SEASON TOP GUNS BECOME HILL SHOOT OUT TOP GUNS
(Sturgeon Bay, WI – 9/3/2022)
Two track champs and two runners-up took home the hardware at the season ending Shoot-out at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay Saturday night.
2022 champions Brett Wenzel (Stock Cars) and Randy LeMieux, Jr (Sport Mods) were joined in victory lane by Dan VanPay (Street Stocks) and Scott Schlafke (4 cylinder Bombers), both second place finishers in their divisions.
Despite the draw/redraw format, Wenzel found himself starting in a familiar place for the Stock Car finale; outside row six.
His customary charge from the middle of the pack might have gone for naught had there not been a caution on lap 12 for debris. That wiped out a big lead for Zach Spangenberg who appeared to be headed to his first feature win of the season.
Instead, the first amber set off a series of cautions, one of which claimed Spangenberg dropping him from the race. Second place at the time was Dan Sell, Jr, but a cut tire sent him to the pits, leaving Wenzel as the leader.
Wenzel held on the rest of the way, followed by Dan Sell who carded a season best second, Caden LeMieux who ran in the lead pack the entire 20 laps and Sell, Jr who came back from the flat for fourth. Longtime veteran Tony Bouche completed a stellar season with his second top five run of the year.
The Sport Mods proved to be a match-up of Chris Budzban, a former champ, and the current title holder Randy LeMieux.
Budzban sprung from third on a restart, charging to the outside of Jarred VanLaanen on the third lap. LeMieux gave chase, powering by on the 10th lap, then checked out on the field from there to the checker.
Budzban easily controlled second to the line with Mike Plate a solid third. Craig Dorner advanced late to pass VanLaanen for fourth.
The win was LeMieux’s second of the year and 10th in a Sport Mod, moving him up to fourth in the all-time Sport Mod win list.
Watching VanPay take command of the Street Stock feature, one might be hard-pressed to realize that he had never won a feature at the Sturgeon Bay track before. Especially because he always seems to be in the title hunt each year.
In what was the most competitive feature of the night, the trophy was up for grabs the entire way, with VanPay, champion Dave DeGrave, Tyler Fox and the father-son duo of Jason and Garrett Geyer all in the hunt.
Jason Geyer led early, then Fox on lap 8, with DeGrave taking over on the 10th circuit. When that happens, the script usually reads that DeGrave, one of the Raceway’s all-time win leaders, would be posing for pictures in victory lane.
But VanPay tore up the script, charging past DeGrave on the 15th lap, then withstood a late caution to claim his first feature win at The Hill.
Garrett Geyer thrilled the fans with a last lap pass of DeGrave to claim second. Shannon Guelette staged a late race rally to place fourth with Fox completing the top five.
In the 4 cylinder bombers, Schlafke took the lead at the drop of the green from champion Calvin Stueck and was never seriously challenged from there. It was his fourth feature win of the season, the most by any driver at the track this year.
Each feature winner received the coveted Kim Parsons Memorial Trophy Tour five foot tall trophy from Steve Parsons. The tour visits tracks throughout the state to promote organ and tissue donation in memory Kim.
The final events of the year featured Door County racing legends that have been out of the game for at least five years. The winners were former Hobby Stock champ Brandon Peterson in the Street Stocks, Bomb Squad veteran Tracy Koontz in the Stock Cars and returning to the Sport Mods, Martin Kelsey.
Details on the 2022 Hill banquet will be released shortly.
The Hill Raceway is located at the John Miles Fair Park, 812 North 14th Ave in Sturgeon Bay, WI. All track information can be found on our Facebook @hillraceway or contact 920-495-6631.
The Hill Raceway results 9/3/2022
Stock Car Feature: Brett Wenzel, Manitowoc – Dan Sell, Suring – Caden LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay – Dan Sell, Jr, Suring – Tony Bouche, Algoma – Scott Reinhardt, Baileys Harbor
Heat 1: Wenzel – Sell, Jr
Heat 2: Aaron Karcz, Pulaski – Barry VanStraten, Shiocton
Heat 3: LeMieux – Shannon Guelette, Luxemburg
Sport Mod Feature: Randy LeMieux, Jr Sturgeon Bay – Chris Budzban, Luxemburg – Mike Plate, Sr, Valders – Craig Dorner, Brussels – Jarred VanLaanen, Luxemburg – Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee
Heat 1: LeMieux – Randy Theys, Algoma
Heat 2: Dorner – Plate
Unified Dirt Street Stock Feature: Dan VanPay, Denmark – Garrett Geyer, Brussels – Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg – Shannon Guelette, Luxemburg – Tyler Fox, Brussels – Jason Geyer, Brussels
Heat 1: Chad Naze, Green Bay – Jared Spaulding, Greenville
Heat 2: DeGrave – Guelette
Heat 3: Jason Geyer – VanPay
4 Cyl Bomber Feature: Scott Schlafke, Cleveland – Calvin Stueck, Clintonville – Collyn Jorgenson, Seymour – David Cox, Seymour
Heat 1: Stueck – Schlafke
