Ray Hellenbrand held off Rick Coppernoll to win the first 20 lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock MISfitz while his son, Mason, picked up the win in the second feature. It is believed to be one of the few times in Madison history where a father and son both won features in the same night.
Rookie Scott Jensen and Justin Sellers brought the field to the green flag. Sellers jumped out to the early lead followed by Jensen and Mike Taylor. After five laps Sellers had opened up a 1.3 second advantage over Taylor but having to make sure to stay over the twenty second mark. On lap 7 Dan Snyder worked his way past Taylor for second with Ray Hellenbrand up to third one lap later.
At the half-way mark Snyder and Ray Hellenbrand were both closing the gap on Sellers. On lap 12 Ray Hellenbrand moved into second with an inside pass of Snyder who now was under pressure from Rick Coppernoll. With five laps to go Hellenbrand pulled to the outside of Sellers to take the lead coming out of turn four. With three laps to go Coppernoll passed Sellers for second and was just two car lengths behind Hellenbrand. Coppernoll gave it his best shot, but Hellenbrand won the drag race coming out of turn four on the final lap.
With steam shooting out of his car, Hellenbrand was happy to be in victory lane and did it by never going under the twenty second mark. “Did I get a mulligan?” asked Hellenbrand whose car needed to get pushed out of victory lane.
Rookie Mason Hellenbrand won his first ever feature by picking up the checkered flag in the second 20 lap feature for the MISfitz.
In the second feature, Scott Jensen and Tim Wondrash brought the field to the green. Jensen was the early leader. Mason Hellenbrand moved into third on lap 2. Mason Hellenbrand would take the lead one lap later when Jensen drifted up the track. On lap 9 Rick Coppernoll moved to the outside of Wondrash for second with Ray Hellenbrand up to third at the half-way point.
Out front Mason Hellenbrand’s lead was down to two car lengths. However, he was able to increase his lead over Coppernoll to six car lengths with three laps to go and continued his leading ways to pick up the checkered flag.
“I have to thank my mom, my grandpa, and my dad,” said Hellenbrand.
Ray Hellenbrand set fast time with a lap of 20.015 (89.933 mph). Coppernoll won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash giving him two wins on the season.
Qualifying
1. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand, 20.0150; 2. 6DS-Dan Snyder, 20.0890; 3. 7RC-Rick Coppernoll, 20.4600; 4. 4MT-Mike Taylor, 20.4840; 5. 84TW-Tim Wondrash, 20.5280; 6. 99JS-Justin Sellers, 20.5450; 7. 9SJ-Scott Jensen, 21.0320; 8. 91DE-Dylan Eagen, 25.0600; 9. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand, 50.0000
MISfitz – Dash 6 Laps
1. 7RC-Rick Coppernoll , Stoughton, WI[3], 2. 6DS-Dan Snyder , Stoughton, WI[4], 3. 4MT-Mike Taylor , Stoughton, WI[2], 4. 99JS-Justin Sellers , Carol Stream, IL[6], 5. 84TW-Tim Wondrash , Brooklyn, WI[1], 6. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[5]
MISfitz – Feature 1 20 Laps
1. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[7], 2. 7RC-Rick Coppernoll , Stoughton, WI[5], 3. 6DS-Dan Snyder , Stoughton, WI[6], 4. 99JS-Justin Sellers , Carol Stream, IL[2], 5. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[9], 6. 4MT-Mike Taylor , Stoughton, WI[4], 7. 84TW-Tim Wondrash , Brooklyn, WI[3], 8. 9SJ-Scott Jensen , Oregon, WI[1], 9. 91DE-Dylan Eagen , Evansville, WI[8]
MISfitz – Feature 2 20 Laps
1. 67MH-Mason Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[4], 2. 7RC-Rick Coppernoll , Stoughton, WI[7], 3. 78RH-Ray Hellenbrand , Verona, WI[8], 4. 6DS-Dan Snyder , Stoughton, WI[6], 5. 99JS-Justin Sellers , Carol Stream, IL[5], 6. 84TW-Tim Wondrash , Brooklyn, WI[2], 7. 4MT-Mike Taylor , Stoughton, WI[3], 8. 9SJ-Scott Jensen , Oregon, WI[1]