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Greg Parent
NEW RICHMOND, Wisc. (July 9) - The NASCAR Stars Night was held at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Wednesday evening July 9 with NASCAR drivers Greg Biffle, Travis Kvapil, David Ragan, Paul Menard, Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader on hand to entertain the fans in addition to renouned NASCAR team owner Jack Roush. A fantastic evening for racing provided some tremendous action on the 3/8 mile high-banked dirt oval in the two NASCAR divisions scheduled for the program.
A field of 30 NASCAR modifieds including Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader along with 23 NASCAR late models with Paul Menard making his initial dirt track debut highlighted the regular racing program for the night. Feature winners this evening included four-time and defending track champion Dave Cain in the NASCAR modifieds and Ashley Anderson with his third win of the season at CLS in the NASCAR late models. A special NASCAR All-star Race was held at the conclusion of the evening with each NASCAR star on hand wheeling a locally owned late model car in the event which featured two 10 lap segments. Travis Kvapil scored the win in the first segment with Kenny Schrader riding home under Jack Roush's checkered flag to capture the second segment.
Following autograph sessions for the NASCAR stars and interviews with track announcer Chris Stepan, the racing program got underway with three 10 lap heat races for the NASCAR modified division. The strongest modified field seen at CLS in some time was on hand, as heat race winners included Dave Siercks, Dave Cain with a last lap pass of Kenny Schrader, and Kenny Wallace. The second and third modified heats were especially strong with lots of top contenders in each. The NASCAR late models then ran a couple of 10 lap heat races with Brent Larson and Scott Gilberts earning wins.
All cars on hand made the call for the 30 lap NASCAR late model main event paced by front row starters Paul Hipsag and Scott Gilberts. As track announcer Chris Stepan called out his famous words, flagman Jeff Stacken waved the green and 23 cars roared to life. Paul Hipsag bolted into the early lead with Scott Gilberts a very close second. Three laps into the race the yellow slowed the pace when Mike Nutzmann spun in turn 3 and ended up against the concrete wall on the top side of the track. Nutzmann restarted at the tail of the field and would be on the move forward after that. Two laps later, Gilberts got by Hipsag for the lead. Seventh starter Eric Breeschoten moved to second on lap 7 and then grabbed the top spot on lap 8 from Gilberts. Tenth starter Ashley Anderson worked his way to fourth on lap 8. Less than a lap later the second caution waved when Harry Hanson slowed in turn 4 and Dave Cain spun to avoid contact. Hanson dropped out of the race. Breeschoten led lap 9 while Anderson moved past Gilberts for second. One lap later, Anderson drove by Breeschoten and into the lead exiting turn four. It was at this point, an incredible battle developed for the third place position with five cars all bunched up. A few laps later Chuck DeSmith and Rick Egersdorf swapped the third spot several times. Soon Rick Hanestad rejoined the battle and put the pressure on Egersdorf for third. The final caution blinked on for debris on the front stretch and in turn two following contact between Hanestad and Egersdorf. Both cars were okay and quickly resumed their battle for third with Anderson and Breeschoten up front. Hanestad grabbed third on lap 25 only to see Egersdorf regain the spot on lap 27. Hanestad took third back on lap 28 but it was Egersdorf edging past on lap 29. As Ashley Anderson rode home with his third CLS victory of the season a short distance in front of Eric Breeschoten, Hanestad regained the third spot by less than a car length at the line over Egersdorf. Brent Larson completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Toby Patchen from 15th, Chuckie DeSmith, Joey Jensen, Dave Cain and Mike Nutzmann.
The NASCAR modifieds required a B Main in order to set their 24 car starting field. Winning the 12 lap B Main after suffering mechanical woes in his heat race was modified standout Steve Arpin. Rookie Chris Gorka led the first five laps before Arpin motored by for the lead and eventual win. Kevin Viebrock, Gorka, Lonnie Louschke, Scott Pomeroy and Brady Peterson garnered the remaining spots to earn their way into the feature race. With autograph sessions continuing for the NASCAR stars, the CLS track crew did some touch-up work to the track during intermission in order to provide the best possible racing in the two upcoming features.
A very talented field of 24 NASCAR modifieds saw front row starters Terry Hanson and Kenny Schrader bring the field to life for 20 racing laps. Schrader immediately blasted into the lead in his #9 mod with Jason Gross in tow. The first caution waved with 2 laps in when Chris Gorka and Joey Jensen slowed on the track. Gorka dropped out while Jensen restarted at the tail of the field. The race returned to green with Schrader showing the way. Fans not only kept their attention on the two NASCAR stars but also on the progress being made by Dave Cain and Craig Thatcher. At the halfway mark, Cain had moved from 8th to 3rd with Kenny Wallace's #36 mod in 4th. Meanwhile Thatcher had advanced from 18th to 9th. Cain worked past Gross on lap 12 and began closing the gap on leader Schrader. On lap 15, Cain made the winning pass while exiting turn 2. The caution flew for the second time a lap later when rookie Keith Tourville made contact with the turn 2 wall and stopped on the track. At lap 16 it was Cain, Schrader, Gross, Scott Duvall and Craig Brightbill running in the top five. A couple of laps after going back to green, the third caution blinked on for a spin in turn 3 by Keith Lepinski. Under this caution, current CLS track point leader Craig Brightbill saw his fine run come to an end with a flat right rear tire after contact with Gross while battling for third a lap earlier. Suddenly Craig Thatcher appeared in the top five running order in fourth. One lap later the fourth and final caution slowed the pace for a two car incident in turn 3. Scoring reverted back to lap 18, as all cars had not completed the lap. This would set the stage for a green-white-checker dash to the finish. Dave Cain went on to take a popular win, his fourth of the season at CLS, over NASCAR standout Kenny Schrader. Craig Thatcher thrilled the fans with his charge from 18th starting spot to finish a close third behind Schrader. Scott Duvall and popular NASCAR driver Kenny Wallace rounded out the top five in what proved to be a very entertaining modified feature event.
The final race of the night featured the NASCAR stars racing locally owned late models for two 10 lap segments with Jack Roush doing the flagging honors. Travis Kvapil looked impressive in the first 10 lapper enroute to the win. The field was then inverted for the second segment with Paul Menard and David Ragan up front. Menard led early but soon veteran driver Kenny Schrader moved past and went on to score the win with Kvapil moving up to second. All six NASCAR drivers were then interviewed following the race with many positive comments made regarding the night and the track itself. Jack Roush concluded the comments by stating that it was one of the best track surfaces he's seen for a dirt track in quite some time. The drivers then made a lap around the track in the back of a couple of pickup trucks near the fence, so fans could get a close-up view and photo opportunity before heading out. With all activities concluding prior to 10:00 PM, race fans filtered out of the track and headed for home or down to the pit area.
Race fans will want to be sure to be on hand for another entertaining and enjoyable evening featuring the NASCAR late models, modifieds, super stocks, midwest mods and street stocks in a regular weekly program at the legendary Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday July 12. Hot laps are scheduled for 6:30 with racing action slated to get underway at 7:00 PM for the weekly dirt track stars of the NASCAR Whelen Racing Series.
Race Results:
NASCAR Impact Printing Late Models- 23 Cars
Heat 1- Brent Larson, Ashley Anderson, Charles DeSmith, Eric Breeschoten, Paul Hipsag, Kelly Anderson, Tom Nesbitt, Toby Patchen, Jeff Keeney, Jim Carlson, Paul Menard, Justin Fegers
Heat 2- Scott Gilberts, Rick Hanestad, Mike Nutzmann, Harry Hanson, Rick Egersdorf, Dave Cain, Mike Goodremote, Joey Jensen, Jeff Martire, Mike Bear, Mike Hesselink
A Main- Anderson, Breeschoten, Hanestad, Egersdorf, Larson, Patchen, DeSmith, Jensen, Cain, Nutzmann, Anderson, Nesbitt, Gilberts, Fegers, Hipsag, Goodremote, Martire, Carlson, Bear, Menard, Keeney, Hanson, Hesselink
NASCAR Amsoil Modifieds- 30 Cars
Heat 1- Dave Siercks, Jason Gross, Terry Hanson, Jake Jay, Keith Tourville, Keith Lepinski, Dana Lerum, Steve Lavasseur, Bruce Tourville, Lonnie Louschke
Heat 2- Dave Cain, Kenny Schrader, Joey Jensen, Scott Splittstoesser, Jeremy Gross, Jason Schill, Chris Gorka, Don Brightbill, Steve Arpin, Brady Peterson
Heat 3- Kenny Wallace, Scott Duvall, Craig Brightbill, Al Uotinen, Mike Mueller, Craig Thatcher, Kevin Viebrock, Scott Pomeroy, Cory Williams, Jason Miller
B Main- Arpin, Viebrock, Gorka, Louschke, Pomeroy, Peterson, Lerum, Lavasseur, Tourville, Williams, Brightbill
A Main- Cain, Schrader, Thatcher, Duvall, Wallace, Uotinen, Splittstoesser,
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