When you combine a new form of racing, along with a record turn-out of cars, the large crowd at TNT Motor Speedway was guaranteed one of the best night’s of racing for the year. 56 competitors took to the high banked one-third mile dirt track.
That new form of racing was the Side by Side Off Road Vehicle X-Challenge. 6 of the best off roaders raced on the inside of the oval. A course consisting of bumps, water, mud, and a jump. Taking the checkered flag was Oostberg, Wisconsin’s, Clint Walli. A strong contingent of drivers from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula battled for position throughout the race.
“With all the mud on the machines and as close as the competition was right to the finish line, it was difficult to even figure out the final positions. Fans loved it, the officials didn’t,” chuckled Track Announcer, Skip Schulz.
While the Upper Peninsula brought the racers for the Side by Side X-Challenge, it was drivers from throughout Wisconsin that came in full force in the Junior Sprints. 10 children between the ages of 5 and 12 took part in 2 Heats and an exciting Feature.
Early on in the race it looked like those from Southern Wisconsin were going to garner the top finishes. Ryan Kuehn of Oconomowoc was in a bumper to bumper battle with Dousman’s Jack Vanderboom. Running 3rd was Eagle River’s Tommi-Jo Springer and in 4th was Conover’s Dayton Rein. Then with only two laps to go, Kuehn and Vanderboom came upon lapped traffic. Kuehn went to the high side, while Vanderboom went to the inside. Springer followed Vanderboom, and quickly went from 3rd to side by side dash to the checkered flag. Vanderboom edged out Springer by a nose.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature thrilled the fans from start to finish. However the racing in the start was not between the same that battled it out in the end. The start of the race was an exciting battle between Phelp’s Jerry Grasse and Eagle River’s Guy Carley. However those two got into an altercation that knocked Grasse out and put Carley to the back of the pack. Then it was a race between Rhinelander’s Dennis MIkkelson, and Sugar Camp’s, Jeff McDonald. McDonald and Mikkelson kept swapping the lead. In the end, Mikkelson held off McDonald for his first feature win. In his very first Midwest Modified race, Ron Drake of Phelps took a 3rd.
12 cars opened the competitive Pure Stock Feature. This is a class where 3 drivers are in a close point battle for the Class Championship. That is Tyler Lundberg, Jason Melton, and David Blackberg. Blackberg held off Melton in the 1st Heat, and Lundberg won the 2nd heat. Thus no one gained on anyone in the point battle, and made the Feature very important.
The 3 started the Pure Stock Feature in the Middle of the Pack. That meant they had to race cautiously to stay out of trouble, yet work their way to the front as soon as they can. By the middle of the race, it was Jason Melton, Blackberg, and Lundberg putting the fans on the edge of their seats. Melton had the lead, with Blackberg and Lundberg trying everything in the book to fend off each other, yet try to get around Melton.
Then on the final lap, caution came out. Within seconds after the caution had come out, Lundberg had engine problems and it appeared that the Rhinelander driver went from 2nd to 11th in a matter of seconds. However under race rules, when the caution comes out under a white flag, position is determined by where the racers were on the final lap.
The question was not as to who won, that was obvious with Melton leading when the White Flag came out. The question was who was in second in the close battle between Lundberg and Blackberg. Lundberg got second, with Blackberg getting third.
“I just ran the inside line, and let David (Blackberg) and Tyler (Lundberg) fight it out for second,” commented the Eagle River racer.
It’s not just in the Pure Stock Class where it is going to come down to the final 3 weeks of racing to determine who will win the Class Championship. It’s the same scenario in the TNT Pro Truck Class. Cory “Cowboy” Allen has 572 points, James Koga is in second with 557 points.
It was neither one that won the Heat or the Feature.
Taking the Heat race was 12 year old Parker Retzlaff of Rhinelander. Winning the feature was Lac Du Flambeau’s John “Big Wheel” Johnson. Allen took a second in the Feature, while Koga took a 3rd.
“I helped ‘Big Wheel (John Johnson, Sr.) with his truck. Even let him use some of my weights for his truck…hmmm, think I want them back,” smiled Allen.
8 of the fastest Micro Sprint 600’s in the State of Wisconsin raced at TNT Motor Speedway Saturday Night. Just like in the Junior Sprints, it was a North-South battle. The South took the first heat with a win by West Bend’s Andy Rein. The North took the second Heat with a win by Rhinelander’s Jered Cech.
In the feature Rein’s Yamaha-powered Micro Sprinter was in a bumper to bumper race with Shiocton’s Denver Larson. The two were hitting speeds of 80 MPH and racing inches from each other!
“They did this throughout the whole race! I couldn’t believe how close they were to each other, especially at the speeds they were going!” Commented Schulz.
Larson held off Rein for the win.
Two Upper Peninsula drivers made the trip to the NAPA Victory Lane. One, that has had One-36 Photography take his picture quite often, and one that not only has never been in that honored position, but raced for the first time at TNT Motor-Speedway.
Bruce Crossing’s Jordan Kurtti was fortunate enough to get a long weekend off from his new job in Texas to make the trip back to race. Kurtti left the area three weeks ago with a lead in the WISSOTA Street Stock Class. However without racing for two weeks, his lead went down to a mere 13 points over Rhinelander’s Nate Langberg. That meant that Kurtti was going to go ‘all out,’ on Saturday Night. He started the night with a dominating win in the Heat. He got some help with ‘Flying’ Ryan Valeria taking a second in the Heat and Langberg ending with a 4th place finish.
“It wasn’t just as important for (Jordan) Kurtti to win the Heat and the Feature, he needed help from other drivers in the Feature to finish ahead of Nate (Langberg),” commented Jaime Pooch of TNT Motor Speedway.
Kurtti did get the win in the Feature, but Langberg took a second.
“ Kurtti will hold a lead going into the final 3 weeks, but now it is up to Kurtti’s work schedule in Texas, whether he can make it back up for a race or two, and it is going to depend upon how Langberg does in the final weeks of the season,” stated Pooch.
The other Upper Peninsula driver that set his car on the coveted NAPA Victory Lane, was Toivola, Michigan’s, Kyle Raffaelli. He’s the driver that is dominating in this class at Adventure Mountain Speedway Stinger class. Raffaelli not only won the 4-Cylinder Stinger class, he beat the TNT Motor Speedway Class point leader, Merrill’s Louis Malluege, the talented Paul Winker of Tomahawk, and Wausau’s Jennifer Nitchke. Nitchke got her first win the season at the track in the Heat race.
Exciting Stock Car racing returns to the high-banked one-third mile dirt track at TNT Motor Speedway this coming Saturday Night. Racing to start at 7:00 pm CT.
TNT Motor Speedway Results, Aug 8, 2015
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature:
1) Dennis Mikkelson, Rhinelander
2) Jeff McDonald, Sugar Camp
3) Ron Drake, Phelps
4) Guy Carley, Eagle River
5) Jonathon Miller, Eagle River
6) Jerry Grasse, Phelps
7) Dan Melton, Rhinelander
8) Tommy Dart, Rhinelander
WISSOTA Midwest Modified Heat:
1) Grasse
2) Carley
3) Mikkelson
4) Drake
5) Dart
6) Melton
7) Miller
8) McDonald
WISSOTA Street Stock Feature:
1) Jordan Kurtti, Bruce Crossing, MI
2) Nate Langberg, Tomahawk
3) Ken Valeria, Eagle River
4) Britt Broman, Eagle River
5) Derek Eberl, Tomahawk
6) Ryan Valeria, Eagle River
WISSOTA Street Stock Heat:
1) Kurtti
2) Ryan Valeria
3) Eberl
4) Langberg
5) Ken Valeria
6) Bromann
TNT Pro Truck Feature:
1) John Johnson, Sr., Lac Du Flambeau
2) Cory “Cowboy” Allen, Rhinelander
3) James Koga, Eagle River
4) Parker Retzlaff, Rhinelander
5) Herb Dettman, Pelican Lake
6) Mario Grado, Lac Du Flambeau
TNT Pro Truck Heat:
1) Retzlaff
2) Johnson, Sr.,
3) Dettman
4) Allen
5) Koga
6) Grado
Micro Sprint 600 Feature:
1) Denver Larson, Shiocton
2) Andy Rein, West Bend
3) Jake Schilleman, Rhinelander
4) Dylan Larson, Shiocton
5) Ty Springer, Eagle River
6) Fred Suchy, Woodruff
7) Jered Cech, Rhinelander
Micro Sprint 600 Heat 1:
1) Rein
2) Ty Springer
3) Denver Larson
4) Suchy
Micro Sprint 600 Heat 2:
1) Cech
2) Schilleman
3) Dylan Larson
4) Jerry Reif
Pure Stock Feature:
1) Jason Melton, Eagle River
2) Tyler Lundberg, Rhinelander
3) David Blackberg, Eagle River
4) Jake Ison, Eagle River
5) Mike Rick, Irma
6) Fred Feger, Pelican Lake
7) William Chapman, Lac Du Flambeau
8) Jason Eisel, Rhinelander
9) Steven Melton, Rhinelander
10) Devin Wolf, Parish
11) Jesse Raffaelli, Toivola, MI
12) Joe Chaney, Crandon
Pure Stock Heat 1:
1) Blackberg
2) Jason Melton
3) Wulf
4) Feger
5) Eisel
6) Rick
Pure Stock Heat 2:
1) Lundberg
2) Ison
3) Chaney
4) Chapman
5) Steve Melton
6) Jesse Raffaelli
Stinger Feature:
1) Kyle Raffaelli, Toivola, MI
2) Louis Malluegge, Merrill
3) Paul Winker, Tomahawk
4) Jennifer NItschke, Wausau
Stinger Heat:
1) Nitchke
2) Malluegge
3) Raffaelli
4) Winker
Junior Sprint Feature:
1) Jack Vanderboom, Dousman
2) Tommi Jo Springer, Eagle River
3) Ryan Kuehn, Oconomwoc
4) Dayton Rein, Conover
5) Dustin Kangas, Phelps
6) Josie Rae Reif, Deerbrook
7) Sarah Zimmerman
8) Hayden Johnson, West Bend
9) Hunter Tingley, Woodruff
10) Elliot Brownrigg-Johnson, Lac Du Flambeau
Junior Sprint Heat 1:
1) Hayden Johnson
2) Springer
3) Rein
4) Reif
5) Elliot Brownrigg-Johnson
Junior Sprint Heat 2:
1) Kuehn
2) Vanderboom
3) Kangas
4) Zimmerman
Side X Side X Challenge Feature:
1) Clint Walli, Oostberg, WI., Can-AM
2) Joe Serotzke, Lake Linden, MI., Can-AM
3) Gabe Johnson, Felch, MI., Polaris
4) James Marietta, Jr., Hubbell, MI., Arctic Cat
5) Ben Miller, Lake Linden, MI., Arctic Cat
6) Craig Kircher, Crandon, Wi., Can-AM
Side by Side X Challenge Heat 1:
1) Marrietta
2) Walli
3) Miller
Side by Side X Challenge Heat 2:
1) Serotzke
2) Kirchner
3) Johnson
Photo Credits: Photo courtesy of 1-thirty-six Photography
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