picking up the win, with a previous winner on the night, Brandon Schmitt second. Jeff Schmuhl brought home a podium in third, with Dan Roedl fourth, and Pearson fifth. Jeff Bodendorfer brought home the hard-charger, finishing ninth after starting nineteenth.
Racing will return to Beaver Dam Raceway in just one week’s time, on May 21st. The pits will open at 4:00pm, with the grandstands opening at 4:30pm. Racing is slated to start at 6:30pm sharp. All information on future races and the upcoming season can be found on wismotorsports.net and the Beaver Dam Raceway Facebook page.
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger