Wi Dirt Racin

Friday, June 27th 2014, Manitowoc WI. – On a night remembering a fallen racer, the racers put on a great show on a fast and wide track. A lucky fan won a thrilling ride during the 50/50 raffle in the Professional Plating Inc. 2 seat sprintcar at intermission and the Late Model field saluted the fans with a 4 wide pace lap.

GRAND NATIONALS
Elkhart Lake’s Kevin Lubach (21) and Plymouth’s Brian Gilles (7) led the evenings Grand National feature to the green with 19j Justin Green (Sheboygan Falls) and 8j Matt Jackson (Sheboygan) making up Row 2. Gilles rolled out of Lap 1 the leader with Lubach and Jackson in tow. Green, 98 Kevin Naidl (Cato), and 7s Tim Simon (Fon du Lac) battled hard for the 4th spot with Naidl finally taking control on Lap 4. Steven Weber (Plymouth) retired on Lap 4, while Simon would be sent off a lap later to remove hanging body panels for safety issues. Last weeks winner 37 Ryan Minster (Sheboygan) was making steady progress from deep in the field, and by Lap 7 had cracked the top 5. Yellow flags waved on Lap 9 for 8x Brad Juckem (Chilton) spinning out in Turn 4. Gilles led the field to the restart, followed by Lubach, Naidl, Jackson, Minster, and Green; while Simon returned to the event. Naidl used the high line to power around Lubach, while Minster did the same to get the better of Jackson. At halfway it was Gilles, Naidl, Lubach, Minster, Jackson, 74 Chad Ninmer (Cleveland), Green, and 24k Tyler Kulow (Plymouth) in the top 8. Lubach and Naidl continued to battle for 2nd, while Minster and Jackson wrestled for 3rd. Naidl finally moved past Lubach for good with 4 to go, while Minster and Lubach made contact with Lubach carrying part of the nose of the 37 for the remainder of the race. Rolling through checkers, it was Gilles with the win, followed by Naidl, Minster, Lubach, Jackson, Kulow, Ninmer, Green, Juckem, and 81n Zach Axlen (Germantown). Minster picked up Hard Charger honors passing 8 cars.

Heat 1 – 1. 8x Juckem, 2. 7s Simon, 3. 98 Naidl
Heat 2 – 1. 37 Minster, 2. 24k Kulow, 3. 34 Weber
Feature – 1. Brian Gilles, 2. Kevin Naidl, 3. Ryan Minster, 4. Kevin Lubach, 5. Matt Jackson, 6. Tyler Kulow, 7. Chad Ninmer, 8. Justin Green, 9. Brad Juckem, 10. Zach Axlen, 11. 9 Seth Hoeffner (Manitowoc), 12. 12d Chris Gilson (Elkhart Lake) 13. 66 Travis Moehring (Sheboygan), 14. 17x Mark Kuhfuss (Sheboygan), 15. Tim Simon, 16. 34 Steven Weber (Plymouth)

BAILEIGH INDUSTRIAL LATE MODELS
After the 4 wide salute to the fans, the field pulled back into place and the Baileigh Industrial Late Model Feature was led to the green by d1 Turk Letizia (Milwaukee) and 7b Tim Buhler (Glenbeulah), while 75 TJ Dolhoun (Milwaukee) and 6 Tony Peterson (Big Bend) rolled out in Row 2. Buhler emerged with the lead after Lap 1 followed by Letizia, Peterson, and Dolhoun. Last feature winner 74m Mitch McGrath (Waukesha) started 12th, and on Lap 5 made contact with a spinning 97 Justin Schmidt (Cleveland), along with 3 Brett Swedberg (Shawano). Swedberg had to head to the pits to get damaged body panels removed, while McGrath and Schmidt restarted at the rear, while Swedberg returned a lap later. Buhler led Peterson, T. Letizia, Dolhoun, and 74 Russ Scheffler (Waukesha) back to the green, only to have the yellows come out again as d7 James Letizia (Milwaukee) slowed to a stop on the backstretch with a broken driveshaft. Going back to green, Buhler, T. Letizia, Russ Scheffler, Peterson, and Dolhoun made up the top 5, and the action got hectic mid-pack. Mark Rose in the 28r (Elcho), 79 Jim Schmidt (Cleveland), and 70 Todd Jensema (Sheboygan Falls) worked each other over trying to break into the top 5, while Russ pulled off an outside pass for the lead over Buhler. At the halfway point it was Scheffler, Buhler, Dolhoun, Rose, T. Letizia, and Jim Schmidt in the Top 6. At Lap 14 Schmidt passed Letizia for 5th, while McGrath came all the way from the rear to roll into 6th behind him. Lapped traffic came into play as the leaders battled through, Buhler cruised back into the lead after a nifty swithover while Jensema was working on Letizia deeper in the field. With 5 laps remaining, McGrath passed Schmidt to get back into the top 5, and Dolhoun was pushing Scheffler for 2nd. Once again caution slowed the field as 32 Jim Juneau (Brookfield) slid into the fence between Turns 3 & 4. Buhler led Scheffler, Dolhoun, Rose, McGrath, and Schmidt for the final 4 lap dash to checkers. Dolhoun and McGrath got the best of Scheffler on the restart pushing him back to 4th, and McGrath got around the 75 on the final lap. Buhler took home the trophy, with McGrath, Dolhoun, Scheffler, Rose, Schmidt, Jensema, and Turk Letizia rounding out the top 8. Hard Charger honors to McGrath passing 10 cars.

Heat 1 – 1. 15s Scheffler, 2. 3 Swedberg, 3. d1 Letizia
Heat 2 – 1. 70 Jensema, 2. 74 Scheffler, 3. 28r Rose
Feature – 1. Buhler, 2. McGrath, 3. Dolhoun, 4. Russ Scheffler, 5. Mark Rose, 6. Jim Schmidt, 7. Todd Jensema, 8. Turk Letizia, 9. 19 Eric Van Iten (Green Bay), 10. Tony Peterson, 11. 33 Ron Stroika (Mukwonago), 12. Brett Swedberg, 13. 57 Eric Michaels (Cleveland), 14. 38 Scott Haugstad (Plymouth), 15. Jim Juneau, 16. 8 Bob Cullen (Chilton), 17. Justin Schmidt, 18. Jim Letizia, 19. 15s Rick Scheffler (Waukesha), 20. 18 Nick Cochart (Casco)

DEFAUT AUTO SPORTMODS
The main event for the Defaut Auto Sportmods rolled to the green with 34e Cody Eickberg (Plymouth) and 25 Travis Arenz (Sheboygan) on the front row, and 84 Bradley Ruh (Elkhart Lake) with 2k Rick Kretschmann in Row 2. Arenz led the field across completing the first lap, while 63b Jesse Brey (Two Rivers) moved in to challenge Eickberg for 2nd. Eric Scribner filling in for Ben VanWyk in the 17b made quick progress moving in to challenge 53b Brian Reif (Mishicot) for 6th after 4 laps. Caution flew on Lap 7 as Eickberg spun out high in Turn 2 and Kretschmann narrowly avoided him, sliding into the fence. Arenz led the restart with Brey, 22b Brandon Berth (Cascade), Kretschmann, Scribner, and Reif in the top 6. Berth, and a lap later Scribner got around Brey pushing him back to 4th, while 20 Cody Schroeder quietly rolled into the top 5 at the midway point. Berth slid around Scribner for 2nd, while Brey and Schroeder tussled over 4th. The final caution flew on Lap 14 for 555 Jason Schilling (West Allis), who spun out in Turn 2 and would restart at the rear of the field. Arenz led Berth, Scribner, Brey, Schroeder, and 55p Michael Plate Sr. (Valders) to the restart. Scribner pushed around Arenz for the lead, while Berth slowed and slid to the rear, then to the pits for the night. Scribner held onto the lead for the win, with Arenz, Brey, Schroeder, Kretschmann, and Plate rounding out the top 6. Hard Charger honors to Scribner picking up 9 spots.

Heat 1 – 1. 17b Scribner, 2. 53b Reif, 3. 55p Plate
Heat 2 – 1. 20 Schroeder, 2. 22b Berth, 3. 63b Brey
Feature – 1. Eric Scribner, 2. Travis Arenz, 3. Jesse Brey, 4. Cody Schroeder, 5. Rick Kretschmann, 6. Michael Plate Sr., 7. Cody Eickberg, 8. Bradley Ruh, 9. Brian Reif, 10. 17 Jonathon Otte (Cedar Grove), 11. Jason Schilling, 12. Brandon Berth, 13. 3 Jared Rautmann

PROFESSIONAL PLATING INC. 360 SPRINTCARS
After a thrilling hot lap session in the Professional Plating 2 seat sprintcar for the raffle winner, they stayed on track to pace the Professional Plating Inc 360 feature. The field was led to the green by 24 Scott Conger (Eagle) and 21h Tim Haddy (Waupan) on the front row, with 26 Al Schlafer (Sussex) and 15m Justin Miller (Plymouth) on Row 2. Haddy sprinted out ahead of the field to take the lead while 6th starting 99 Kyle Marten moved into 2nd on Lap 2. Last weeks winner 21t TJ Luedke (Plymouth) started 11th and immediately began picking off drivers moving into 8th on Lap 3. On the wide, smooth and fast track drivers were able to run anywhere they wanted as they jockeyed for spots. Miller moved into 3rd on Lap 6, while Luedke moved in to challege 25 Danny Schlafer (Sussex) for 6th. Ten laps in it was still Haddy out front, Marten, Miller, 39s Randy Sippel (Elkhart Lake), 25 Schlafer, Conger and Luedke. A lap later, 64 Scotty Thiel back in a 360 for the evening, made a big move around both Conger and Luedke, sliding into 7th. Lapped traffic started coming into play now as Haddy led Marten and Miller through. Halfway in the top 7 were Haddy, Marten, Miller, Sippel, D. Schlafer, Thiel and Luedke. Thiel would continue marching forward, moving past Schlafer on Lap 17, and past Sippel into 4th on Lap 21. Haddy rolled across the line for the trophy, with Marten, Miller, Thiel, Sippel, Schlafer, and Luedke the top 7. Hard Charger to Thiel picking up 12 positions.

Heat 1 – 1. 39s Sippel, 2. 99 Marten, 3. 26 Schlafer
Heat 2 – 1. 25 Schlafer, 2. 21t Luedke, 3. 21h Haddy
Feature – 1. Tim Haddy, 2. Kyle Marten, 3. Justin Miller, 4. Scotty Theil, 5. Randy Sippel, 6. Danny Schlafer, 7. TJ Luedke, 8. Al Schlafer, 9. Scott Conger, 10. 4 Paul Pokorski (West Bend), 11. 7y Mike Yurmanovich (Cascade), 12. 23z Zach Raidart (Zion, Ill.), 13. 20 Kevin Seidler (Kendall)

SPORT 4’S
The Sport Fours rolled out with newcomer 07s on the pole and 3 Justin Erickson (Plymouth) on the front row and 8 Mike Meier (Chilton) along with 43 Team Brendel on Row 2. Ben Meyerhofer 07m (Menasha) ran to the early lead followed by 22jr Ralph Liegeois Jr., Erickson, and 07s. Liegeois passed Meyerhofer on Lap 3 for the lead, with 52 Brad Prahl (Luxemburg) pulling into 4th. At the halfway mark, Liegeois Jr led Meyerhofer, Prahl, 3m, and Meier. Liegeois would hold off the field for the win, along with taking hard charger, with Meyerhofer, 3m, and Prahl

Heat 1 – 1. 22jr Liegeois Jr., 2. 76 Montie, 3. 07m Meyerhofer
Feature – 1. Liegeois Jr., 2. Meyerhofer, 3. 3m, 4. Prahl, 5. Meier

Next race night, Friday July 11th with Waldo Oil as the trophy sponsor.

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