Dale Nottestad Powers His Way to Victory Lane at MIS
Matt Lundberg and Cory Talaska Also Win
By John Wells
Oregon, Wi- Friday, July 13, 2012- Dale Nottestad won his third feature of the year in the Rockweiler Insulation Late Models while Matt Lundberg (Ho Chunk Gaming Sportsman) and Cory Talaska (Pellitteri Waste Systems Legends) notched their first wins as part of Union Night / Pomp’s Tire Night at Madison International Speedway.
Two in a Row for Nottestad
Dale Nottestad easily won the 40 lap feature for the Rockweiler Insulation Late Models picking up his second straight win on Wisconsin’s Fastest Half-Mile.
Chuck Garetson and Bobby Wilberg showed the way for the 40 lap feature for the Rockweiler Insulation Late Models. The pair raced side by side for the first two laps before Garetson took the lead. Kevin Knuese nabbed the second position from Wilberg one lap later.
On lap 7 Knuese pulled inside Garetson to take the lead. Garetson quickly fell off the pace as both Zack Riddle and Dale Nottestad motored past him on lap 8.
Riddle nudged his way to the inside of Knuese to take the lead on lap 10. Nottestad would take the lead away from Riddle one lap later before Riddle regained it in another lap. On lap 14 Nottestad moved into the lead once again and built up a two car length lead over Riddle.
The lead for Nottestad grew to eight car lengths by the half way point with Wilberg in third, Knuese in fourth, and Nathan Oppliger in fifth.
The caution flag came out on lap 21 for a spin meaning the restart cone was coming out for the first time.
Nottestad continued to lead with Riddle, Wilberg, Chad Stevens, and Oppliger the top five. On lap 25 the caution came out again when the car of Pat Richgels came to an abrupt halt on the front stretch suffering from a broken axle.
Nottestad, Riddle, Wilberg, and Stevens all chose to stay on the inside for the restart while Nathan Oppliger elected to go to the outside of row one. After a failed restart, Nottestad easily regained his lead with Riddle and Wilberg battling it out for second. Nottestad was not about to be denied as he easily built up a fifteen car length advantage over his fellow competitors.
The only question at this point was would the caution flag come out and negate the big lead?
Much to Nottestad’s liking the race stayed under green and he easily cruised to Rick’s Lawn and Garden Victory Lane for the third time in 2012. Rounding out the top five were Riddle, Wilberg, Casey Johnson, and Oppliger.
“This car has been awesome all season long. We haven’t had to do much since the beginning of the season,” said Nottestad. “It’s always fun running with Zack (Riddle).”
Dale Nottestad took the lead from the start of the six lap Morrison’s Auto Parts Dash and was able to hold off Zack Riddle to pick up his third straight win.
Chad Stevens raced to the early lead in the first fifteen lap qualifying race and led wire to wire to earn his first win of the 2012 season. Casey Johnson finished in the runner-up position while Kevin Knuese edged Bobby Wilberg for third.
In the second qualifying race Nathan Oppliger had the early advantage over Chuck Garetson before being joined out front by Dale Nottestad who took second place on lap 7. One lap later Nottestad moved to the inside of Oppliger coming out of turn four to take over the lead. Riddle worked past Oppliger on lap 10 to put himself in the second position. But Nottestad was never challenged the rest of the way and easily picked up the win. Riddle and Oppliger rounded out the top three. For Nottestad it was his third qualifying race win for the season.
Zack Riddle continued his lock on qualifying with a lap of 18.661. Riddle has set fast time each week so far in 2012. Kevin Knuese was second with a circuit of 18.778 followed by Dale Nottestad (18.784), Casey Johnson (18.840), and Chuck Garetson (18.848).
40 Lap Feature:1. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI), 2. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 3. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 4. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 5. Nathan Oppliger (Oregon, WI), 6. Chad Stevens (Orfordville, WI), 7. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 8. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI), 9. Jason Hicks (Elkhorn, WI), 10. Don Wickstrum (Monroe, WI), 11. Pat Richgels (Middleton, WI), 12. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI), 13. Alex Jones (Middleton, WI),- DNS 14. Tyler Kelley (Oregon, WI)- DNS
Morrisons Auto Parts Dash:1. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI), 2. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 3. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 4. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 5. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI), 6. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI),
Qualifying:1. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 2. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 3. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI), 4. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 5. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI), 6. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 7. Nathan Oppliger (Oregon, WI), 8. Chad Stevens (Orfordville, WI), 9. Jason Hicks (Elkhorn, WI), 10. Don Wickstrum (Monroe, WI), 11. Pat Richgels (Middleton, WI), 12. Alex Jones (Middleton, WI), 13. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI), 14. Tyler Kelley (Oregon, WI)- DNS
Qualifying Race 1: 1. Chad Stevens (Orfordville, WI), 2. Casey Johnson (Stoughton, WI), 3. Kevin Knuese (Waukesha, WI), 4. Bobby Wilberg (Beloit, WI), 5. Don Wickstrum (Monroe, WI), 6. Alex Jones (Middleton, WI),
Qualifying Race 2: 1. Dale Nottestad (Cambridge, WI), 2. Zack Riddle (Brooklyn, WI), 3. Nathan Oppliger (Oregon, WI), 4. Chuck Garetson (Albany, WI), 5. Pat Richgels (Middleton, WI), 6. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI), 7. Jason Hicks (Elkhorn, WI),
Lundberg Earns First Feature Win of 2012 at MIS
Matt Lundberg won the 20 lap feature for the Ho Chunk Gaming Madison Sportsman by holding off Robert Hansberry Jr. It was a clean sweep for Lundberg who also set fast time and won his qualifying race earlier in the evening.
Greg Baxter and Mike Taylor brought the field to the green flag in the twenty lap feature for the Ho Chunk Gaming Sportsman.
Wasting no time, point leader Robert Hansberry Jr. took the lead on the first lap with Baxter running in second followed by Matt Lundberg. Lundberg would take over the second spot on lap three after moving to the inside of Baxter coming down the front shoot.
Taylor and Will Rece both powered their way by Baxter to move into third and fourth place by lap 7. On lap 9 Rece’s car would get off the pace and be forced to head back to the pits.
Hansberry Jr. maintained his advantage out front over Lundberg by nearly eight car lengths. But Lundberg was not throwing in the towel as he cut into the lead with each lap. On lap 16 he pulled to the inside of the leader going down the backstretch and the two raced side by side until Lundberg took the lead for good on lap 17.
It took Lundberg everything he had to hold off Hansberry Jr. but he was able to get the job done. Rounding out the top five were Taylor, Baxter, and TJ Goldade.
“This was a tough race,” said Lundberg. “He (Hansberry Jr.) has a great car so I knew I was going to have to work hard to hold him off. I love racing here so this was great.”
TJ Goldade took the lead from the start and held off a hard charging Will Rece and Robert Hansberry Jr. to win the first ten lap qualifying race. Rece finished in second with Hansberry Jr. taking home third. The win for Goldade was his third of the season.
Greg Baxter took the lead from the pole position in the second qualifying race and led until he got loose coming out of turn two on lap 5 giving the lead to Mike Taylor. Matt Lundberg worked his way to the inside of Taylor coming down the front stretch on lap 8 and ran away to pick up the win. Finishing in second place was Tommy Wutke while Taylor was third. For Lundberg it was his third qualifying race win of the season.
Matt Lundberg snapped Robert Hansberry’s run of six straight fast times in 2012 with a lap of 20.834. Hansberry Jr. turned a lap of 20.868 which was good for second followed by Tommy Wutke (20.915), Will Rece (21.107), and Mike Taylor (21.154).
20 Lap Feature:1. Matt Lundberg (Rockford, IL), 2. Robert Hansberry Jr. (Beloit, WI), 3. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 4. Greg Baxter (Brodhead, WI), 5. TJ Goldade (Stoughton, WI), 6. Tommy Wutke (Stoughton, WI), 7. Jon Coker (Oregon, WI), 8. Dan Snyder (Stoughton, WI), 9. Paul Marti (Albany, WI), 10. Will Rece (Stoughton, WI), 11. Brandon Skolaski (Fitchburg, WI), 12. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI)- DNS
Qualifying:1. Matt Lundberg (Rockford, IL), 2. Robert Hansberry Jr. (Beloit, WI), 3. Tommy Wutke (Stoughton, WI), 4. Will Rece (Stoughton, WI), 5. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 6. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 7. Greg Baxter (Brodhead, WI), 8. TJ Goldade (Stoughton, WI), 9. Jon Coker(Oregon, WI), 10. Brandon Skolaski (Fitchburg, WI), 11. Dan Snyder (Stoughton, WI), 12. Paul Marti (Albany, WI),
Qualifying Race 1:1. TJ Goldade (Stoughton, WI), 2. Will Rece (Stoughton, WI), 3. Robert Hansberry Jr. (Beloit, WI), 4. Paul Marti (Albany, WI), 5. Chester Ace (Oregon, WI), 6. Brandon Skolaski (Fitchburg, WI),
Qualifying Race 2:1. Matt Lundberg (Rockford, IL), 2. Tommy Wutke (Stoughton, WI), 3. Mike Taylor (Stoughton, WI), 4. Greg Baxter (Brodhead, WI), 5. Jon Coker (Oregon, WI), 6. Dan Snyder (Stoughton, WI),
Cory Talaska Takes Home the Legends Checkered Flag
Cory Talaska picked up his first feature win of the season in the Pellitteri Waste Systems Legends.
Kevin and Brian Griffin ushered the field to the green flag in the Pellitteri Waste Systems Legends before a four car incident on the backstretch brought out the red flag. Cars involved included Anthony Metallo, Tony Moyer, Kyle Jusits, and Kyle Vergata who flipped and rolled several times before coming to rest in the grass area. Vergata was able to walk away from the incident.
When the race went green again after a twenty minute delay, the now nine car field was led by Kevin Griffin. Cory Talaska moved to the inside coming out of turn tow on lap 3 to take over the lead from Griffin. Chris Lishamer moved to second one lap later while Andy Jones was moving into fourth place on lap 6.
Talaska and Lishamer distanced themselves from the field with Talaska maintaining a two car length lead. On lap 10 Jones and Vince Bartolotta moved up to third and fourth respectively. Jones was a man on a mission as he was up to challenge Lishamer for second while Talaska was increasing his lead and working through lapped traffic.
Lishamer and Jones were cutting into Talaska’s lead with each lap as the three checked away from the field. Jones moved inside of Lishamer to take second on lap 22 and begin to hunt down Talaska.
Jones would give it everything he had but it wouldn’t be enough as Talaska picked up his first feature win of the 2012 season.
“We were getting pretty loose and the car was skating all over out there so I’m happy we were able to stay out front,” said Talaska from victory lane. “I’m just happy everyone was alright after the wreck at the beginning of the race.”
Kyle Vergata took the early lead in the first twelve lap qualifying race, but it didn’t last long as Andy Jones took over the top spot on lap 3 and quickly built up a sizeable lead over the field and cruised to victory lane. Vince Bartolotta finished in second place with Vergata in third. It was Jones’ fifth qualifying race win in 2012.
The second qualifying race found Chris Lishamer passing Kyle Jusits on the first lap to take the lead. Cory Talaska worked his way to the front to challenge Lishamer. The two put on a great show for the fans with Talaska trying to find room inside Lishamer to make the pass. It all came down to the final lap when Talaska found the room he needed coming into turn four, but Lishamer was able to hang on and win by .007 seconds to earn his second qualifying race win of 2012. Todd Schmitz picked up the third place position.
Cory Talaska set fast time with a lap of 13.890 which was just .22 off the track record. Andy Jones was second fastest at 13.936 followed by Tony Moyer (14.058), Vince Bartolotta (14.063), and Chris Lishamer (14.142).
25 Lap Feature:1. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 2. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 3. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 4. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 5. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL), 6. Todd Schmitz (Verona, WI), 7. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 8. Jeff Lechnir (Oshkosh, WI), 9. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI), 10. Tony Moyer (Malone, WI), 11. Anthony Metallo (South Elgin, IL), 12. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI), 13. Kyle Jusits (Kenosha, WI),
Qualifying:1. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 2. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 3. Tony Moyer (Malone, WI), 4. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 5. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 6. Anthony Metallo (South Elgin, IL), 7. Todd Schmitz (Verona, WI), 8. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 9. Kyle Jusits (Kenosha, WI), 10. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI), 11. Jeff Lechnir (Oshkosh, WI), 12. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI), 13. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL),
Qualifying Race 1: 1. Andy Jones (Gurnee, IL), 2. Vince Bartolotta (West Allis, WI), 3. Kyle Vergata (New Berlin, WI), 4. Anthony Metallo (South Elgin, IL), 5. Brian Griffin (Elk Grove, IL), 6. Jordan Wendt (Stoughton, WI),
Qualifying Race 2:1. Chris Lishamer (Elgin, IL), 2. Cory Talaska (Campbellsport, WI), 3. Todd Schmitz (Verona, WI), 4. Tony Moyer (Malone, WI), 5. Kevin Griffin (Green Oaks, IL), 6. Kyle Jusits (Kenosha, WI), 7. Jeff Lechnir (Oshkosh, WI),
More exciting racing action continues on Friday, July 20th with all three weekly divisions in action for Motorcycle Night presented by Rick’s Lawn and Garden. Pit gates open at 3:30, practice at 4:45, qualifying at 6:15 with racing to follow.