Dells Raceway Park: A penny makes the difference

Excitement was at its peak Saturday night at Dells Raceway Park. Starting off the evening’s activities was a flyover by the Scream’n Rebel Airshow Team. This team has honored Veterans by attending events and airshows throughout the Midwest for over 10 years. The four vintage planes were used in training during WWII and are individually owned, maintained, and flown by their dedicated pilots.

On the heels of the flyover, was the announcement from Assembly Products, regarding a twist in the Challenge. “I made the commitment to award a Late Model driver $1,000,” said Ed Schell, President of Assembly Products, “and even though Cardell Potter did not make the dash this week, I want to give a driver $1,000, so now we are having the Assembly Products Shoot Out.” For the four-week time period, cars in the dash will be in a separate points battle for the shoot out. The top 8 cars based on finishing points, and one promoters choice provisional, will be eligible for the 20-lap shoot out, with the $1,000 grand prize.

Newcomer, Ryan Carlson, set fast qualifying time in the Late Model division, with a time of 14.465 seconds. Bobby Kendall qualified 6th making the shoot out and winning the pole in the 10-lap dash. With former track champion, Rich Schumann Jr hot on his heels, Kendall managed to stay ahead of the pack and cruised into victory lane. Schell was pleased to present the trophy to Kendall saying, “Bobby has one of the best teachers, Jeff (Kendall) is one of the greatest short track drivers.”

In one of the most exciting features of the year, Brian Hakala led the group to green with fast qualifier Ryan Carlson starting deep in the pack. By mid race the field was shuffled with Dave Feiler in the lead, Corey Jankowski in second, Mike Lichtfeld in third, and Ryan Carlson in fourth. A late caution helped Carlson to leap past Jankowski and take over second place. With only two laps to go Lichtfeld executed a daring pass on the inside of Jankowski placing him in second. In the final lap, contact between Carlson and race leader Dave Feiler resulted in a spin giving Lichtfeld the room he needed to bring home the checkered flag.

In Victory Lane, a very excited Mike Lichtfeld told the story of finding a penny that night and picking it up to bring him luck. Lichtfeld noted, “If I could get someone on the hill to drop a penny each week that would be awesome!!!”

Rocky “The Flying Squirrel” Breezer and “Diamond Jim” Bates won their heat races.

Tuffy Myer set fast time in the Sportsman division this week with a time of 15.677 seconds. A full invert of the field, gave Becky Grabarski the coveted pole position, with Bob Coppernoll on the outside. Grabarski and Coppernoll would fight hard for first, with both of them leading throughout the race. By mid-race Becky was in first and wasn’t going to let anyone get past her, winning her first feature and the heat race in the Sportsman division.

In the Pure Stock division, Dave Trute kept up his fast qualifying streak going, with a time of 15.951 seconds. With only one point separating current leader Dave Trute and defending champion Brad Luck, every position matters, and for the feature they both started in the back of the pack. Trute made his way steadily through traffic with Luck right at his heels. At the mid-point in the race Bill Zeman was in the lead with Trute and Luck following. With just two laps to go Trute moved past Zeman into first but he couldn’t hold on, and Zeman won his first feature for the season by a fender! Mark Ailes and Brad Luck won their heat races.

In the Bandit division Kory Childs set fast qualifying time at 17.494 seconds. At the pole, Todd Kolpien lead the early laps of the race until Jerry Martens snuck past him and took over the field. In the meantime, Brandon Junget was making his way to the front from the back of the pack and with only five laps to go was running behind Martens. Junget maneuvered past Martens and cruised into Victory Lane for the fifth time this season. James Junget, Kurt Kolden, and John Preston won their heat races.

Todd Kostichka won the Super Truck feature and Jake Baldwig won the heat.

Photos: http://www.racetrackmarketing.com/media/dells/062610/

* DSC-5922-T-6 Flyby

* DSC-5937-Ed Schell of Assembly Products presenting Bobby Kendall with the Fast Dash Trophy.

* DSC-6073-Brandon Junget in Victory Lane

* DSC-6095-Pure Stock Feature Finish

* DSC-6099-Bill Zeman in Victory Lane

* DSC-61110-Becky Grabarski in Victory Lane

* DSC-6144-Mike Lichtfeld in Victory Lane