JOSH ANGST MASTERS THE COMPETITION TO WIN THE JIM SCHELL MEMORIAL 25 GULLIKSON, ANDERSON, RICHARDS, & PROVINZINO ALSO WINNERS AT MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY
Fountain City, WI (AUGUST 8th, 2014) – As race fans gathered to memorialize a racing legend via the “Jim Schell Memorial” at MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY, little did they know that they were also about to witness one of the greatest battles for a feature win seen in long time.
The highlight of the evening was the “Jim Schell Memorial 25” for the Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modifieds; a feature that saw a four-car battle for the lead over more than the second half of the event. Pole Sitter Lance Hofer jumped from the front row to lead the first 10 laps with his CFR #11; but, as Hofer was leading the pack, second heat-race winner Brad Waits was working through the field like a man on a mission from his fifth row starting spot on the way to battle for the lead.
What followed was a four-car battle for the lead between Hofer, Waits & MTS Track Champions Josh Angst and Lucas Schott! For more than 15 laps, the four speed-demons battled each other for the fastest line around the fast 1/3-mile. The final seven laps saw Waits and Angst swap inside and outside lanes multiple times each lap and with just two laps to go Angst cleared Waits and raced his Culver’s of Winona #99 to the feature win!
Despite not picking up the win, Waits’ run through the pack was strong enough to net him the $200 Jim Schell Hard Charger Bonus, while Angst gathered the “Wehrs’ Winner’s $100 Bonus” as the weekly feature winner.
Schott bested Hofer for third, but lost valuable points to Angst, who is now trailing the 2012 MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY Track Champion by just 21 points with only two regular season points-paying events remaining on the 2014 scheduling following the USMTS special on August 15th.
GULLIKSON ENDS MYERS SUPER STOCK DOMINANCE
Curt Myer has been on quite a run at MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY, winning four of his five features on a limited schedule of visit to the West-Central Wisconsin dirt track. That dominance was cut short by a single position Friday night as Stacy, MN racer Dan Gullikson led flag-to-flag Friday night en route to winning the “Jim Schell Memorial 20” for the Coordinated Business Systems WISSOTA Super Stocks.
Myers and Gullikson shared heat-race wins early in the evening . . . and, if truth be told, as the night’s feature ended, Myers was visually catching Gullikson’s #00. A couple more laps and the outcome MAY have been different . . . but, ‘mays’ and ‘mights’ don’t win features. Gullikson grabbed the win with Myers close behind, followed by Brian Fetting and Brandon Duellman.
ANDERSON ADDS ANOTHER
Ben Anderson has had a smile on his face ever since Steve Reutzel hired him as a ‘fill in driver’ for his son Brandon. In five visits, Anderson has gathered in two feature wins, the second of which came Friday night during the “Jim Schell Memorial” at MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY.
Anderson raced away from his front row starting spot, after winning the evening’s second heat-race, and led all 18 laps in convincing fashion to grab the feature win. Less than a second behind was last week’s $1000 Baehman B-Mod Challenge winner Dustin Sorenson with another strong run. Casey Knutson, Tyler Creeley and Jacob Bleess completed the top-5 finishing positions.
PROVINZINO PROVES HIS PROWESS
Joe Provinzino put the pain of a broken foot behind him and raced a newly numbered #5 600 Modified (to honor the number used by the late Jim Schell) to another Liquid Nitro 600 Mod Touring Series feature win. “I was in a lot of pain, especially the second half of that race.” said Provinzino in Victory Lane, “It feels good though, to be back here in Victory Lane. (It) means a lot to win in that No. 5 car.”
On the final Friday night before his 16th birthday, Nicholas Wagner started on the pole with his #19x, and tied his best finish of the year, sixth. John Griffin, coming off a non-touring series win the weekend prior, was second, “Good starting position helped a ton,” said Griffin afterwards, “but it was kinda scary out there. My throttle stuck at one point, which is never a good feeling.”
Points leader Curt Luhmann finished third, followed by Chuck Ihde, who recorded his best finish of the year in the LNTS. “In the last few weeks, I’ve changed the setup a bit and the results have begun to show, and I’m really happy to be hitting my stride at the end of the season.” Eli Hershberger was fifth, a finish that vaulted him to second in the series’ point standings.
RICHARDS BROTHER WIN PURE AND STREET FEATURES
Danny Richards extended his points lead over Fred Prudoehl with Friday’s feature win in the Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stock division. Prudoehl’s second place feature finish, combined with his heat race win helped a little in the points battle . . . but Richards’ feature win and second place heat-race finish actually helped his Championship run by stretching his lead over Prudoehl to an un-official 56 points.
George Richards picked up another feature win in the Elmer’s Auto Salvage MTS Pure Stock division, adding it to his heat-race win earlier in the evening to create another ‘clean sweep’ of the pure stock action at MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY. Josh Twite lost the lead to Richards late in the feature but held on for his season best finish in second, just ahead of Greg Lammer’s and first heat-race winner Lee Hager.
LaDUKE & BRAUER – MINI MOD WINNERS ON THE LIGHTNING SPEEDWAY
Matt LaDuke and Bradon Brauer won the Sunshine Sanitation A & B Mini Mod features, respectively, on The Lightning Speedway.
Racing resumes Friday night August 15th with the USMTS MODIFIED SPECIAL presented by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Winona as part of The Hunt for the USMTS Casey’s Cup at MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY, including Iron Man Challenge USRA B-Mods. The first green flag is scheduled to wave at 6 PM with the Sunshine Sanitation A & B Midwest Mini Mods on the 1/10-mile “Lightning Speedway”, which is located within the infield of MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY. Action on “The Big 1/3 Mile” starts immediately following the 7 PM Opening Ceremonies with on-track competition provided by USMTS (including Rivercity Manufacturing USRA Modifieds), Coordinated Business Systems WISSOTA Super Stocks, Iron Man Challenge USRA B-Mods (including Black Horse Bar & Grill USRA B-Mods), Elmer’s Auto Salvage MTS Pure Stocks, & Midwest Poker League Flyers (Hornets)!
Pit gate & Grandstands Open at 5:00 PM
Family Friendly General Admission Prices continue at: Adults $18, Senior Citizens $16, ALL Students, even college (with current Valid Student ID) and Children 17 & Under are admitted ABSOLUTELY FREE!
MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY is located 3.0 miles north of Fountain City on Wisconsin Highway 35. For more information, call 608-687-3282 or visit www.MississippiThunder.com on the World Wide Web.
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MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY is presenting its 6th season of top-notch dirt track action in Fountain City, WI. The high-banked 1/3 mile dark-clay oval is quickly becoming known as one of the best speedways in the upper Midwest presenting dirt track racing in a fan and family friendly atmosphere every Friday night throughout the racing season.
For all details, continue visiting the MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY web site: www.MississippiThunder.com
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