Photos Courtesy Jess Riedner / Website & Mark Melchiori / MDMRacePix.com
Nottestad and Wangsness Win Badgerland Championships
Bobby Wilberg took home top honors in the Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models tonight at Madison. Mike Taylor (Sportsman), Steve Dickson (Bandits), and Jim Robinson (Hobby Stocks) also visited victory lane.
Dale Nottestad (Late Models) and Terry Wangsness (Sportsman) won the three race Badgerland Challenge featuring drivers from Madison, Jefferson, and Slinger. For each driver it was his second overall win in the three years of the series.
Bobby Wilberg Races to Late Model Win
Bobby Wilberg started ninth in the twenty-seven car field and won the 30 lap feature for the NASCAR Late Models to pick up his first win of the 2017 season. Dale Nottestad won the Badgerland Challenge for the Late Models.
John Baumeister Jr. and Shaun Scheel led the field of twenty-seven late models to their green flag. Baumeister Jr. captured the early advantage with Michael Bilderback up to second followed by Will Rece. On lap 3 Brady Liddle moved up to fourth with Bobby Wilberg moving into fifth on lap 5.
On lap 8 Bilderback worked to the inside of Baumeister Jr. to take the lead coming out of turn three with Rece moving into second one lap later. Wilberg passed Liddle for fourth on lap 12 with Riddle moving into the top five on lap 13.
Out front Bilderback’s lead over Rece had grown to three car lengths nearing the half-way mark just prior to the caution flag coming out for a backstretch spin involving Shawn Gunsolus and Kyle Taylor.
Bilderback continued to lead after the restart followed by Rece, Wilberg, Miller, and Baumeister Jr with Rece cutting into the leader’s advantage. But the race only stayed green for one lap when the caution flag came out for a turn four incident
Bilderback and Rece raced side by side back to the green flag with Bilderback eventually able to hold off Rece for the lead. On lap 19 Wilberg was up to battle Bilderback for the lead just before the yellow flag came out setting up another exciting restart.
Wilberg and Bilderback raced side by side with Miller, Rece, and Dale Nottestad joining the pack of five. Bilderback was able to keep the lead, but Wilberg worked his way back to the inside taking the lead on lap 23. But once again the caution flag came out for a spinning car back in the pack.
When the green flag waved Wilberg took the lead with Miller passing Bilderback for second as the three broke away from the fourth place car of Nottestad. Wilberg was able to put two car lengths between himself and Miller and take his car to victory lane. Miller finished in second followed by Bilderback, Nottestad, and Rece.
“We’re getting better and better. This is the right time of the year to get better. It feels good to get back to victory lane,” said Wilberg.
Dale Nottestad won the Badgerland Challenge with 179 points followed by Zack Riddle with 135, Kyle Chwala (129), Stephen Scheel (125), and Shaun Scheel (98).
Fast qualifier was Jeremy Miller with a mark of 18.485 (97.376 mph). Bobby Wilberg took the checkered flag in the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Heat races were won by Kody Hubred, Kyle Chwala, Jeremy Miller, and Dale Nottestad.
Mike Taylor Captures the Sportsman Checkered Flag
For the second time this season, Mike Taylor won the 20 lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock Sportsman. Terry Wangsness was the overall point winner in the 2017 Badgerland Challenge for the Sportsman.
Tony Ciano and Taylor brought the fourteen car field to the green flag and raced side by side for the first three laps before Don Wickstrum and Gary Hellenbrand got together coming out of turn one bringing out the caution flag.
After the restart Taylor and Ciano continued to race side by side for the lead with Terry Wangsness up to third. Ciano powered his way past Taylor to take the point on lap 5, but Taylor fought back to the inside to regain the lead two laps later.
At the half-way point Taylor had a car length lead over Ciano while Wangsness, Jake Schraufnagel, and Jason Thoma were fighting it out for the third position. On lap 13 Wangsness worked his way to the inside of Ciano to take second with Schraufnagel and Thoma both moving past Ciano one lap later.
Taylor continued his leading ways until the caution flag waved on lap 16 for a spin in turn four. This set up a restart with Taylor and Wangsness bringing the field back to the green flag. Taylor was able to maintain his lead while Schraufnagel pulled to the inside of Wangsness for second. While the action was heating up for second, Taylor rolled his way to the checkered while Schraufnagel held off Wangsness for second with Robert Hansberry Jr. and Jason Thoma rounding out the top five.
Based on his third place finish, Wangsness won the Badgerland Challenge for the Sportsman with 160 points with Thoma finishing second with 155, Jim / Mike Taylor in third with 154, and Paul Wagner in fourth with 151 points and Jay Schraufnagel completing the top five with 137 points. Wangsness also won the Badgerland Challenge title in 2015.
Robert Hansberry Jr. was fastest in qualifying with a lap of 19.854 (90.662 mph). Hansberry Jr.also won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Heat race winners were Gary Hellenbrand and Jason Thoma.
Steve Dickson Picks Up Second Win of the Season
Steve Dickson won the 20 lap feature for the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits taking home his second checkered flag of the 2017 season.
Lyle Phillips took the early lead in the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits feature with Steve Dickson up to second as the two broke away from the pack. Dickson worked his way to the inside of Phillips on lap 6 to take the lead as Dan Snyder and Dave Schmidt were quickly gaining ground on the leaders. While Phillips and Snyder were wrestling it out for second, Dickson was able to build a solid lead out front. With five laps to go Snyder was able to move into second and tried to hunt down Dickson who was cruising out front.
On the final lap Dickson had to work his way past a lapped car which allowed Snyder to close the gap, but there would be no denying Dickson who picked up the checkered flag. Snyder finished second followed by Schmidt, Phillips, and McKayla Adams.
“I didn’t even realize he (Snyder) was back there,” said Dickson from victory lane.
Setting a new track record in qualifying was David Schmidt with a lap of 14.751 (61.01 mph). Steve Dickson won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash. Schmidt won the heat race.
Jim Robinson Tops the Hobby Stock Field
Jim Robinson won the 25 lap feature for the Benninger Concrete Hobby Stocks while Dan Snyder picked up the overall points win for the two race series.
Chuck Egli and Jordan Egli led the sixteen car Hobby Stock field to the green flag. Jordan Egli took the early lead with Jim Robinson moving up to second followed by Jamie Tate and Brandon Riedner. Robinson powered his way to the lead on lap 4 with Riedner moving up to the third and Dustin Ward to fourth ahead of Tate.
Robinson quickly built a large lead over the field and by lap 9 was working his way through lapped traffic. Riedner, Ward, Jordan Egli, and Dan Snyder rounded out the top five. On lap 15 Snyder moved into fourth ahead of Egli while Riedner was starting to close the gap on Robinson but was running out of time unless there was a caution. And with three laps to go the caution came out for a spin in turn one.
Robinson chose the inside line on the restart forcing Riedner to go to the outside with Snyder and Ward lining up in the second row. Robinson won the race back to the green and jumped out to a six car length lead and step away from the field. Snyder was able to move into second while Riedner and Ward fought it out for third. But in the end it was all Robinson who picked up the win followed by Snyder, Ward, Riedner, and Phillip Wuesthoff.
“We haven’t race here since 2006 so this was a lot of fun,” said Robinson from victory lane.
Quick time was Brandon Angilieri with a time of 14.292 (62.97 mph). Heat races were won by Jon Benninger and Brandon Riedner.
Next Friday, August 11th at Madison it’s Kids’ Night highlighted by double features for the NASCAR Whelen All American Late Models, Dave’s White Rock Sportsman, and Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits plus the Legends and Bandoleros will also be in action. All kids 11 and under will be admitted free plus there will be bike and big wheel races and many special events for the young fans.
Results
Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models
30 Lap Feature
1. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [9]; 2. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [13]; 3. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [3]; 4. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [12]; 5. 15WR-Will Rece, [5]; 6. 14R-Zack Riddle, [11]; 7. 4S-Stephen Scheel, [17]; 8. 7H-Rusty Hansen, [6]; 9. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [20]; 10. 18L-Brady Liddle, [7]; 11. 19B-John Baumeister, [1]; 12. 8S-Shaun Scheel, [2]; 13. 22C-Kyle Chwala, [16]; 14. 40G-Tom Gille, [8]; 15. 3G-Shawn Gunsolus, [19]; 16. 12GB-Greg Bowers, [22]; 17. 2K-Gary Krueger, [28]; 18. 1G-Michael Grueneberg, [14]; 19. 20H-Kody Hubred, [15]; 20. 64P-Jesse Pokszyk, [25]; 21. 15R-Pat Richgels, [18]; 22. 18B-Brian Beale, [4]; 23. 11S-Steven Sauer, [24]; 24. 1A-Steve Anderson, [21]; 25. 14T-Kyle Taylor, [23]; 26. 16G-Russ Grossen, [27]; 27. 46J-Tom Jasinski, [26]; (DNS) 87E-Brent Edmunds,
Dash
1. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [1]; 2. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [3]; 3. 14R-Zack Riddle, [4]; 4. 40G-Tom Gille, [6]; 5. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [5]; 6. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [2]
Heat 1
1. 20H-Kody Hubred, [6]; 2. 4S-Stephen Scheel, [7]; 3. 3G-Shawn Gunsolus, [3]; 4. 1A-Steve Anderson, [5]; 5. 14T-Kyle Taylor, [1]; 6. 64P-Jesse Pokszyk, [4]; 7. 16G-Russ Grossen, [2]; (DNS) 2K-Gary Krueger,
Heat 2
1. 22C-Kyle Chwala, [4]; 2. 15R-Pat Richgels, [5]; 3. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [6]; 4. 12GB-Greg Bowers, [1]; 5. 11S-Steven Sauer, [3]; 6. 46J-Tom Jasinski, [2]
Heat 3
1. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [7]; 2. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [5]; 3. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [2]; 4. 18L-Brady Liddle, [4]; 5. 19B-John Baumeister, [1]; 6. 14R-Zack Riddle, [6]; 7. 15WR-Will Rece, [3]
Heat 4
1. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [7]; 2. 18B-Brian Beale, [3]; 3. 1G-Michael Grueneberg, [1]; 4. 7H-Rusty Hansen, [4]; 5. 8S-Shaun Scheel, [2]; 6. 40G-Tom Gille, [5]; (DNS) 87E-Brent Edmunds,
Qualifying
1. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [8]; 2. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [26]; 3. 14R-Zack Riddle, [13]; 4. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [2]; 5. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [23]; 6. 40G-Tom Gille, [24]; 7. 18L-Brady Liddle, [19]; 8. 7H-Rusty Hansen, [9]; 9. 15WR-Will Rece, [16]; 10. 18B-Brian Beale, [18]; 11. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [5]; 12. 8S-Shaun Scheel, [10]; 13. 19B-John Baumeister, [20]; 14. 1G-Michael Grueneberg, [4]; 15. 4S-Stephen Scheel, [7]; 16. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [1]; 17. 20H-Kody Hubred, [21]; 18. 15R-Pat Richgels, [15]; 19. 1A-Steve Anderson, [3]; 20. 22C-Kyle Chwala, [22]; 21. 64P-Jesse Pokszyk, [27]; 22. 11S-Steven Sauer, [11]; 23. 3G-Shawn Gunsolus, [6]; 24. 46J-Tom Jasinski, [25]; 25. 16G-Russ Grossen, [17]; 26. 12GB-Greg Bowers, [12]; 27. 14T-Kyle Taylor, [14]
Dave’s White Rock Sportsman
Feature 20 laps
1. 4T-Mike Taylor, [2]; 2. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, [4]; 3. 55W-Terry Wangsness, [5]; 4. 95H-Robert Hansberry, [7]; 5. 6T-Jason Thoma, [6]; 6. 53W-Paul Wagner, [8]; 7. 86C-Tony Ciano, [1]; 8. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [15]; 9. 95W-Don Wickstrum, [9]; 10. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [3]; 11. 11B-Adam Bleskan, [11]; 12. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [10]; 13. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [14]; 14. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [13]; 15. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [12]
Dash 6 laps
1. 95H-Robert Hansberry, [1]; 2. 6T-Jason Thoma, [2]; 3. 55W-Terry Wangsness, [4]; 4. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, [3]; 5. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [5]; 6. 4T-Mike Taylor, [6]
Heat 1 8 laps
1. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [2]; 2. 95W-Don Wickstrum, [3]; 3. 11B-Adam Bleskan, [1]; 4. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [4]; 5. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [5]; 6. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [7]; 7. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [6]
Heat 2 8 laps
1. 6T-Jason Thoma, [2]; 2. 95H-Robert Hansberry, [3]; 3. 55W-Terry Wangsness, [1]; 4. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [5]; 5. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, [4]; 6. 4T-Mike Taylor, [6]; 7. 86C-Tony Ciano, [7]; 8. 53W-Paul Wagner, [8]
Qualifying 00:00:00
1. 95H-Robert Hansberry, [11]; 2. 6T-Jason Thoma, [9]; 3. 55W-Terry Wangsness, [15]; 4. 29S-Jake Schraufnagel, [13]; 5. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [1]; 6. 4T-Mike Taylor, [8]; 7. 86C-Tony Ciano, [3]; 8. 53W-Paul Wagner, [14]; 9. 95W-Don Wickstrum, [4]; 10. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [6]; 11. 11B-Adam Bleskan, [10]; 12. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [7]; 13. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [2]; 14. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [12]; 15. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [5]
Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits
20 Lap Feature
1. 10D-Steve Dickson, [4]; 2. 51S-Dan Snyder, [8]; 3. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [5]; 4. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [1]; 5. 49A-McKayla Adams, [2]; 6. 83K-Bill Kohn, [3]; 7. 0P-Steve Putman, [7]; 8. 95L-Dan Lerdahl, [6]
Dash
1. 10D-Steve Dickson, [3]; 2. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [1]; 3. 51S-Dan Snyder, [2]; 4. 83K-Bill Kohn, [4]; 5. 49A-McKayla Adams, [5]; 6. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [6]
Heat 1
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [5]; 2. 51S-Dan Snyder, [8]; 3. 49A-McKayla Adams, [1]; 4. 10D-Steve Dickson, [3]; 5. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [6]; 6. 83K-Bill Kohn, [2]; 7. 0P-Steve Putman, [7]; 8. 95L-Dan Lerdahl, [4]
Qualifying
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [5]; 2. 51S-Dan Snyder, [8]; 3. 10D-Steve Dickson, [4]; 4. 83K-Bill Kohn, [1]; 5. 49A-McKayla Adams, [7]; 6. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [6]; 7. 0P-Steve Putman, [3]; (DNS) 95L-Dan Lerdahl,
Benninger Concrete Hobby Stocks
Feature 25 laps
1. 33R-Jim Robinson, [3]; 2. 51S-Dan Snyder, [11]; 3. 9W-Dustin Ward, [10]; 4. 4D-Brandon Riedner, [8]; 5. 99W-Phillip Wuesthoff, [9]; 6. 23E-Jordan Egli, [2]; 7. 22E-Chuck Egli, [1]; 8. 57S-Kenny Storkson, [12]; 9. 18R-Robby Robinson, [7]; 10. 10B-Jon Benninger, [15]; 11. 81S-Ricky Sanwick, [6]; 12. 5A-Brandon Angileri, [13]; 13. 34MM-Matthew Melchiori, [5]; 14. 71T-Jamie Tate, [4]; 15. 36B-Eric Bennett, [16]; 16. 7W-Jim Wolf, [14]
Heat 1
1. 10B-Jon Benninger, [2]; 2. 33R-Jim Robinson, [6]; 3. 36B-Eric Bennett, [1]; 4. 7W-Jim Wolf, [3]; 5. 71T-Jamie Tate, [7]; 6. 22E-Chuck Egli, [4]; 7. 23E-Jordan Egli, [5]; 8. 34MM-Matthew Melchiori, [8]
Heat 2
1. 4D-Brandon Riedner, [3]; 2. 51S-Dan Snyder, [6]; 3. 99W-Phillip Wuesthoff, [4]; 4. 5A-Brandon Angileri, [8]; 5. 9W-Dustin Ward, [5]; 6. 18R-Robby Robinson, [2]; 7. 57S-Kenny Storkson, [7]; 8. 81S-Ricky Sanwick, [1]
Qualifying
1. 5A-Brandon Angileri, [4]; 2. 57S-Kenny Storkson, [15]; 3. 51S-Dan Snyder, [14]; 4. 9W-Dustin Ward, [6]; 5. 99W-Phillip Wuesthoff, [2]; 6. 4D-Brandon Riedner, [3]; 7. 18R-Robby Robinson, [8]; 8. 81S-Ricky Sanwick, [1]; 9. 34MM-Matthew Melchiori, [12]; 10. 71T-Jamie Tate, [16]; 11. 33R-Jim Robinson, [11]; 12. 23E-Jordan Egli, [10]; 13. 22E-Chuck Egli, [9]; 14. 7W-Jim Wolf, [5]; 15. 10B-Jon Benninger, [7]; 16. 36B-Eric Bennett, [13]