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Greg Parent
NEW RICHMOND, Wisc. (July 26) - Following a rain out the previous Saturday night, fans and drivers turned out in force on a perfect summer evening for racing at the Cedar Lake Speedway on July 26. A season high 135 cars were on hand to compete in the five weekly NASCAR racing divisions. Several drivers found their way to Victory Lane for the first time this season with rookie midwest modified driver Jeremy Houle earning his first career feature win. Cory Davis in the super stocks and Craig Brightbill in the modifieds earned their first CLS wins of the 2008 season. Point leader Devin Neske took top honors in the street stock division for his second win of the season while Brent Larson continued his winning ways with his fifth feature win in late model competition.
A very good turnout in the NASCAR street stocks saw 17 cars on hand. Heat race winners included Devin Neske and Ron Hanestad who was making his first appearance of the season. The NASCAR midwest modifieds had their largest car count of the season so far, topping the charts with 41 cars on hand. Bob Smith, Tim Siercks, and rookies Jason Vandekamp and Josh Bazey recorded heat race victories. The NASCAR super stocks had three heat races for their 24 car field. The first two heats were exceptionally good with Tim Borgeson and Lyle Archambeau earning wins. The third super stock heat race saw the first red flag of the evening when a grinding crash involving Justin Stahl and Brandon Jensen occurred in turn one. Both cars were done for the night. Mike Weber claimed the win. A strong field of 26 NASCAR modifieds found Larry Zeller, in his first appearance of the season, taking top honors in the first heat. Dave Cain led all the way from the pole to win the second heat. Jason Miller paced the field for 10 laps in winning the third heat. Even with a late model special at another track to the north, a very good field of 27 NASCAR late models were on hand. Mike Goodremote, Chuck DeSmith, and Eric Breeschoten were victorious in the three heats.
The only division requiring a B Main was of course the NASCAR midwest modifieds. Earning transfer spots to their feature race were Steve Strandlund Jr, Chad Patterson, Mike Gibson and Kyle Matuska. The stage was now set for feature racing action, and Cedar Lake Speedway officials kept the program moving right along with only minimal track maintenance work during the course of the evening.
The NASCAR street stock main was first up. Trisha Nyreen and Derek Borchardt led the field down to the green flag. Third starter Devin Neske grabbed the lead at the end of the opening lap though. A couple of early cautions slowed the pace, as Neske continued to show the way over Nyreen and Ron Hanestad. The race was slowed a couple more times in the middle stages for spins. Fifth starter Scott Paulson worked his way forward as the laps clicked off and eventually moved into the runnerup spot a couple of laps from the finish. Devin Neske went on to record his second win of the season, and his first since opening night in his bid to win the track point championship. Scott Paulson, also in his first appearance of the season, rode home in second ahead of Trisha Nyreen, Ron Hanestad and Chanda Fjorden-Nord. Of interest this evening, one quarter of the field was comprised of female competitors with Trisha and Chanda turning in strong top five runs in the always competitive street stock division.
Bob Smith and Tim Siercks brought the NASCAR midwest modified field around for 15 green flag racing laps in their feature. Smith, looking for his second CLS win of the season, immediately bolted into the lead. The race was under caution a few times early on before settling in for a long green flag run. The attention of the fans was generally focused on a couple of cars advancing forward, as row five starters Jeremy Houle and Dan Wheeler were on the move. Smith held the early lead over Tim Siercks, Dane Durbin and track point leader Shawn Phillips. The top five spots continued to get shuffled around some and eventually Jeremy Houle passed Durbin and Phillips to grab the runnerup position with Wheeler also moving forward. As green flag racing continued, the stage was set for an exciting finish with Smith holding a narrow lead over Houle at the white flag. With Smith running high and Houle running a bit lower on the track, the two came off turn four side-by-side. Houle just edged past Smith for his first career feature win in his rookie season in the midwest modified division. Dan Wheeler was close behind in third while Dane Durbin and Shawn Phillips completed the top five.
It was yellow fever night for the NASCAR super stock main event. It took four attempts to get the race underway with pole sitter Cory Davis grabbing the early lead. Although several more cautions waved for spins and minor incidents, when the race was under green the action up front was very good. The battle amongst the top five positions stayed close due to the yellows, as the second and third spots changed hands numerous times between Dan Carlson and Tim Borgeson. After each caution, Davis would continue to hold a narrow lead over either Carlson or Borgeson depending on who was in second at the time. The final yellow waved with 17 laps in the books and track officials called for a green-white-checker dash to the finish. Earning his first win of the 2008 season, Cory Davis was able to keep Dan Carlson and Tim Borgeson behind him. Riding home close behind the lead trio was Jim Gullikson and 11th starter Larry Boumeester who just edged out Tom Chrest for fifth.
Twenty five NASCAR modifieds were able to make the call for their 20 lap feature race. Row one starters Craig Brightbill and Larry Zeller paced a very strong field. Brightbill, who saw a win go up in smoke several weeks ago, immediately took the lead at the drop of the green with a pack of cars behind him. The first of three cautions flew with just one lap completed for an accident in turn three. Brightbill was soon under pressure from 4th starter Jason Miller on the restart, but just a couple of laps later the second yellow waved when 5th place runner Jay Richardson spun. While under caution, Miller suddenly turned into the infield and then drove off the track with apparent mechanical problems thus ending his feature race early on. Ninth starter Dave Cain, looking for his fifth win in a row, now found himself in fifth place following this caution. Cain would steadily advance forward. The final yellow flew with 16 laps in the books. Cain had passed Zeller for second on lap 13 and would now be right behind Brightbill. Cain tried a couple of times to move inside of Brightbill for the lead when the race went green again, but Brightbill was too strong up top. Earning a popular win, Craig "Wild child" Brightbill returned to victory lane at CLS for the first time in many years. Dave Cain settled for second ahead of Larry Zeller, 12th starter Scott Duvall, and 17th starter Rick Kobs on a track that had multiple lanes for drivers to use.
The final event of the evening spotlighted 27 NASCAR late models against each other for 30 racing laps. Mike Bear and Eric Breeschoten brought the large field down to flagman Jeff Stacken's green flag as track announcer Chris Stepan called out his famous words. Breeschoten blasted into the early lead with several cars jockeying for running positions in the top five. Brent Larson, looking for his fifth win of the season, was on the move forward from his sixth starting spot. Near the 1/3 mark of the race, Larson moved past Mike Goodremote for second and set his sights on the leader. On lap 13, Larson moved around Breeschoten for the lead. Breeschoten battled back and stayed close for several laps, especially in lapped traffic. Larson was finally able to put a little breathing room between his car and Breeschoten's as the race continued under green. With a nonstop run to the checkers 30 laps later, Brent Larson earned his fifth win of the season. Breeschoten turned in a fine run for second ahead of Mike Goodremote. Ashley Anderson finished fourth about a car length ahead of 11th starter Rick Hanestad. Completing the top ten were Dave Cain, Chuck DeSmith, Mike Nutzmann, Rick Egersdorf, and Kelly Anderson. The race saw little attrition with 23 cars still running at the end.
Racing action continues this week at the Cedar Lake Speedway with the 21st Annual USA Nationals getting underway on Thursday July 31 featuring a full program of WDRL late model racing along with the NASCAR super stock division. On Friday August 1st, the open late models take to the track for qualifying and heat race action to help determine many of the starting positions for their big show on Saturday night. Race fans will have plenty of activity on Friday night with a full program of the weekly NASCAR late models and the 50 lap makeup WDRL feature race that was rained out on night #2 of the Masters back in June. On Saturday night August 2, B Mains the USA Nationals 100 lap open late model feature event paying $50,000 to win highlight the racing action along with another full program of NASCAR late models. Fans certainly will not want to miss three straight nights of action-packed racing at the famous Cedar Lake Speedway July 31-August 2.
Race Summary:
NASCAR Impact Printing Late Models
Heat 1- Mike Goodremote, Rick Hanestad, Mike Hesselink, Mike Bear, Dave Friendt, Jon Chrest, Bryan Wennen, Mike Raboin, Brent Laursen
Heat 2- Chuck DeSmith, Ashley Anderson, Dave Cain, Toby Patchen, Rick Egersdorf, Kerry Hanson, Jim Carlson, Jeff Keeney, Brent Mueller
Heat 3- Eric Breeschoten, Brent Larson, Cory Mahder, Jeff Patchen, Mike Nutzmann, Kelly Anderson, Barry Underdahl, Jeff Martire, Jake Hiatt
A Main- Larson, Breeschoten, Goodremote, Anderson, Hanestad, Cain, DeSmith, Nutzmann, Egersdorf, K Anderson, Hanson, Patchen, Bear, Hesselink, Chrest, Martire, Keeney, Friendt, Raboin, Hiatt, Mahder, Laursen, Mueller J Patchen
NASCAR Amsoil Modifieds
Heat 1- Larry Zeller, Scott Splittstoesser, Jay Richardson, Bill Stettner, Mike Kelley, Terry Hanson, Dave Lear, Jake Jay, Don Brightbill
Heat 2- Dave Cain, Scott Duvall, Craig Brightbill, Jason Gross, Mark Hanson, Rick Kobs, Dave Siercks, Scott Pomeroy, Ted Marrs
Heat 3- Jason Miller, Shaun Kelley, Kevin Viebrock, Tim Alexander, Jeremy Gross, Keith Lepinski, Chris Gorka, Dana Lerum
A Main- Brightbill, Cain, Zeller, Duvall, Kobs, Splittstoesser, M Hanson, Kelley, Viebrock, T Hanson, Richardson, Stettner, Gross, Pomeroy, M Kelley, Lerum, Gorka, Gross, Lear, Alexander, Miller, Lepinski, D Brightbill, Marrs, Siercks
NASCAR Sunoco Super Stocks
Heat 1- Tim Borgeson, Dan Carlson, Larry Boumeester, Tom Chrest, Greg Nippoldt, Dan Preston, Tom Gebauer, Dave Chambliss
Heat 2- Lyle Archambeau, Kevin Ayotte, Joel Collins, Brent Kobs, Ryan Wiome, Mike Reineke, Frank Fabio, Marcus Berget
Heat 3- Mike Weber, Cory Davis, Jim Gullikson, Mike Loomis, Cody Campeau, Brian Lick, Brandon Jensen, Justin Stahl
A Main- Davis, Carlson, Borgeson, Gullikson, Boumeester, Chrest, Nippoldt, Loomis, Reineke, Kobs, Lick Chambliss, Gebauer, Wiome, Ayotte, Preston, Campeau, Berget, Archambeau, Weber, Fabio
NASCAR 3M Midwest Modifieds
Heat 1- Bob Smith, Dane Durbin, Jeremy Houle, Alex Gerlach, Clark Perry, Chad Patterson, Todd Steffen, Rob Caho Jr, Steve Strandlund Jr, Matt Osgood, Bryan Giba
Heat 2- Tim Siercks, Lonnie Louschke, Shawn Phillips, Sam Nelson, Justin Schill, John Clark, Mark Trog, Robbie Franklin, Patrick McCarthy, Gary Lamb
Heat 3- Jason Vandekamp, Vince Corbin, Steve Strandlund, Paul Fontecchio, Bryan Siercks, Dick Walters, John Harer, Jared Gorka, Dave Siercks, Clint Larson
Heat 4- Josh Bazey, Clayton Wagamon, Dan Wheeler, AJ Roschen, Kyle Steffen, Mike Gibson, Jake Miller, Trevor Alms, Ryan Nieters, Kyle Matuska
B Main- Strandlund Jr, Patterson, Gibson, Matuska, Caho Jr, Clark, Gorka, McCarthy, Lamb, Nieters, Trog, Steffen, Franklin, Alms, Harer, Siercks, Larson
A Main- Houle, Smith, Wheeler, Durbin, Phillips, Vandekamp, T Siercks, Bazey, Gerlach, Roschen, Perry, Patterson, Strandlund Jr, B Siercks, Gibson, Fontecchio, Matuska, Steffen, Louschke, Corbin, Strandlund, Schill, Wagamon
NASCAR Dodge Street Stocks
Heat 1- Devin Neske, Andy England, Jeff Heintz, Derek Borchardt, Scott Paulson, Mike Raboin, Kyle Howland, Ed Puariea, Krysta Swearingen
Heat 2- Ron Hanestad, Shawn Kammerud, Chanda Fjorden-Nord, Scott Splittstoesser, Trisha Nyreen, Jared Gross, Kim Korstad, Kelly Knutson
A Main- Neske, Paulson, Nyreen, Hanestad, Fjorden-Nord, Gross, Borchardt, Splittstoesser, Kammerud, Puariea, Swearingen, Korstad, Heintz, Howland, Raboin, England, Knutson
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