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Greg Parent
NEW RICHMOND, Wisc. (April 9) - Under clear skies and sixty degree spring weather, the 53rd season of racing at the legendary Cedar Lake Speedway got underway on Friday evening April 9. Fans were treated to some thrilling racing action in the four NASCAR divisions on the first night of a doubleheader opening weekend. A strong field of 97 cars signed into the pits, and when the fast-paced program concluded four drivers celebrated well-earned feature victories.
As CLS announcer Chris Stepan uttered his famous words, a powerful and very talented 26 car NASCAR Super Late Model main event roared to life for 30 ground-pounding laps of racing action. Joel Cryderman and Rick Hanestad brought the field to the green. Hanestad blasted to the early lead, but just after completing the opening lap, Hanestad lost the handle and spun sideways in turn one. The field was able to avoid him. A complete restart was called, as not all cars had completed the opening lap. Hanestad was relegated to the rear of the field for the restart, moving veteran driver Pete Parker to the outside row one starting spot. Parker took advantage of the opportunity to lead the opening lap over Adam Hensel and Cryderman. Hensel blew by Parker on lap two and pulled away from the pack. Lance Matthees got by Cryderman for third on lap four and closed in on Parker. One lap later, Matthees moved by Parker for second. Pat Doar got around Cryderman for fourth on lap eight. Hensel was long gone up front when he encountered lapped traffic with nine laps in. Suddenly in turn two on the next lap, Hensel lopped his car while attempting to overtake two cars running at the back of the pack. The yellow light blinked on, and Hensel drove through the pits to the work area. Unfortunately, Hensel was not allowed to continue at the back of the field given the fact that he had entered the pit area instead of driving down scale road to the work area. Lance Matthees became the new leader for the restart.
A long green flag run ensued with Matthees holding a comfortable lead up front. Parker held off Doar until lap 15. On lap 17, Matthees began lapping cars with Doar a distant second. Doar was hooked up and hauling though, as he narrowed the margin lap after lap. Meanwhile, Jake Redetzke was on the move forward as well. Redetzke raced past Cryderman for fourth on lap 17 and then got by Parker for third two laps later in lapped traffic. As Doar continued to reel in Matthees, defending track champion Rick Egersdorf appeared in the top five on lap 20 and moved to fourth past Parker. The margin between first and second began to narrow noticeably over the next several laps, and soon Doar was right behind Matthees with four laps to go. With Matthees under serious pressure from Doar, another very good race was taking place for fifth between Eric Breeschoten and 18th starter John Kaanta. As the leaders took the white flag, Luke Strandlund looped his car in turn two to bring out the yellow. This set the stage for a green-white-checker charge to the finish!
Over the final two circuits, Lance Matthees was able to fend off the challenges from Pat Doar to earn the victory. Jake Redetzke ran solid in third just ahead of Rick Egersdorf. John Kaanta captured fifth in a fine run forward. Eric Breeschoten, Pete Parker, Mike Nutzmann, Darrell Nelson and Joel Cryderman completed the top ten of the 23 cars still running at the finish. Late model heat races were won by veteran drivers Lance Matthees, Pat Doar and Rick Egersdorf. The late model main event concluded an eventful and entertaining opening night at the popular western Wisconsin track, as fans and drivers looked forward to the second night of the doubleheader opening weekend.
NASCAR Impact Printing Late Models (26 Cars)
Heat 1- Lance Mathees, Mike Nutzmann, Adam Hensel, Pete Parker, Steve Laursen, Jim Carlson, Darrell Nelson, Scott Meeds, Todd Frank
Heat 2- Pat Doar, Jake Redetzke, Joel Cryderman, Cory Mahder, Zach Johnson, Chad Mahder, Jim Bruggeman, Luke Strandlund, Terry Lillo
Heat 3- Rick Egersdorf, Rick Hanestad, Gregg Hill, Eric Breeschoten, Ashley Anderson, John Kaanta, Davin Larson, Jim Rychtik
Feature- Mathees, Doar, Redetzke, Kaanta, Breeschoten, Parker, Nutzmann, Nelson, Cryderman, Mahder, Laursen, Johnson, Hill, Carlson, Bruggeman, Larson, Frank, Rychtik, Hanestad, Meeds, Mahder, Hensel, Anderson
NASCAR Amsoil Modifieds (24 Cars)
Heat 1- Darrell Nelson, Terry Hanson, Dave Lear, Jeremy Gross, Pat Hoffman, Tim VanMeter, Cory Crasper, Keith Tourville
Heat 2- Ron Schreiner, Andy Jones, Scott Duvall, Kevin Viebrock, Brandon Jensen, Scott Pomeroy, Rick Kobs, Joey Jensen
Heat 3- Craig Brightbill, Jason Gross, Jason Miller, Scott Kobs, Lonnie Louschke, Don Brightbill, Al Stettner, Lance Hofer
Feature- Jason Gross, Nelson, Miller, Gross, Jones, Jensen, Duvall, Viebrock, Brightbill, Kobs, Hoffman, Hanson, Tourville, Jensen, Kobs, VanMeter, Louschke, Hofer, Pomeroy, Lear, Stettner, Crasper, Brightbill, Schreiner
NASCAR Goodyear Pro Stocks (18 Cars)
Heat 1- Scott Kammerud, Tyler Boumeester, Jeff Heintz, Cody Campeau, Brian Lick, John Olson, Chris Gorka, Dan Preston, Travis Forcier
Heat 2- Mike Loomis, Cory Davis, Dan Gullikson, Dave Mass, Curt Myers, Tim Borgeson, Jeff Pellersells, Justin Dodge, Ryan Wiome
Feature- Gullikson, Mass, Borgeson, Loomis, Davis, Dodge, Campeau, Lick, Heintz, Olson, Wiome, Pellersells, Boumeester, Kammerud, Gorka, Myers, Preston, Forcier
NASCAR Pepsi Midwest Modifieds (29 Cars)
Heat 1- Bryan Siercks, Tony Schill, Jason Hall, Jason Vandekamp, Alex Gerlach, Mike Gibson, David Swearingen, Tim Lillo, Derek Borchardt, Nick Bruder
Heat 2- Jeff Marshall, Dan Wheeler, Eric Gadach, Clark Swartz, AJ Roschen, Mike Mueller, Vince Corbin, Brad Preston, Mark Pruesser, EJ Heitala
Heat 3- Josh Bazey, Clayton Wagamon, Bob Smith, Kyle Steffen, Grant Southworth, Jake Miller, Robbie Franklin, Mike Kyllonen, Bryce Johnson
B Feature- Swearingen, Corbin, Kyllonen, Bruder, Borchardt, Heitala, Johnson, Franklin, Lillo, Pruesser
Feature- Marshall, Wagamon, Vandekamp, Smith, Steffen, Miller, Southworth, Corbin, Roschen, Mueller, Gadach, Kyllonen, Heitala, Swearingen, Borchardt, Bruder, Swartz, Siercks, Bazey, Schill, Wheeler, Gibson, Gerlach, Hall
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